It’s been a while since those drunken misfits Queens of the Stone Age returned to Chicago. On April Fool’s Day, the hard rockers played to a rowdy and enthusiastic sold-out crowd at the Riviera Theater. The show once again proved that one album-centric nostalgia tours are as popular with fans as they are with the bands that do them.

The anticipation oozed out of every pore as the computerized intro to “Regular John” pumped through the Riviera’s speaker stacks and deafened ear drums within a five-mile radius. Soon the stage and its feature players (ringmaster Josh Homme, guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, Bassist Michael Shuman, guitarist/keyboardist Dean Fertita and drummer Joey Castillo) were enveloped in smoke and blinding back lights. The circus had come to town and they were as tight as ever.

Homme was his talkative, comical self on Friday night, often telling the crowd to loosen up with him. Later that evening, Homme read a passage from a romance novel that a fan tossed on stage to the soothing, backing sounds of “I Was a Teenage Hand Model.”

Queens of the Stone Age are busy celebrating the reissue of its long out-of-print 1998 debut album by playing the album song-for-song and b-sides, too. “The Bronze,” which rightfully should have been included on the original release of QOTSA’s self-titled debut, felt well-integrated into the album portion of the night.

QOTSA blew through its debut album in what felt like mere seconds, even with new arrangements and extended jam sessions. And oh, those extended jams. Both “Hispanic Impressions” and “Song for The Dead” sounded like some sort of magical, musical noise tornado that hit the listener like a ton of bricks. It almost didn’t matter that Homme’s vocals were too low because his guitar solos more than made up for the deficit.

In theory, the idea of a band embarking on a type of “anniversary” tour to play one album in its entirety feels like a great one. Especially if it’s the one album you favor above all the rest. And yet, when you come face-to-face with it, you miss the feeling of surprise that happens when the next song is not known. Maybe that’s why the two encores were so much more powerful than the initial set, with, of course, the exception of the little-played tracks “You Can’t Quit Me Baby” and “Give the Mule What He Wants.”

QOTSA dug up a few classics such as the aforementioned rambunctious “Song for the Dead” as well as the sole selection from 2000’s Rated R “Monsters in the Parasol.” If the encore belonged to one album, it was QOTSA’s 2005 effort Lullabies to Paralyze with four selections including “Little Sister” kicking off the first encore and “Someone’s in the Wolf” starting off the second.

All feelings on “nostalgia” tours aside, QOTSA can do whatever the hell they want. Especially, if the end result means Homme and co. digging out the classics from their smokey and booze-filled closet.

Click here to view more of Audrey Leon’s photos from Queens of the Stone Age.

Set List

Regular John
Avon
If Only
Walkin’ on the Sidewalks
You Would Know
How to Handle a Rope
Mexicola
Hispanic Impressions
The Bronze
Give the Mule What He Wants
I Was A Teenage Hand Model
You Can’t Quit Me Baby

Little Sister
Monsters In The Parasol
Burn The Witch
Tangled Up in Plaid

Someone’s In The Wolf
Sick, Sick, Sick
Song For The Dead