Queens of the Stone Age will screen their upcoming concert film, Alive in the Catacombs, in cinemas worldwide next month.
The film, shot in Paris last year, will premiere on June 5, but will have a limited cinema in 20 countries run ahead of its global release.
The screenings will also include a preview of an "intimate behind the scenes documentary", which will apparently lay bare "the emotional and physical trials" the band had to overcome in order to create the film.
The Los Angeles band's performance in the eerie tunnels beneath the French capital, the final resting place for millions of French citizens, interred in the 1700s, is said to represent the fulfilment of a long-held dream for QOTSA frontman Josh Homme, who first visited the location almost 20 years ago. No band had ever before been granted permission to play in the Catacombs, which made the group's stripped-back set, augmented by a three-piece string section, genuinely historic.
A press statement for the film reads: "Every aesthetic decision, every choice of song, every configuration of instruments… absolutely everything was planned and played with deference to the Catacombs- from the acoustics and ambient sounds - dripping water, echoes and natural resonance - to the darkly atmospheric lighting tones that enhance the music. Far from the sound-insulated confines of the studio or the comfort of onstage monitors, Alive in the Catacombs sees the band not only rise to this challenge, but embrace it."
Josh Homme stated, "We’re so stripped down because that place is so stripped down, which makes the music so stripped down, which makes the words so stripped down… It would be ridiculous to try to rock there. All those decisions were made by that space. That space dictates everything, it’s in charge. You do what you’re told when you're in there."
"If you’re ever going to be haunted, surrounded by several million dead people is the place. I’ve never felt so welcome in my life."
Alive in the Catacombs global screening dates
Jun 03: MK2 Quai de Loire, Paris, France
Jun 03: The Royal, Toronto, Canada
Jun 03: Kino Konepaja, Helsinki, Finland
Jun 04: Prince Charles Cinema, London, UK
Jun 04: Brain Dead Studios, Los Angeles, US
Jun 04: Kino Central, Berlin, Germany
Jun 04: Sphinx Cinema and Cafe, Ghent, Belgium
Jun 04: Cineclub Cortina, Sao Paulo, Brasil
Jun 04: Cinema Barberino, Rome, Italy
Jun 04: Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jun 05: Cinema Nova, Melbourne, Australia
Jun 05: Cine Tonala, Mexico City, Mexico
Jun 05: MONA / Dark Mofo – Hobart State Cinema, Tasmania, Australia
Jun 05: Double Whammy, Auckland, New Zealand
Jun 05: Empire Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark
Jun 05: Irish Film Institute, Dublin, Ireland
Jun 05: Sala X, Madrid, Spain
Jun 05: CGV Grand Indonesia West Mall, Jakarta, Indonesia
Jun 05: EMU Cinema Space, Seoul, South Korea
Jun 05: Cinema Oasis, Bangkok, Thailand
Jun 06: Spot Cinema Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
Tickets for the screenings are on sale here.
Queens of the Stone Age will play their first shows since summer 2024 next month.
Their US mini-tour kicks off with a pair of shows at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston, on June 10 and 11. The band will travel to Europe to play shows in July and August, including an August 20 gig in Dublin, Ireland at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, and a headline performance at the Rock N Roll Circus at Sheffield's Don Valley Bowl in England on August 27.
