Queens of the Stone Age made a triumphant return to Cincinnati on a dark and stormy June 18, 2025. Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA) headlined The Andrew J. Brady Icon Music Center to a sold-out crowd who were in dire need of some primal rock and roll. QOTSA was supported by The Kills as the opener.
It’s possible that The Andrew J. Brady Music Center hasn’t rocked this hard in a long time. The energy of the sold-out crowd seemed anxious, as if they didn’t know what to expect from QOTSA’s performance. The crowd was initially receptive to the grimy vibe of The Kills, but their emotions shifted by the third song as The Kills were heavily reliant on a drum machine and preprogrammed beats and rhythms.
Five songs later, The Kills were hardly living up to their namesake. Singer Alison “VV” Mosshart barely acknowledged the crowd and paced the stage like a caged wombat. Guitarist Jamie “Hotel” Hince’s guitar sounded compressed, and he couldn’t conjure enough interest from his bland leads. At least The Kills had interesting lighting effects for two of their numbers, “Kissy Kissy” and “Doing It To Death.”
QOTSA arrived regally on stage to the stately “The Orgy (Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack)” before segueing into “The Song For The Deaf” and a super high-energy version of “No One Knows.” QOTSA delivered a stellar performance of all the songs in their catalog, and some of my personal favorites were the rousing guitar and shifting dynamics of “Sick Sick Sick” and the slide guitar of “I Sat By The Ocean.”
QOTSA was beyond reproach the entire evening, as their setlist was impeccable and is listed below. Josh Homme was engaging, entertaining, and personable as he gleefully played the band’s tunes. He even announced that “If I Had A Tail” was his favorite song as he demonstrated an exquisite version of it.
Toward the end of the evening, Homme stated that he thought traditional encores were “bullshit” when the band walks off stage and then returns to play three songs. Homme decided that the band was going to play four or five more songs and then call it a night. Homme allowed the fans to choose between “Regular John” and “I Appear Missing” before declaring, “Screw it, we’ll play both,” and closing out the night with a blistering “Go With The Flow” and a pummeling “A Song For The Dead.” QOTSA played a legendary concert at The Andrew J. Brady Music Center and, in turn, showed The Kills how it was done.
SETLIST
