*Footage & photos by Kenny Howell

During a stellar 12-song, 80-minute set, THEM CROOKED VULTURES went on to prove they are one of the rarest and tightest units in rock. Nowadays, the term “supergroup” gets thrown around like a groupie at a Poison concert but to call THEM CROOKED VULTURES a supergroup would be a disservice.

The group includes rock alumni JOSH HOMME (Queens of The Stone Age/Eagles of Death Metal/Kyuss) on guitar and lead vocals, DAVE GROHL (Foo Fighters/Nirvana) on drums, JOHN PAUL JONES (Led Zeppelin) on bass/organ and longtime Homme affiliate ALAIN JOHANNES (Queens of The Stone Age/Eleven) on rhythm guitar.

TCV music has been held in anonymity. No tracks have been leaked and the only samples that are available are on the bands YouTube channel.  But even those are only 30 second clips and even their MySpace page music player is empty. My only regret is that I listened to several bootlegs before the show. In hindsight, I think I would have preferred to discover the music live.

GROHL was astonishing! With his brute force and finesse he was invigorating and exhausting to observe at close immediacy. He played long and complicated fills between hi-hat, snare and floor tom without ever losing the songs’ propulsive drive. It was apparent why JOSH HOMME chose him to anchor the finest QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE album, “Songs for the Deaf” (2002).

HOMME handled lead vocals and guitar laying the foundation with hard edges and playing precision just as he does in QOTSA. And JOHN PAUL JONES, whose music with LED ZEPPELIN is an obvious touchstone for both his bandmates, was a huge presence and match for GROHL’s power and a counterpoint for Homme’s melodies. They sounded fresh, invigorating, tight and just plain nasty.

Also, if you expecting to hear any material from FOO FIGHTERS, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE or LED ZEPPELIN you will sadly be disappointed.  TCV only play material from their forthcoming album and they do not return for a trendy encore.

As history has shown, most supergroups usually don’t last usually last past their debut album but at least this particular one is off to a exciting start.  A debut album has been completed but a release date has yet to be confirmed.

SETLIST:

• Elephants
• Dead End Friends
• Scumbag Blues
• Gunman
• Caligulove
• Bandolier
• Highway One *First time performed live
• Interlude /w ludes
• Mind Eraser No Chaser
• New Fang
• Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I
• Warsaw

For more information  visit THEM CROOKED VULTURES

For more footage visit us on YOUTUBE

For more photos visit us on FLICKER