Queens of the Stone Age rocker Josh Homme doesn’t think too highly of artists who choose to cut their biggest songs from the setlist.
The rock band are riding high after releasing their latest album, In Times New Roman, in June and are fresh from their performance at that same month.
They’re now set to bring their new material to fans live, embarking on a UK and European tour of 13 dates in November.
Of course, their new album will lead the new performances but QOTSA won’t neglect the classic songs that fans still hold dear to their hearts.
Frontman Josh, 50, explained: ‘I understand that I’m always going to play No One Knows because I still like playing that song and that’s something that it’s an agreement with the audience. I assume that this is a part of coming here to see us, and here you go.
‘When there’s bands that don’t want to play their big song or their big songs, I always think it’s a little c***y to do that. Acting like a song that a lot of people like is a burden is just a strange reaction to the gift that your fans have given you. Seems like an odd reaction.’
Basically, for fans with tickets to the band’s new shows, the Queens have got your back.
Sharing his disapproval of other artists snubbing their old music, Josh continued on : ‘In the years of doing this, I’ve seen a lot of artists… sort of get angry at their own music for doing well.
‘Having fans is a cool thing. And they want stuff. And when it comes to playing the stuff that they want, I feel like that’s why this is happening, right?
‘You guys are all here because you want to hear some stuff and also have no idea what’s going to happen. And you need to have that basic food group in order for me to surprise you, too. Surprise requires knowing some constants are going to happen. So I don’t sweat stuff like that.’
Some artists have been criticised in recent months for withholding older songs from their live sets, including Sir Paul McCartney who played very few Beatles tracks when he , much to the ire of festival-goers.
Meanwhile, Beyonce fans have started petitions to reinstate Drunk In Love to the setlist on her Renaissance tour, with the singer only performing the iconic bop during the first night of the jaunt.
