Review: Queens of the Stone Age/Nine Inch Nails in Adelaide, AU

by: Nicola Willsmore

The double headliner show of Queens of the Stone Age and Nine Inch Nails in Adelaide on the 13th March did not disappoint. Both bands performed exceptionally well, I guess with the mantra of “Go hard or go home.”

Brody started off the night with her support slot. She performed a mix of songs from The Distillers, Spinnerette and also featured some of her new solo work. Her voice was strained from Perth but her performance was still top notch.
Nine Inch Nails lost the coin toss and lit up the arena with their excellent lighting display.  Their 19 song set list featured many tracks from their latest album Hesitation Marks as well as a few songs from The Downward Spiral and other older classics as well as the epic performance of ‘The Hand That Feeds’ from their 2005 album, With Teeth. Their incredible set concluded with a rather emotional and fan driven performance of ‘Hurt.’ Reznor and friends did not disappoint.
Queens of the Stone Age finished the spectacular show with a truly amazing set. They started strong and finished as strong as they were when they first started. The thing I’ve noticed with Josh Homme is that he is a very grateful guy and thanks the audience after each song. Queens played 19 songs with songs from their latest album …Like Clockwork, as well as hits from other albums such as Songs for the Deaf, Era Vulgaris and Lullabies to Paralyze. Their back drop was very creative, featuring weather scenes, kaleidoscope patterns, animated album art and music videos. Adelaide was told that we are all “backwards and f*****d up” and that he loved it. Josh has one hell of a stage presence, with his humour and not to mention his seductive voice.
In summary, it was one of the best live shows I have ever been to. I was on the
edge of my seat the entire time, it was absolutely brilliant. It kept the audience guessing as to who was going to play first and who was next, and that was a feature I thoroughly enjoyed. It seemed to impress people of all ages, from teenagers to elders.

Setlists:
Nine Inch Nails:
1. Me, I'm Not
2. The Beginning of the End
3. Survivalism
4. March of the Pigs
5. Piggy
6. Sanctified
7. Disappointed
8. Copy of A
9. Vessel
10. Hand Covers Bruise (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross cover)
11. Beside You in Time
12. 1,000,000
13. Letting You
14. Burn
15. Wish
16. The Hand That Feeds
17. Head Like a Hole
18. Hurt
Queens of the Stone Age:
1. You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, but I Feel Like a Millionaire
2. No One Knows
3. My God Is the Sun
4. Burn the Witch
5. Smooth Sailing
6. 3's & 7's
7. Do It Again
8. …Like Clockwork
9. If I Had a Tail
10. In My Head  (Tour Debut)
11. Fairweather Friends
12. Little Sister
13. I Appear Missing
14. I Sat by the Ocean
15. Make It Wit Chu
16. Sick, Sick, Sick
17. Go With the Flow
Encore:
18. The Vampyre of Time and Memory
19. A Song for the Dead