Even the most mild fan of Queens Of The Stone Age knows the first two unspoken rules of being in the fan club.
1st Rule: You do not fuck with frontman Josh Homme. 2nd Rule: You DO NOT FUCK with frontman Josh Homme.
That’s especially true when the QOTSA ringleader is performing, and particularly if it’s during one of the band’s rarer quiet numbers. Bad luck that no one told the guy who rushed the stage during a recent performance in Florida.
Queens Of The Stone Age were wrapping up their set at the The Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg Florida with an encore performance of ‘The Vampyre Of Time And Memory’ when the errant fan managed to bypass security and make his way on stage – making a B-line straight for Homme, sat at the keyboard, for an embrace.
The encounter didn’t last long – as the fan-shot footage that’s sprung up online of the incident shows – and even from a distance, the way Homme ejects the stage invader elicits a wincing ‘oooh, that’s gotta hurt’.
The annoyed frontman then went on a short rant blasting the rushing fan. “I don’t care if you love me,” Homme spits, “you’re lucky I didn’t fuck you up bro. I’m here to play for you, not jerk you off, you fucking douchebag.”
After he’d finished his spiel (“Fuck that guy, long live us, but fuck that guy”), the band dive right back into the piano-led Like Clockwork… cut and finish off the show.
It’s hardly the first time Homme has made the boundaries between fan and performer explicitly clear, but as he points out in the latest Florida encounter, “you can tell I’m getting more mellow as I get older.”
Tossing a stage invader off a raised concert platform on his ass might not seem that ‘mellow,’ but considering that his history of live shows includes Homme challenging unruly crowd members to fist fights or threatening to toss them out of ‘his’ gig, maybe he’s got a point.
So in summary, if you’re planning to catch Queens Of The Stone Age for their upcoming Australian co-headline tour with Nine Inch Nails, don’t try any funny business – for your own sake.
Nine Inch Nails And Queens Of The Stone Age Co-Headline Australian Tour 2014
With Special Guest Brody Dalle
Thu 6 Mar – Sydney | Qantas Credit Union Arena
Fri 7 Mar – Sydney | Qantas Credit Union Arena
Sat 8 Mar – Newcastle | Entertainment Centre
Tue 11 Mar – Perth | Arena
Thu 13 Mar – Adelaide | AEC Arena
Fri 14 Mar – Melbourne | Rod Laver Arena
Fri 15 Mar – Melbourne | Rod Laver Arena
Mon 17 Mar – Brisbane | Entertainment Centre
Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au or Ph: 132 849
Further infot at www.frontiertouring.com/ninqotsa
