Queens of the Stone Age, 21st May 2011, Manchester Academy

Oh.My.God what a night!  As you may have noticed, I'm a MASSIVE QOTSA fan and this was a big night for me!  Not just because of the gig, but because it was a symbolic evening for me.  In 2007, I had a ticket to see them in Newcastle, but I never got there.  I had the biggest panic attack I've ever had, resulting in my being so agoraphobic I couldn't even get out of the chair I was sitting in, I was frozen to the spot, crying and hopeless.  It has upset me ever since, that my mental health could have such an effect that I was so ill that I could miss seeing my favourite band.  Even now, it still guts me.  So, Saturday night was the Big Test for me.  Obviously I've been working on overcoming the panic attacks since then, with variable results, but I still wasn't entirely sure that I could do it this time...


When Saturday came, I headed off via Megabus, the budget coach service run by Stagecoach.  I may rant about Stagecoach one day, they used to be the bane of my life before I got a car, but that's for another time.  It was cheap, and at the moment that is important while I'm saving for Glastonbury.  It started really well, I took the seat at the front, which meant pushing the driver's bag and coat onto one seat while I took the other. Well, the driver went nuts, telling me that there were valuable things in his bag and I shouldn't have touched his stuff!  Erm... don't leave your stuff on a PASSENGER SEAT then, you moron!  Then he did the passive aggressive 'oh you sit there, no no, I'll move my stuff, don't you worry about it'.  So from the get go I was quietly fuming about his patronising, ridiculous attitude to a paying customer (however little I paid!)  Then, about 5 mins after setting off, the driver managed to change lanes and hit a car!  Fortunately, he only scraped the wing of the car, nobody was hurt.  By then I was pretty shocked, and wary of this miserable bastard of a bus driver!  Luckily, we had a change of driver at Leeds, which meant I could finally have a bit of a snooze while we continued on our way to Manchester.


On arrival, I headed off to my friend's house, someone I've known for years online, but our paths have never quite crossed, so that was cool.  He left me with a key because he was also going out, entrusting me with his entire home and belongings!  I then headed off to the Grand Central pub, where some of the Rekords Rekords board members were meeting.  Rekords Rekords is the record label that Queens are signed to, so it was good to meet some fellow QOTSA enthusiasts before the gig.  I had a couple of drinks with them, before starting to feel a tiny bit edgy, so I decided to walk down to the Academy and get settled in, ready for the support act to come on.


The Dough Rollers were a sort of rockabilly type band, not my sort of thing, but I did end up tapping my toes a few times.  All the time I was aware that my favourite band were imminent, and I couldn't help but stand there, willing them to finish their set so that we could get to the main act.


It seemed like an age waiting for the roadies to finish with the fine tuning on stage, soundchecking, setting up the guitars and everything, but finally, the lights went down and the crowd screamed as 5 familiar men walked onto stage, picked up their instruments and began to play for us.  This tour was to promote the re-issue of their eponymous debut album, so the set list was predictable, but in no way detracted from the buzz of hearing the opening bars of Regular John.  They stormed through the tracks in order, only swapping the end two tracks so that they finished on You Can't Quit Me Baby.  It was a huge buzz to hear The Bronze, an early track which didn't make the original album,  tucked in between a completely insane Hispanic Impressions and Give the Mule What He Wants, I was absolutely elated to hear it being played as I love it so much.


The band did the usual walking off stage at the end, to rapturous shouts, pleading for them to (and I quote) get the fuck back out and play, and of course they did, twice!  First encore began with Songs for the Deaf tracks Sky is Falling (quite apt on the night some believed to have been time for the Rapture!) and Do It Again, followed by the essential go crazy tune Feel Good Hit of the Summer, topping it off with Lost Art of Keeping a Secret and Era Vulgaris single, Sick Sick Sick.  We were still screaming for more and, after barely a minute offstage, they were back to treat us with (in Josh's words) "as my good friend Jesse Hughes says 'one for the ladies'".  I Wanna Make It Wit Chu and the gorgeous Little Sister finished off the show, leaving the crowd satiated, sweaty and sexy, just how Josh likes it.  


On the night bus afterwards, there was a very excitable woman, raving on about the show, she asked me if I was there, which I responded to in the affirmative, she asked me if I too got pregnant when Josh walked on stage LOL!  I said, but of course, and I orgasmed at the end, striking up a loud and very silly conversation until they reached their stop, the woman and her two friends wishing me a goodnight as she left the bus.  I was aching from head to foot, my ears were ringing, but the high I felt was pure and beautiful.


I was a bit gutted to find out that the friends I'd met before the gig had met Josh out the back, but nothing could wipe the grin off my face as the words Josh uttered on their 'Over the Years and Through the Woods' video rang in my mind.  'The curse is broken'.  He was referring to the fact that their gigs were re-scheduled a few times last time they toured this country, thanks to the 7/7 terrorist attack and Josh's ill health, but for me it meant that I have beaten the panic attacks when it meant the most to me, and I can now smile again.