Good Tunes, Lack Of Energy
The two biggest acts on the Main Stage tonight - The White Stripes and Queens Of The Stone Age - seem to polarise the crowd; most people are either impressed by one or the other, but it has to be said that QOTSA's set is hardly gripping. The band play a good few hits, 'The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret' careening through the airwaves and driving the crowd wild, 'Feel Good Hit Of The Summer' interrupted by Josh Homme's a cappella chant of "Everyone knows you dance like you fuck", calling on the crowd to get moving and more recent favourite 'Little Sister' which sees a massive surge in the crowd as everyone races to the ensuing pit.
New tracks such as 'Into The Hollow', which requires so much slide guitar that the band have a guitar mounted vertically purely for that purpose, also impress. This is a more mellow tune that doesn't really set the London crowd alight as it's mostly a meandering experimental interlude, but 'Turnin' Of The Screw', which Homme comments is "absolutely about fucking" has a little more rock potential. Even the obligatory young ladies flashing their breasts seem to get this message and distract from Homme and co for a few minutes. Sadly none of the new tunes seem to match the quality of the established anthems though and I find my attention wandering as the band do little to keep the crowd's gaze other than strutting their stuff beneath some rather glitzy chandeliers.
'Song For The Deaf' closes the all too brief set and I can't say that QOTSA have left the impression that I expected from such a rock colossus; the fans loved it, moshing like wild at the front but the delivery was somewhat lacking at times and the tunes were left to stand up for themselves rather than being given the necessary energy by the live performance.