Queens Of The Stone Age’s ‘Alive In The Catacombs’ To Screen In Australia This Week

Queens Of The Stone Age have shared details of the limited cinematic release of their new concert film Alive In The Catacombs, which will see it screened here in Australia for one night only this Thursday, June 5th. Only two cities will host screenings: Melbourne, at Carlton’s Cinema Nova, and Hobart, at the city’s State Cinema as part of this year’s Dark MOFO. Tickets for Melbourne’s 6:30pm screening can be found here, while tickets for Hobart’s 6pm screening can be found here.

As the title suggests, Alive In The Catacombs sees the band – joined by a three-piece string section – perform intimate, acoustic renditions of songs from across their back catalogue inside the world-famous Catacombs of Paris, an ossuary underneath the city that is home to nearly seven million human remains. The performance was filmed in July of 2024, while the band were in France as part of their The End Is Nero world tour – which saw them tour nationally last February alongside Pond and Gut Health. In a press statement, frontman Josh Homme described the band’s performance within the Catacombs as “so stripped down” when compared to their normal shows.

Queens Of The Stone Age – Alive In The Catacombs (Trailer)

“It would be ridiculous to try to rock there,” he said. “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.” Homme also quipped that, due to being “surrounded by several million dead people,” he’d “never felt so welcome in [his] life.” Alive In The Catacombs is not only QOTSA’s first concert film in almost 20 years, following 2005’s Over The Years And Into The Woods, it also historically marks the first time any musical performance has ever taken place inside the Catacombs themselves.

“The Catacombs of Paris are a fertile ground for the imagination,” said  Hélène Furminieux, the Communications and Public Relations Officer of the Catacombs, in a press statement of her own. “It is important to us that artists take hold of this universe and offer a sensitive interpretation of it. Going underground and confronting reflections on death can be a deeply intense experience. Josh seems to have felt in his body and soul the full potential of this place. The recordings resonate perfectly with the mystery, history, and a certain introspection, notably perceptible in the subtle use of the silence within the Catacombs.”

Dark MOFO kicks off on Thursday; in addition to the Catacombs screening, Portishead frontwoman Beth Gibbons will perform in Hobart for the very first time as part of her Lives Outgrown solo tour. Clown Core, Jessica Pratt, Cold Cave, Baroness and Tierra Whack are all set to perform this coming weekend, with the latter three all performing exclusively as part of the festival.

Further Reading

Watch Queens Of The Stone Age’s Stunning Acoustic Arrangement Of ‘The Way You Used To Do’ At Hobart’s MONA

Marlon Williams And John Lennon Docos To Screen At Sydney Film Festival 2025

Love Letter To A Record: Junior Danger On QOTSA’s ‘Rated R’