It’s been a tumultuous half-decade for Josh Homme and his band of swashbuckling, heavy-rock brethren. The last time Queens of the Stone Age came to the UK was in support of their 2017 album Villains – on the same tour Homme was labelled similarly for seemingly kicking a camera into a photographer's face mid-show, and he later issued an apology. In the time since, he’s been embroiled in a much-publicised court battle with his ex-wife Brody Dalle and, earlier this year, revealed that he’d been in surgery after a cancer diagnosis.
Returning this summer with musically swaggering and lyrically cathartic eighth album In Times New Roman, however, it's clear the quintet had chosen to swim rather than sink. And last night at the O2 Arena, Homme and co cemented that idea with a gargantuan light show and some unusually vulnerable stage chat (between his customarily ringleader-esque repartee). “I am f***ing nervous, but I’m here to make you dance, and I know how to do that shit,” said Homme before Paper Machete.
