I’ve been listening to Queens Of The Stone Age since high school, and their last Halifax visit in 2008 was my first concert ever, so I was very excited to make the transition from crowd member to photo pit photographer for this one. The energy in the crowd was palpable from the second the band stepped onto the stage. They kicked off their nearly two-hour setlist with “No One Knows,” one of my personal favourites, and rocked through a stacked list of songs that spanned across most of their extensive discography; “I Sat By The Ocean” and “Little Sister” were among the list, and a crowd request of “Sicily” was granted. The band brought out Bubbles of Trailer Park Boys’ fame for a guest appearance on “Make It Wit Chu” as a fun surprise, but also came with some inappropriate remarks that definitely raised some eyebrows. Despite this, they wrapped up the night with a fantastic double encore featuring “Go With The Flow” and “A Song For The Dead.”

This was one of the loudest and best face-melting concerts I’ve been to in a while. Having Queens Of The Stone Age in Halifax gave the city an incredible night of music and hopes that the band won’t wait another 16 years to visit us again.