Live Review: Queens Of The Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails, Brody Dalle

While the crowd's eagerness for the main acts to start was palpable, Brody Dalle was just as eager to kick off her first Australian show under her own name. With her band, she belted through a handful of The Distillers classics, Spinnerette tunes and new songs from her upcoming album Diploid Love. While The Distillers material was obviously the strongest of the set, it's great to have her performing live again at all after such a lengthy break.

Yet it was obvious why the sold out crowd was here and Nine Inch Nails soon made their imposing way on stage. Somewhat Damaged kicked off their set and it was clear from the outset the band weren't messing around. Everything, from guitar to synths and fierce percussion, was so angular and jagged and made obvious the reasons the band is so acclaimed. The occasionally blinding light show pulsed and throbbed throughout their set (epileptics be warned) and despite being a pale version of their US light show, was still an imposing force. Frontman Trent Reznor, ever the showman, stalked and hopped around the stage when not lurching over the mic-stand like the mess of anger and muscle he is. As great as the band's new material is, it was obvious that the highlights were drawn from the band's golden period in the early '90s. The March Of The Pigs/Piggy one-two punch was as brilliant as it was obvious, while the surprise inclusion of noise rocker Wish got the crowd into frenzy. Overall, the band simply rocked too hard and with too much energy for a group of their age and history. It would be a hard act to follow.

This was especially the case considering Queens Of The Stone Age are, for many intents and purposes, a more 'straightforward' rock group. But this is exactly why they were able to kill their set as powerfully as they did. Throwing down the gauntlet by belting out classic No One Knows as the second track, Queens were out to prove they were here for blood. Josh Homme is easily one of the most exciting and naturally charming frontmen in rock'n'roll and his love of performing was obvious. A set pulled primarily from their latest excellent record, ...Like Clockwork, was punctuated with lean and messy highlights from Songs For The Deaf and Rated R including jammed-out versions of Better Living Through Chemistry and a ten-minute-plus rendition of Feel Good Hit Of The Summer. Ultra masculinity is the raison d'être here; a near caveman sonic aesthetic enveloped the crowd, especially as the group's sound live is even looser than on record, sounding just held together.

Fans could argue about who should open for who forever, but the fact is, this was a double header of two sublime acts. That we should receive them both back-to-back seems impossible. The odds of this calibre of show rolling around again are slim and those who went will cherish it for years, nearly as long as those who missed it will rue it.