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And now, out of all that, after almost three years and divisive breakups and barroom brawls and unwanted celebrity status, Homme is soundchecking for what will go on to be called the biggest party at this year's SXSW festival. And you'd think he'd look miserable. But he's riffing through a tune called "Burn the Witch," with Lanegan flanking him stage left, and he's actually smiling.
"Witch" is just one of 14 tracks on the Queens of the Stone Age's new album, Lullabies to Paralyze, an album that Homme says is both "the most important" and the "most divisive" thing he's ever made. It shies away from balls-out rock of the Queens' previous records, instead mining newer, darker, bluesier territory. And if that pisses fans off ... well, then Homme is kind of happy.
"One of the things you have to do is listen to your detractors a little bit," Homme says. "You listen to them and understand, and ignore — because I make music for people who are already into us. I want to take everyone with us, but some people just won't come along. So the real challenge for me is to play songs like 'The Long Slow Goodbye,' or 'I Never Came,' despite [those people]. Because, really, this is just the next Queens record. It doesn't sound like the last one, or the last one before that, because it's not supposed to. It's supposed to sound like a really good mixtape. Right now, if you're saying this band's gone soft, you really don't know what the f--- you're talking about."
And judging by the night's performance, it's apparent that the Queens have gone anything but flaccid. The new lineup provides husky muscle to tunes like "Witch" and "Long Slow Goodbye," and subtle, spooky undertones to other new songs like "Tangled Up in Plaid" and "In My Head." Homme himself flails and jerks his guitar around, pulling elastic-fingered solos out of his fretboard. Lullabies' first single, the spastic "Little Sister," is ripped through at bullet-train speed, and it's all the assorted hipsters, industry "yes" men and futuristic stewardesses packed into the airplane hangar can do to hang on for dear life.
It's also apparent that all Homme really does want to do is play ... and play ... and play. The Queens rip through 20 songs at the DKNY party, finally exiting under a wall of distortion at 3:15 am. They play for so long, in fact, that current DJ du jour Diplo is unable to take the stage for his scheduled set. In the midst of all the bad things SXSW has to offer — in the belly of the beast, as it were — the Queens of the Stone Age have just rocked the collective socks off the music industry.
"I think, for me, the music and my life are the same thing," Homme says. "And I try not to be too obvious about things, because that's pedestrian. The poetry and color are in the abstract. For me, doing interviews and all the limos and flashbulbs and stuff are all are pretty meaningless. I play what I'm trying to say."
And as the audience files out of the airplane hangar, eyes blurry and ears blown, back into their rental cars and limos and taxis, they can't help but have heard heard Homme's message. And for tonight, there are no more reporters or yes-men or red carpets. Homme has said all that he's got to say.
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Photo: MTV News
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