Queens of the Stone Age Detail ‘Alive In The Catacombs’ Live Release

Queens of the Stone Age has announced the release of their unique live performance in the catacombs in Paris as a concert movie and album.

Recorded in July 2024 and was released on June 6 via Matador Records/Remote Control Records, the unique performance saw the Rock Outfit head below the surface of Paris to appear within the scattered 200 km Ossuary. According to a description of the location, its foundation is built out of “millions of bodies buried in the 1700s” with many of the walls composed of skulls and bones.

Frontman Josh Homme had dreamed of organizing such a performance since the visit almost two decades earlier, but was denied permission from the city of Paris, which had never previously allowed a band to play within. However, the respect resulted by the band held for the location eventually in the fact that their performance was officially sanctioned.

“The catacombs in Paris are a fruitful reason for the imagination,” said Hélène Furminieux of Les Catacombes de Paris. “It is important to us that artists grab this universe and offer a sensitive interpretation of it. Going underground and confronting reflections on death can be a deeply intense experience.

“Josh seems to have felt in his body and soul the full potential of this place. The recordings resonate perfectly with the mystery, history and some introspection, especially visible in the subtle use of the silence within the catacombs.”

The unique nature of the location results in Homme and his bandmates-Roy van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita and Jon Theodore support by the section for three parts as they perform a stripped back-set scheduled and played with respect for the catacombs.

Recorded live without overdubs or edits, the benefit is paired with the acoustic atmosphere of dripping water, echo and natural resonance, as atmospheric lighting the spothinder band.

“We are so deprived because this place is so removed, which makes the music so removed, which makes the words so removed,” explains Homme. “It would be ridiculous to try to rock there. All these decisions were made by that space. That space dictates everything, it’s responsible. You do what you get to know when you’re in there.”

Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the catacombs will be available for rent or buy via the band’s site with an Audio-Kun release to be advertised in the coming weeks.

It is noted that this is not the queens of the Stone Age’s first underground concert, with the group that previously performed 2,300 feet underground at German Saltmine, Erlebnisbergwerk Sonderhausen, in November 2007. Originally planned for wider release, the semi-acoustic performance is not yet to see the light of the light, with the band’s split with Interscope registrations, which was assumed that the fucking is that the fucking is that the fucking is that the fucking is that the fuck is that the fuck is that the fuck is that the fuck is the band’s split with the that its unlimited is delayed.