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QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
‘Alive in the Catacombs’

Limited cinema screening events
Melbourne and Hobart on 5th June

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“If you’re ever going to be haunted, surrounded by several million dead people is the place. I’ve never felt so welcome in my life.” — Joshua Homme HERE

Queens of the Stone Age have confirmed a limited run of international theatrical screenings for the forthcoming concert film, Alive in the Catacombs, including screenings in Melbourne and Hobart on 5th June. The theatrical events will give fans the first chance to experience the audiovisual document of the band’s long-rumoured performance in the Catacombs of Paris.

The Melbourne screening will take place at Cinema Nova. Tickets are $5 with all proceeds going to Bush Music Fund, a charity who provide long term support to First Nations musicians from remote Australia providing the networks, skills and opportunities they need to build a career in the music industry. Continuing QOTSA’s long love affair with Tasmania, Alive in the Catacombs will be screened as part of Dark Mofo Films, presented in partnership with the State Cinema Hobart. All Melbourne and Hobart cinema screening attendees will receive an exclusive Alive In The Catacombs film poster and lobby card. All ticket information found below. 

The screenings will also include a preview of an intimate behind the scenes documentary film, revealing the emotional and physical trials Queens of the Stone Age overcame to create Alive in the Catacombs. Filmed and recorded in July 2024, Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the Catacombs captures QOTSA as you’ve never seen or heard them before. This utterly unique once in a lifetime experience features a carefully selected setlist spanning the QOTSA catalogue, each song chosen and epically reimagined for the Catacombs. The result is an unprecedented incarnation of QOTSA at their most intimate, yet surrounded  by literally millions of human remains—“the biggest audience we’ve ever played for,” says Joshua Homme.

The film has already been tipped as “awe-inspiring” by DIY Magazine, “completely unique” by CLASH, “incredibly special” by Kerrang! and “revelatory” by Uncut Magazine.

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Melbourne

Theatre: Cinema Nova
Address: 380 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3053
When: June 5th
Tickets

Tasmania

Theatre: Dark Mofo Films – State Cinema Hobart
Address: 375 Elizabeth St, North Hobart TAS
When: June 5th
Tickets

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The Catacombs of Paris is a sprawling 320km (200 miles) ossuary beneath the surface of Paris. With a foundation of several million bodies buried in the 1700s, skeletal remains are largely exposed, with much of the walls built of skulls and bones.

Homme had dreamt of staging a QOTSA performance in the Catacombs since his first visit nearly 20 years ago. The city of Paris, however, had never granted permission to any artist to play within the sacred tunnels. QOTSA, being law-abiding citizens, waited until their vision was sanctioned.

Hélène Furminieux (Les Catacombes de Paris) said: “The Catacombs of Paris are a fertile ground for the imagination. It is important to us that artists take hold of 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 a certain introspection, notably perceptible in the subtle use of the silence within the Catacombs.”

Every aesthetic decision, every choice of song, every configuration of instruments… absolutely everything was planned and played with deference to the Catacombs—from the acoustics and ambient sounds — dripping water, echoes and natural resonance — to the darkly atmospheric lighting tones that enhance the music. Far from the sound-insulated confines of the studio or the comfort of onstage monitors, Alive in the Catacombs sees the band not only rise to this challenge, but embrace it. 

Homme recalls, “We’re so stripped down because that place is so stripped down, which makes the music so stripped down, which makes the words so stripped down… It would be ridiculous to try to rock there. All those decisions were made by that space. That space dictates everything, it’s in charge. You do what you’re told when you’re in there.”

The result is QOTSA distilled down to their most elemental form—Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita and Jon Theodore augmented by a three-piece string section, employing chains and chopsticks as makeshift percussion instruments. Alive in the Catacombs is Queens of the Stone Age stripped to their barest essence by necessity (you can’t call it “unplugged” if there are no actual electrical outlets to plug into), McGyver-ing a car battery to power an electric piano. And unfiltered, as every song was recorded live in a complete take with no overdubs or edits.

Words fail to convey the magnificence of Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the Catacombs. Its truly stunning balance of subtlety and grandeur must be experienced to be appreciated. The beauty is in the struggle (both internal and external). This is Joshua Homme at his most physically vulnerable yet ultimately his most triumphant.

Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the Catacombs was produced by La Blogothèque and directed by Thomas Rames, and is being released by Queens of the Stone Age and Matador Records / Remote Control Records. The film will be available to rent or purchase via qotsa.com where pre-orders are currently available. Fans who purchase Alive In the Catacombs by June 7th will receive exclusive access to behind the scenes footage in addition to full streaming and download access. An audio only version will be announced in the coming weeks. 

To learn more about the Catacombs of Paris visit: HERE

Tickets for Alive in the Catacombs global screening events are available here.

Queens of the Stone Age – Alive in the Catacombs will be released digitally 6 June via Matador Records / Remote Control Records.

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AMNPLIFY – DB