Queens of the Stone Age
A two-night booking will be staged at Observatory North Park on March 21 and 22 with Queens of the Stone Age, a stoner rock band that has skipped San Diego on its tours for several years now. Their newest full-length was released in August, Villains, produced by Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars) and featuring the band pretty much standing on its own for the first time, minus the flashy guest musicians that bolstered previous releases. Some listeners seem annoyed and surprised by the slightly disco synths and beats, but it seems like a fairly natural progression from similar sounds explored on their previous two full-lengths, ...Like Clockwork (2013) and Era Vulgaris (2007), with the raunchy guitars recorded directly into the mixing console for maximum crunch. Villains debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart in September, a factor that, coupled with their tendency to avoid playing south of the OC, will likely help sell out both evenings.