God Save The Queens
Frustrated by gig cancellations during the week, Queens Of The Stone Age rolled into T in The Park determined to kick up a storm and Josh Homme made his intentions clear with constant references to drinking, snogging and rock n'roll. No longer having the mentality of the last gang in town with Nick Oliveri being sacked and Mark Lanegan not appearing, Josh Homme and his current band settle for doing what they do best.
A recent addition of a female keyboard player may have some purists shaking their heads but her addition to some songs with keys and vocals more than justify her position. After starting with a few older songs, the 'The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret' going down really well with the crowd, the band ran through some songs from their latest record.
In concert, there was no marked difference in the quality of the new songs and this gives further proof that perhaps Homme was indeed the over-riding talent behind the Queens. However, 'Hanging Tree' does miss not having Lanegan's gravel-like vocals and general hard man demeanour behind it. Then again, when 'Feel Good Hit of the Summer' kicks in, no one was complaining as the Main Stage crowd bounced along in appreciation of one of the best acts they had witnessed all weekend.
With set closer 'No One Knows' extended into various fade in and outs, Josh Homme even found time to break into the Beatles' 'Here Comes The Sun' – probably the shock of Scotland's summer occurring during the festival. And with that, the one-man gang rode off into the sunlight, no doubt drinking and kicking dust along the way. The world would be a much poorer place without the Queens of the Stone Age.