Queens of the Stone Age hail from California, but England has always had a soft spot for the craziness and whiplashing rock that the band brings from over the pond.
The boys played a headline slot at Download festival last year, and are heading to Sheffield this very month to play Rock and Roll Circus, even having to add a second date due to “phenomenal demand”. Isobel O’Mahony spoke to bassist Michael Shuman, better known as “Mikey Shoes”, about the upcoming gig and the band’s affinity for the unexpected.
I think the UK has kind of been our second home and we spent a lot of time there”, says Mikey, “We spend a lot of time going through Heathrow Airport.
“We’re always excited to do shows out there, that’s where probably our biggest fan base is and we try to do UK tours as much as possible – there’s a lot more pints, in the air and on the floor and on each other.
“We did a Finsbury Park show that was kind of similar to this and that was a big deal for us, so it feels like it’s a similar thing.”
This is supposedly the first time Queens has come to Steel City since Mikey joined the band in 2011, but he has visited before. However, the memory is a little…hazy.
“I just remember having a really good curry and going out for drinks with this band that opened for us and then showing us around. I’ve played Sheffield with my other band, maybe we haven’t, but it was a great show.”
Of course the old age question was asked, has he tried Hendersons? The answer may be disappointing to die-hard fans who can’t eat without the stuff.
“No. I mean, maybe I have, and I just don’t remember, I don’t think that was a highlight for me.”
However, the show itself promises to be a highlight not only for Sheffield but the band, marking the end of their insane seven week long ‘The End is Nero” tour.
“It’d be really nice to go out with a bang in Sheffield. I’m excited that we got to add a second date, that’s exciting that people want to go.
“It’s rare that we get to do these things where we get to curate kind of like our own mini festival, so it’s not just a show with the one support, but with so many great bands that I love.”
As ever, the rest of the line up for Rock and Roll Circus is stellar. Hand picked by the headliner themselves, Mikey has a couple of favourites on the bill, “I’m excited to see it. Starting with the Viagra Boys who we’ve toured with and are one of my favourite bands right now. So Good who we’re touring with us right now, they’re the best.
“That band Bug Club, who I specifically requested to be on, because I’ve been listening to their tunes, and I think they’re great, and Demob Happy, who I supported with my solo thing, so those are really great guys. To see these bands on the list and be like, yes, them, them, it was really great.”
Queens love putting on a crazy show, something to shock and often scare their audiences. Mikey knows “nothing like” Rock and Roll Circus, but says it’s reminiscent of a Halloween home show they did in 2014.
“We had, again, like maybe three or four supports and outside in the parking lot, we had one of the craziest haunted houses where you have to actually sign a form that says, like, any injuries or full panic attacks, because they can touch you, they can grab you. We had some great burlesque dancers from a place called Jumbo, which is a famous burlesque club in LA.”
“So it’s kind of similar, I guess. But our drummer is afraid of clowns, so I’m not sure actually if it’s going to work out too well.”
On the other end of the spectrum, the band have just released their concert film and live album Alive in the Catacombs, being the first people ever to perform for the millions of skeletal remains below Paris. Again, never show a dull show it seems.
“I’ve been in the band for about 20 years and Josh has been talking about it since then, and every couple of years he’d bring it up and I’d be like, okay, or whatever.
“We kept asking, and it was really like the Parisian government, and like the tourist agency that kept saying, no, no, no. Maybe there were some new appointed officials that agreed to it, but we were the first to do a performance down there like that, so it’s pretty special – I guess the point is persistence is key.
“It can get a little mundane playing the same kind of clubs, the same arenas or whatever it is over and over again and be kind of in a sterile box. We try to mix it up as much as possible to keep us excited and to keep our fans on their toes.”
The mindset going into the Sheffield show in comparison to the Catacombs was “the complete opposite”.
“Number one, there were six million people watching, but they’re dead. So this will be alive people watching us, and I think our set will be completely different, as it would be.
“This is going to be like end of the tour party time, whereas the other thing was a much more emotional experience. I hope there’s not too many tears but if the clowns are crying I’m okay with that, I’ve made clowns cry many times.”
Queens of the Stone Age headline Sheffield’s Rock and Roll Circus 27 and 28 August, joined by various insane support acts, live circus acts and naturally a V.I.P Greggs area for those who need a break from the rock and roll with, well, a sausage roll. You might even see a grown clown cry.
