The crystal chandeliers burned violet over a predominately male crowd at on Monday night, casting a gentile glow on the otherwise gritty concert.
Five years in the making, this tenacious threesome, comprised of Queens of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and everyman Dave Grohl, let it rip for more than 90 minutes.
Framed in by a Studio 54-reminiscent light board and supported by live-show-only bandmate, Alain Johannes, the quartet kicked off with “Elephants,” a greasy, hard-hitting jam, followed by the tempo transient “Scumbag Blues” and downbeat favorite “New Fang,” all from the band’s 2009 self-titled album.
Throughout the evening, the musically astute, beer-laced crowd peeled their shoes off the sticky venue floor, responding eagerly with hoots and fist pump cheers; between songs, dudes gave each other the silent dude nod of approval.
But the night wasn’t seamless: At times, Jones looked a bit tired and wobbly. Grohl got so carried away with his bang-it-all-to-hell drumming style that he sometimes forgot to sing. Homme hung in there but got a little cheesy in his Tommy Bahama shirt, giving “shout outs” to Denver and pimping out Grohl: “Dave says he wants to have sex with every girl in the crowd.”
After the three females in the audience got a bit hot under the collar, Homme stated flatly, “We don’t do encores.”
Them Crooked Vultures certainly deserves their place on the perch of “supergroup” bands. Their vitae may have got them on stage, but it is their ability to meld novel tempo shifts, bass fills and drum lines that will keep them in the spotlight.
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Kate Lacroix is a Denver-based writer and regular contributor to Reverb. Check out .
Mateo Leyba is a photographer for The Denver Post and a regular contributor to Reverb.
