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

Brody Dalle cranks out the jams bang on 6.30pm looking every inch the fierce, rockin' babe with her tousled platinum barnet, clinging orange T-shirt and jet black jeans. Josh Homme's other half admits she “has a bit of a chest infection”, adding she performs against doctor's orders tonight. Raspy becomes her. When Dalle starts a rendition of Kookaburra (“Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree...”) most of us realise we don't know the rest of the song's lyrics. New Brody Dalle material kicks serious ass.

There's speculation about whether or not a coin toss actually takes place to determine the order in which our double headliners play, but the fact that this is still up in the air adds an exciting element. The millisecond we hear Jon Theodore thwack a drum, however, the mystery is solved and then out saunter the remaining members of Queens Of The Stone Age. There's an effects station onstage as well as Dean Fertito's keys and the band's tunes immediately make us feel like performing unholy sex acts – behaviour that deviates from our moral compasses. The No One Knows drum pattern is insane and Josh Homme's vocals are flawless. Homme handles his axe tenderly, expertly; it's actually surprising the instrument doesn't jizz. From his stool, Homme towers over the honkytonk piano. Homme's falsetto sounds girly, which is particularly notable when he commences The Vampyre Of Time And Memory on piano before the song explodes once the rest of the band join in. Like vampires, QOTSA glamour us (albeit aurally).

Varied dynamics throughout the band's set provide light and shade. You can actually sense the pleasure they extract from their instruments during the sinister If I Had A Tail and singing, “I wanna suck/I wanna lick,” has gotta make Homme feel sexy. Little Sister is a welcome inclusion. When Homme believes we're holding back on the cheers, he dishes out some worthy advice: “Don't be too cool, be awesome.” The three-headed axe harmonies within Better Living Through Chemistry – what EVEN! Just when you think they've explored every arrangement avenue, Queens Of The Stone Age turn a new tantalisingly forbidden corner. We acquiesce during Go With The Flow. QOTSA are armed and beyond dangerous when presenting their voodoo rock'n'roll live and they play as if they share the same pulse.

Nine Inch Nails open on a very smoky stage with the in yo' face Copy Of A and only Trent Reznor is illuminated, lurching rhythmically forward before the other band members are lit and then drive it home. They have chiselled haircuts, wear matching black tank tops and utilise incredibly complex time signatures. Reznor pants a lot when he's not singing. The lighting rig hangs low, jagged beams flashing to highlight the action. There's a section during which a tech points a handheld light at Reznor's face, which is clumsily executed, but otherwise this crew would take out the stage tech Olympics; they're nimble and make multiple adjustments in the blink of an eye. Reznor back-announces a song he wrote in one of the bleakest periods of his life when he wanted to take his own life – guess which song? The Wretched. What NIN bring is intense, especially The Hand That Feeds and menacing Head Like A Hole: “Bow down before the one you serve/You're gonna get what you deserve.”

While QOTSA make you wanna sashay into the night and hit up Tinder, NIN are more about cold sweats, doom and accusations. Both have earned their rightful place on the world's stage.