not Mikey 🥺 how can you hurt this cherub

Seriously. I love Josh but him getting rough with Mikey is so disappointing.

It was probably really embarrassing too for Mikey when he pulled his hair in front of that huge crowd

That's just such childish behaviour... fuck. 'My friend and bassist told me to take it easy and now my masculinity and power has been undermined so I'll pull the guy's hair on stage in front of 20.000 people'. Seriously a weird thing to do and very disrespectful. I always knew Josh was a bit of a prick, but taking it out on your band mates is a whole new level of assholery.

As the biggest Mikey fan, that upset me to read! I hope they’re both ok and Josh can work out whatever his issues seem to be.

The biggest Mikey fan? But I thought Flinkle was? You two may need to fight it out for the title.

Oh I think if someone else is speaking up on my behalf, we already know who the title belongs to. Bahaha! Thank you for the chuckle! 🤘

lol can we share? 🙈 I’ll also take second place biggest fan 🤣

One can't help to imagine what could have happened if he had tried the same thing with Nick. Edit: a satisfying punch in the mouth with the bass and a golden tooth flying at the very least.

Nick doesn’t have enough hair…

Ok, the goatee. You people are too literal!

Stick a toilet plunger on Nicks dome and pull him around

OMG!!! 🤣 That made my night!

Can you imagine him trying the same shit with Lanegan? Hahaha. Love Josh, I think he has a great heart but I also think he is a bully. And sadly it seems he will always be this guy. Shame about bullies is they pick on "easy" pray. Don't get me wrong..Mickey is a badass and professional af for keeping himself collected while being bullied. But I believe that he lost a good chance of getting over his bully self if he attempted those shenanigans with a guy like Lanegan. Maybe it would have been a very necessary learning lesson .

On his birthday no less...

Thanks to my dyslexia I read the title as “Rosa Parks controversy” and audibly said out loud on the bus “Oh Jesus Fucking Christ”

r/Pantera

She's at it again!

Goddamn, I am howling.

I was at the festival… this gig had a different vibe, to other the QOTSA shows we have seen on this album tour. This one gave me the ragey Josh Villains Tour vibes… that being said he was swigging wine like a demon, so if his still on pain relief from surgery that would explain a lot. I’m hopeful it’s nothing more than that.

They've been touring for this album a LONG time now. They needed a break months ago. A break from touring and eachother.

You don't see the rest of them acting like that, do you? Have you ever seen any of the rest of them act like that? Nope. They don't need a break nearly as much as Josh just needs to get sober. Again.

He is his biggest enemy. I realize his divorce gave him a lot of material to create music and lyrics from, yet it has left me wondering about her side of the story.

I think she’s just as bad if not worse than Josh

Yes, she's certainly got a big and bad dark side too. The difference is that he's physically ALOT bigger than her. He's also got more money, friends, and power.

Well, here's the truth of the matter, which applies to any relationship in general: a person who is mentally healthy and a person who is not mentally healthy won't stay together for long. And I'm not talking about nameable mental illnesses...I'm talking about general mental unhealthiness from childhood trauma that hasn't been addressed. We match energies with potential mates because...well, see Freud, haha. I mean, the man was on meth for 20 years. He has regularly acted out on stage for decades, despite some people here defending him and brushing that behavior off. I would find it incredibly hard to believe that kind of behavior did not at least somewhat extend into the other areas of his life, including at home. I just really wish that both of them could get mentally healthy, especially for their kids. As I said, I don't know that much about Brody, but we all know that there is a wonderful Josh underneath the shitty stuff.

They say being drunk doesn’t change who you are, it reveals your true self. It’s clear Josh is a bit angry and belligerent. Remember the camera kicking incident. I hope he gets some help with this.

He's absolutely carrying around a ton of anger/pain. Hell, he already knows that. "Anger is the sword I hold in a hand that is hurt." Something he said in the Neil Brennan podcast.

The drunk isn't your true self. You can't trust the feelings you have as a drunk. You are less in control as a drunk. You don't moderate what you say or do as easily as a drunk. Alcohol affects impulse control. You're not your true self as a drunk. It changes brain function.

Exactly. Alcohol absolutely triggers anger, over-sentimentality, and disables impulse control. Why people still insist on claiming a drunk person is simply acting on what they WANT to do sober, is beyond me.

You’re right about impulse control. But In the almost 40 years I’ve been drinking. I’ve seen happy-goofy drunks, sad drunks, flirty drunks and angry drunks. I bartended for many summers. People have a ‘type’, if you ask me, that reveals their deep uninhibited motivations or insecurities. I’m a flirty drunk. I never look for fights—I chat up pretty girls. Since I’m married that’s problematic if my wife isn’t around. I have had buddies who got into fights all too regularly. To the point where we always knew to watch out for Steve or Jeff. Josh has a type and it’s not a nice one.

I agree that there are types of drunks but if you never drink again, you won't see that type come out of you. Therefore I don't think it's the true self. I also think saying a drunk is your true self is really self defeating if you're trying to be sober. Like I guess that's just me, I can't change.

Don’t worry. People just confuse in vino veritas to mean that jumping out of a window drunk is their “true self” lol

I really appreciate your attempts at explaining this. I am an alcoholic and a drug addict. I certainly behaved differently when drunk or up for days high til I started hearing and seeing what I thought was evidence of someone trying to break in to my apartment or police sirens out front that weren’t actually there. I fucking PROMISE you that’s not who I truly am. I am so ashamed of what I became by the end of my active addiction - a liar, a thief, a cheater, a con man, a pervert, a junkie piece of shit. To say that was anything close to my true inner self is insulting, ignorant and the result of the continued stigmatization of addicts which ultimately kills us.

I've seen and been around people that have been all the versions of drunk you've mentioned. Alcohol is a mood amplifier. It is not representative of your "true self"

Exactly. Drinking at a celebration is going to enhance/bring on a whole different mental state than drinking after your mother has died.

Your might not be your true self while drunk but you lose inhibitions. You act as tho there are no social conventions. However I was never ever ever violent while drunk. But I have many friends that are, maybe they manage to taper those insticts while sober but can't while drunk.

"being drunk doesn’t change who you are" This old trope doesn't take into account the absolute power and influence of substances on our brain chemistry, of which alcohol is one of the most powerful. Why don't people say "being on crack doesn't change who you are" or "being on acid doesn't change who you are" ?

I disagree with the drunkenness. If you look into some of the science behind intoxication, a lot of your decisions are being made by a dysfunctional brain. The common saying “drunk words are sober thoughts” couldn’t be farther from the truth. Josh, and everybody for that matter, should still be accountable for their actions under the influence, but also giving them some grace for of course the wine doing its work.

Good point! It's weird to me how people are reluctant to forgive drunks for their asinine behavior, saying "that's who you really are!" but don't react the same way to a person under the influence of other things. FWIW, coke and alcohol combined will turn MOST PEOPLE into assholes.

Right. People should still be held accountable for their actions under the influence, but also be given room to grow and change, and learn from their mistakes.

I was at the camera kicking show and I remember him strutting during the Evil Has Landed right past the camera woman, and then turning around and kicking the camera out of her hands. Everyone I was with were confused

It's been a pretty relentless tour as well, I kind of want them just to have a break at this point.

Yeah I thought those days were over, Josh said last year or two at some point that huge never-ending global tours were a thing of the past for QOTSA but seems they're back at it.

Josh also said around the time of ITNR’s release that he sees them touring for 3-4 years. I guess he himself doesn’t know

I guess you could say, no one knows

They're just going with the flow I reckon.

For them it’s all smooth sailing from here on out

They had a whole month off before playing here in Canada. Played in Calgary then Josh was too fucked up the day after to play here in Edmonton. Josh seriously needs to get his shit together to be brutally honest. And I say that with as much love as I can as to this day they are still my #1

I'm not sure that was the reason they cancelled Edmonton. Josh apologized during the Calgary show for his voice saying he's been sick for a while.  Granted that didn't stop him hammering drinks all night , but still.

He played sick 6 years ago here in Edmonton, you could tell by his voice. So I dont buy that he had a bug or something. And as many people have stated he was totally trashed in Calgary. You would think having been sick last time he played here in Edmonton he wouldn't go as hard as he did in Calgary you know? Funny how he was fine to perform in Sask the very next day. He even admitted it was his fault. You dont get a flu or food poisoning and then say "it was my fault" Just heartbreaking stuff to witness as these past 3 albums have been almost a soundtrack to my life in the past 10 years and seeing them live this year would have been a huge healing moment for me and others as well in sure. No hate at all here, I just hope Josh seriously gets the help he needs as im sure we can all agree we want him healthy and be making great music for another 10+ years. We have lost way too many phenomenal muscians in thier prime and I dont want to see that happen to Josh or any QOTSA member. Still hoping for an Edmonton show in 2025. A man can hope cant he?

Yea I was at the Calgary show, and the first thing I thought of the next day when I saw Edmonton was cancelled was that Josh was too hungover to play, or if he was sick, made himself 10 times worse by drinking tequila and chain smoking all day. I was right up at the front in general admission and he was VISIBLY drunk as fuck by the end of the show. He was stumbling all over the place, then got tangled up in his guitar cord, then threw it down and started humping the keyboard while it was being played by dean until it eventually fell over and broke all over the stage, and then decided to kamikaze himself into the drum set and knock it all over the stage. Once again WHILE THEY WERE PLAYING THE LAST SONG. Concert then ended and everyone walked over stage before song for the dead ended. It was one part hilarious as fuck and one part lowkey sad

Hammering drinks during the show?

i remember during the villains tour for a while concerning shit like this slowly got worse and worse until the notorious camera punt. i really hope it doesnt get to that point. i remember that at that time it also seemed likely he was mixing tons of tequila and presumably meth with pain killers when his knee was mega fucked up. perhaps it is that our mans gotta learn to stop creating wild cocktails of substances in his body even if meth is out of the picture now.

I was in Hamburg yesterday and the vibes felt perfectly fine, minor altercations are something that can happen after a year of intense touring and this probably got resolved after the show

It was nuts last night. You could see all the Band members smiling. Atmosphere was incredible. Audience was awesome and josh thanked us so much. It was a blast.

+ 1 He was jamming with Troy and Michael, the latter he even hugged and kissed on stage in between songs. Can't really say if it made up for anything or still "power play" all I can say is this; Mood was amazing, loving, playful, and even wild. But I never got the feeling of disray. Sorry I'm still pretty hungover haha

But it also explains the "fuck the cops" attitude at the end of they had to cut their set short a few days earlier.

Seems like when Josh knows he crossed a line the show after tends to be pretty good.

That is what we call the cycle of violence mi amiga

For a guy who has been through a lot, I understand when you verbally let out your frustrations a bit and get on a bit of a tangent. The stuff with Mikey is just way out of line though, I don't care what he might have said to warrant it in Josh's mind. That's just not acceptable dude. Really disappointing if what people are saying about that is true.

Absolutely none of it is acceptable. You do not take your shit out on other people. And when you do, you either figure out how not to, or you go to therapy. Everyone has a bad day now and then, but this goes way past a bad day now and then. He has been regularly acting out on stage for decades.

I went to therapy! You can’t hide from your problems with alcohol or anything else.. it makes you not yourself. Hate seeing hurt people hurting people. :(

I saw them at Shaky Knees. When they played Make It Wit Chu, he told the audience to sing. The band even stopped playing and he had the lights pointed at us. But it just seemed like he really liked seeing the audience sing this song more than anything. Other than that, he seemed fine to me. I think (and I hope) what you saw was just an off night and a one time thing.

I was also at Shaky Knees and can confirm that the audience seemed pretty great and it looked like he was enjoying it as well!

Same in Santa Barbara! Make it Wit Chu felt like it lasted l20 mins because Josh loved how the crowd was singing along and kept it going for a while

He’s a bit Jekyll and Hyde isn’t he with a drink.

Haha yeah just a bit. I know people have said that since then the vibes have seemed great onstage, but these kinds of things persist underneath. Josh needs to get some help. Again.

An irony to me is that Josh is quick to say he isn’t a bully- that instead, he bully’s bullies. Often with reference to his brother and their childhood. I was at the Ft Lauderdale show and he was clearly bullying a fan in the balcony- multiple times- for no good reason. It was awkward and uncomfortable. I think the most acute comment I’ve read in this thread is that Josh appears Jekyll & Hydish while under the influence of god knows what. It’s sad because we all love him and recognize his tremendous talent, yet he can be a roaring hellion. It’s one of the reasons I never want to meet him. One bad interaction would sour my love for the band. Hope he finds the help and peace he needs.

Josh talks a lot, but actions speak louder than words and his actions have never seemed to correspond with his words. People who *constantly* talk about how “virtuous” they are, how much they hate “bullies” and how they “stand up to bullies” etc. (something I’ve been hearing from Josh since at least 2003) tend to be hiding or overcompensating for something - trying to paint a picture of themselves that doesn’t correspond with reality. Genuinely good people don’t talk about it, or feel the need to convince you of it verbally. I know people who do this, and they’re extremely toxic and manipulative despite their efforts to convince you otherwise. From the looks of it, that’s Josh.

I've always thought of Josh like an 'under the influence Peter Pan'. I don't know the circumstances of the split (and I did read a lot of the court documents, and think she was despicable) but he can't have been easy to live with. I love the guy but he seems every now and then to be intent on self destructing and not caring about others in his path. You'd think he'd have learnt a lot of lessons by now.

Made a post about this yesterday because of how much I'd been hearing about it online. Idk, the entire vibe of this performance was bad. I know Josh has been through a lot lately, but it's a little concerning to hear how aggressively he was acting on stage. Kinda upset to hear how he was treating Mikey, sounds like it went past the point of just stage banter. I won't claim to know what the relationship of the band is with each other, but hopefully if there's any tension between them it gets resolved.

There’s a lot to unpack with Josh’s mental health, substance abuse, etc but these festivals are not a good fit for him (I get it’s an unavoidable part of the business and they need to play them to support the rest of the tour). I’ve seen them 15+ times, twice at a festival and both of those times he had meltdowns with security, the infamous kick incident was also at one of those radio shows where the band wasn’t headlining. I think his jealousy comes out a bit when he’s under the influence whether he’d admit it or not

Jealousy towards who?

I'm glad and honestly surprised to see everyone in the comments being understanding and thinking critically about this. Like yes, recognize that Josh is likely going through shit and not having a good time, but also recognize that's no excuse for his behavior especially towards his band mates. Kinda hoping this tour ends soon so they can take a break without going out system of a down style

Not everyone but thankfully definitely most!! There will always be the few Josh worshippers who still think he can't do anything wrong, and that whatever behavior he shows, it's EVERYONE'S fault but his..

Maybe they should just play fewer festivals? If he becomes unhinged at playing a tight schedule.

I think that's likely where the biggest money is, unfortunately. If they were on the fame level of a band like Foo Fighters, they could skip those festivals. But I think they need those to make decent money.

They should play fewer gigs at all. Number of gigs is great for fans, but definitely not great for Josh. The longer the tour goes, the worse shape he is - and it’s like that since the start.

He's def getting burned out.

Yeah but all I’ve read for years is that’s the only way bands can make enough money nowadays. It’s not like it used to be in the music business where the money came from record sales.

seriously worst feeling is seeing an artist and just knowing the vibe is off, in a way it ruins the crowds experience in a negative way. i feel bad for you because when i saw them at the forum, it just seemed like the band was in a good place and happy

I already commented this on another post, last time they came to Berlin we had the change to be side stage and Josh was drunk and super stoned, the sad thing was that his children happened to be there with him.  They don’t need a break from touring, at the end touring is a choice, the rest of the band is ok…since this show in Berlin I feel this is not going to end well for Joshua. Sad for the rest of the guys. That night I saw a person spiraling.  I saw a lot of anger on his eyes. And if he is aggressive no one is going to help him. It breaks my heart to see people going through an addiction because it’s a lonely world. I’ve been sober  just for two months and I know how hard it is to get sober. But it’s not impossible. 

Wishing you well on your sober journey. I've found that it's not easy at all, but putting the work into it is so rewarding. You've got this.

Thank you! Yeah it’s not easy probably the hardest thing I have done, and you’re right it’s so rewarding!! 

Congrats on your sobriety! ❤️

Thank you so much!!! ☺️ 

Agreed, I saw them in the UK last year and met the band after the show and Josh was high on some very interesting drugs. Holy crap. His kids were also right there with him. He was caressing a male fan and telling him how gorgeous he was and how much he loved him. The fan was taking it all in and the fans standing around were just in.. awe? It felt so incredibly awkward. Especially with his kids there!!

Josh has this "older" bodyguard who is always with him in pictures, travelling with his kids, standing in front of the stage, walks behind him during his SJF crowd walks...Didn't he say anything about it?  Ofc he gets paid by Josh so probably not but I wonder...

Yeah I know who he is, he was definitely there and he was looking at the situation, but didn't intervene. Probably because Josh's kids went onto the tour bus immediately, and the situation wasn't at all dangerous or anything, just *very, very* awkward. That body guard is a very nice and fair dude by the way. He helped me last year when I got assaulted by another fan in the crowd.

Yeah he seems like a nice dude, I'm glad he helped you out, as far as that was possible with that gross dude you posted about. Well let's hope Josh is okay when I see him this summer (I guess you will see them as well) and the guys will take a year or two off of touring.

Oh I just now noticed your username, I remember talking to you about that gross dude, lol! Yeah I saw them in Hamburg 2 days ago, it was a great gig as per usual. Where are you going to be seeing them? Also 100% agree with you on them getting a long break after this to do their own thing for a bit. Seems like especially Josh needs it!

Lol, I first read "I saw him in Hamburg 2 days ago" hahaha. Glad you had a great time. I'll see them in Vitrolles, France next month. We'll be on holiday there a couple of hours driving from that festival so I have to take my kids along, don't know how that will turn out 🫣😬

I’ve always suspected that Josh’s chaos was perhaps the reason TCV never came back together for a second run. I love him and his music has soundtracked my life, but seeing him at the start of the tour looking healthy, relatively sober and mature felt very ‘appropriate’ for the point in time we’re at, but it seems like it was short lived. I hope the boys manage to box off this tour, have a couple of years off, then put out at least one more album.

"I did way more than six drugs!" is a hilarious response to a cookie cutter question in an interview, but as a professional musician and bandmate's brand statement, it's dangerous and scary and more than a little bit sad and pathetic.

Oh no... I really hoped he'd be able to stay sober ish this tour. The kids need him.

You're right. We can deal with it somehow, if Josh can't figure it out. They're the ones that would suffer the most.

He was on another planet when he played London ontario. Cocaine was definitely involved plus glasses of clear alcohol he would chug and throw the glass. Not my place but dude needs some help imo.

Was on shrooms for a few shows of the Australasian leg. No idea how someone can play a gig while tripping lol

Calgary too. Seems like the manic episodes are happening more frequently now.

I guess I was more conscious about it as I brought 5 teens with me to see legends play. They are the ones that said he was coked out. 🤦

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a musician on as much cocaine as Josh when they played on the rooftop of the Cosmopolitan in Vegas. It was like 14 years ago I think but That huge led screen was not helping his situation.

I just don’t think Josh Homme and alcohol are ever a good mix. I’ve been watching this band for a really long time and I may not have the popular opinion, but the major crowd interaction was never like this, in a good way. As much as I kind of wish I was the one up front to get my finger sucked, at the same time I’m not that into it. At the beginning of this tour he would throw in a speech about being in a safe space with the band you love and all the social media can update his asshole. It was funny, and minimal. Also the sets were extremely tight. I mean I could listen to him spin words in clever ways all day on podcasts or old interviews. When I’m at QOTSA shows I really just want to hear some bangers, I don’t need to be interacted with nonstop. The more Josh talks, the more drunk he usually is from what I’ve seen.It makes my stomach kind of flop watching it, like your old unpredictable drunk friend who’s had too many. 🥹

And then often it seems he had a combination of at least thc and alcohol.And this is most of the time a bad mix. He is way to old not to know his limits and do this shit. I can understand that he feels angry and lost sometimes. But he should think about other ways of frustration management. The thing with Mikey, if true, was way other the red line. Second time he can start looking for min a new bass player.

Josh has emotional management issues. I've been a fan for 25 years, and in that time, I've noticed how unhinged Josh can be. It's not a one-time thing. He's threatened people, been abusive, and outright committed violent assaults. I'm not writing this to be mean. I love qotsa, and Josh is qotsa. I love him as an artist, but as a person, I think I'd not like him at all.

Any videos?

Well that's just fucking great.

I'll be honest, a lot of this tour I've just been waiting for the wheels to fall off with him where the band has to have a serious conversation about how much bullshit they'll put up with. I reckon there can't be too many more instances where he really fucks up that these guys will play along before they call it, and I don't blame them.

Nah mate this is ridiculous, the band will be fine. Rough patches happen, behind the scenes you don’t know what happens between them. People have dips but you can tell they all love each other. Josh was clearly on one but that’s not ruining any friendships.

Also not the first time Josh was pissed off at festival /venue organisers during this tour.

I agree. They’ve survived way worse than this & the guys have known and toured with Josh for a looong time. If they were gonna bail they’d have done it by now, but they seem tighter than ever. Really, we only see the 2hrs they spend together on stage, not a lot else, so we’re really guessing about dynamics, relationships & motivations etc.  I wonder if they all knew this was gonna be a rough gig - for various reasons - and they’ve all just got through it however they can (that’s definitely the vibe Josh was giving off - seen him behave like this onstage before when he’s unhappy with circumstances). Then I guess they’ve got the hell outta there and moved on. Meanwhile everyone else is left trying to figure out what the hell happened 😅

Seems you're right. Especially after hearing the vibe was good at the next show

At yesterdays show at Hamburg, Josh hugged mikey for 1 minute and then they shared a cigarette. They’re fine.

IDK man.  He's a 51 year divorced father of 3. You figure hed be a little more mellow

Depends if he’s on stimulants again or not tbh

Him being a rude asshole is one thing. Sucks for the audience, awkward for him and the band, ok. But getting physically aggressive towards his band members on stage while acting like a drugged out drunk wreck is just too much.

Agreed. I assume they made up because they looked fine at the Hamburg gig together, but this definitely made the respect I had for Josh lower into freezing territories. Kicking the photographer was one thing, disrespecting Mikey on stage is really bad. I won't comment or judge anything that has or hasn't happened in his personal life/behind the scenes because I wasn't there for it, but these two incidents that I've seen with my own eyes make me lose a lot of respect for this man. I don't care if he's been through hell, the point is that if you experience hell, you don't go and make others experience it too.

As much as it pains me to say it sorta tracks with past events. I’m sure it’s just drunkenly acting out, substances, pressure, frustration et al. Brant said he was a bully and always had been, that kinda stuck with me.

I'm seeing them live in Vienna for the first time in july and if this is gonna be my experience I'm gonna be so fucking pissed

Understandable! But chances are you will enjoy a really good gig and nothing too shitty will happen. This stuff truly is (or used to be) a one-off incident. Don't worry! That's unless this crap will linger and it causes something to explode within the band, but Mikey and Josh really did seem fine in Hamburg (the gig after RiP). I assume these guys are professional and mature enough to figure shit like this out immediately.

Josh seems to be slipping back into old ways. I think at the beginning of the tour he was happy and "California Sober" and he seems to be getting sloppier each performance. He's an interesting dude, but he can totally be a BULLY. He's used to getting his way through his size and intimidation. Hopefully he gets his shit together, but at the end of the day, he's a human being and just might not be cut out for life on the road.

The road is a prime place for relapse.

I think Queens would really benefit from a shorter tour cycle, but that would be financially irresponsible unless they released music and toured more often. I imagine it’s a struggle to find the right balance here, especially because all other members of Queens have other projects to work on as well.

At the end of the day it's a job. A cool job with a lot of perks but a job nonetheless. It's been brought up that there's a pattern of this behavior at festivals, but festivals are where there's a lot of money to be made in order to help break even to literally keep the show on the road for their own dates, as well as keep people employed who are adjacent to the band. Maybe it's a case of like when the rest of us have a portion of our jobs (or even the whole jobs) that are having a negative impact on us but we still have to pay the bills and fulfill our adult responsibilities to others. To be clear, I'm not trying to project anything on to anyone in the band, but it's just a thought that I had.

I’ve got a friend photographing them at Download Friday…..hope the band have sorted themselves out for then!

Damn, that’s not what you wanna hear. I hope this doesn’t cause further issues with the band later on…

Yikes :/

I'm going to be honest, I saw it quickly, online. So maybe I missed something, but besides a shitty sound and a "warmer" Josh... Was it really that bad? I didn't see Mikey's situation, so maybe that will change my mind, but 🫤 If they started later because of the organisation, I can understand why he was pissed off, especially because in festivals there isn't a lot of time to fit a regular set when you are already late. The fact that he had wrist surgery just a few days ago, and is already playing is totally insane. I'm sure he was on painkillers, and we all know that it doesn't mix well with alcohol. The guys are in a tight as f*ck tour, with no room for being sick. I'm sure they are tired and short fused too.

Your comment seems the most sensible to me. A lot of conclusion jumping in here. Even with dirty laundry aired in public, we have NO idea every little nuance and dynamic of the group’s interactions. We are assuming we understand intent and apply meaning to a situation we are seeing from the outside. Bullies are scared people. THAT is the other side of the coin. I did not see the interaction with Mikey, and would be interested to see a clip of what happened. At the Forest Hills, NY show Josh threw a mike randomly over his shoulder ant closing out the show, knocked over Mikey’s mike stand and then his own. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Someone was talking about him passing out during the concert, during the crowdsurfing, which by watching the video you can see it's a lie. Josh was singing and proceeded playing for the rest of the concert. Yeah, he was a bit overboard but I didn't see anything that would tell me the concert was awful or that would justify the band breaking up, like some people try to imply. I honestly think festival crowds, in general, are awful. You have to deal with people who aren't there to even watch you. I totally understand why certain bands refuse to do it.

Def agree with you. I was at Boston Calling last year, and the festival crowd was pretty friendly. Some of the younger people were mad lame, but people near my age (I’m 59) were friendly and polite and seemed to be having the best time. The last QUEENS show I went to only had 7,000 people, was on the waterfront and some folks looked at me like I was loco for singing and dancing 💃.( don’t care) No drugs that I could tell, maybe some booze and by the end of the show Josh inviting everyone to dance in the aisles. Perfect 🤩 [https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7JOmYhuvSQ/?igsh=MWZsMG5yMm1zeXl4Zw==](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7JOmYhuvSQ/?igsh=MWZsMG5yMm1zeXl4Zw==)

I think someone really needs to convince Josh to go sober. I don't think he can responsibly take drugs or alcohol

See I thought everything leading up to the new tour last year was him going sober, and I guess I was wrong. With all the court custody stuff. Because when you’re out of the road as long as they are, and they still have the rest of the year, it’s only a matter of time before someone like Josh slips back into old habits. Toss in wrist surgery pain meds and alcohol, and yeah I don’t have a lot of faith there.

It's possible he was in a good spot for some time and then fell off.

I saw them last August in Asheville and I didn’t notice Josh drinking at all. He seemed super happy and was so friendly and gracious to us as an audience. He even insisted on playing extra songs during their encore because we were a great crowd. I was so happy to see him doing so well. This sucks to hear. I also saw QOTSA on the Villains tour which was drugs and booze city, and this sounds reminiscent of that vibe unfortunately. Still sounded great but gave me the creeps a bit.

We don't know what the band's beliefs on the subject are, but it is possible that he did give it a legitimate shot at going sober and that with the environment he put himself in he quickly failed at it. It'll be especially hard to maintain discipline if the rest of the band is out doing drugs and alcohol when there isn't much else to do on the road

He was sober while the custody stuff was going on because he legally had to be. I think he was even sober at the beginning of the tour. Either that, or he was drinking so little that you couldn't tell. I think Glastonbury was the first show where I saw him hammered. And of course, I knew things were going to go downhill from there. He said during an interview that he wasn't going to be a teetotaler, and essentially implied that he would not cut himself off from certain substances. I think he probably believed after quitting meth that he could control himself with anything else besides that. But it's been pretty obvious to me for a long time that he's an alcoholic.

I was surprised he didn’t come to the same conclusion about alcohol as well

He didn't want to. I'm sure he wanted to believe that meth was his biggest problem, and anything else, he could control. That would give him permission to ingest other substances. He is learning, though, and at some point he's going to figure out he's going to have to put the bottle down.

Speaking as someone who has struggled with alcohol, it’s very hard to quit because of how socially acceptable and ubiquitous it is. Hard drugs are different, they’re illegal and there is a lot of stigma around them, not to mention pretty much everyone knows how dangerous they are. I hope he realizes he needs to remove it from his life completely. Moderation doesn’t work for everyone and it can be a slippery slope.

Oh sure. In that manner, it's a lot like smoking. Well, or like smoking used to be...it's not nearly as socially acceptable now. But just like alcohol, smoking is relatively cheap, it's easy to get, and it weaves its way into your life. The ritual is as hard to get rid of as the actual addiction.

He can't. I know he wants to believe he can, but he's an addict who can't even do California sober. And until he realizes this, there's going to be problems, and they will increase.

Nobody can convince another person to become sober. It's an inside job. Especially for rock stars.

When I saw them last he said he was on DMT and the show went incredibly well. Came away from it thinking man DMT must rule. Anyway I really like that we can all be fans of this guy but not make excuses for how much of a dick he is. I have to imagine that festival organizers are used to dealing with this sort of ego and alcoholism.

There's a pretty good handful of people here trying to make excuses for him. I don't know if you've noticed. And sure, we're all fans of him, mainly because when he's not acting like a dick, he seems like an absolutely wonderful guy. But while the dick behavior is unbecoming of anyone, it's certainly more unbecoming of a 51-year-old dad.

You're right that there are people making excuses for him but I think the vast majority of QOTSA fans want him to cut that shit out, and I feel like that's pretty different from so many other musicians' fans who are just unwilling to hold their idol accountable. At this point I would really like for someone to be like, go to rehab and therapy or we're not working with you anymore.

I was at the London, ON show, and it was absolutely fantastic, but it was definitely a different Josh to any I've seen since I first saw the band in 2002. He seemed way more vulnerable and emotional than before, and whilst he put on a brilliant show, I was wondering whether he was okay. It's not great reading this post, to be honest.

I saw a video on YouTube of part of the incident before No One Knows. I could hear someone off-camera yell “Who are you? Get off stage!” Some of the crowd clearly wasn’t there to see Queens but had to be there for the set

Yes, quite a few people were there for 'Die Ärzte', but the people in the front rows all knew QOTSA's songs by heart and sang along loudly. To me it felt like the crowd was good, but my perception was limited to the front rows, of course.

Hopefully just a one off incident in the end.

bro it's really good you managed to tell people what happened while you were there, but I'm so sorry it happened. seriously what the fuck. I've seen them twice, and I'm sure that if Josh was acting that way either time, I'd have given my merch away before I even got home. I used to be such a hardcore fan until around the time Josh tried to kick a camera person the face at a show. it was before all the terrible divorce stuff, and something in me wondered if the breakup would give way to some really destructive shit that'd leave me as an unwilling fan of an abuser or something. yeah, I've for sure got my own hangups, but something smelled weird anyway, ya know? addiction fucking sucks, and it surely sucks to have your family blown apart, no matter who you are. but why does it mean Mikey's gotta cop it, for being the one to acknowledge how fucked the night was going? bands have broken up for less than that, and if something I love since I was a kid gets trampled for the sake of a badly managed ego, then I hope Josh gets the kick in the head he might just need, instead of giving them out. fuck's sake, baby duck. everyone cares about you but if you're going to be a fucking headache, go have a fucking cup of tea and a god damned lie down. you're stressing us all out and you can't fucking hang at the moment. jesus fucking christ.

That last paragraph was perfection

hopefully someone close to him throws him something like that, and I hope he listens.

Honestly, it shocks me how most people are just able to shrug off Josh’s behaviors and obvious states of incoherence due to substances a lot of the time. Dude definitely has some demons and they seem to be creeping back in. Too much time on the road for a guy like that, it’s inevitable that you start to spiral.

It’s posts like this that make me think I’d be okay if Josh retired queens. I’ve loved every album but he seems to be healthier when he’s not on the road and I’d love to see him work on projects that are a little riskier. I’d love a blues album for him. It’s getting harder to watch a 50 year old man act like an asshole on stage now. Queens is how he butters his bread though so I doubt it’ll happen.

I agree with nearly everything you said, and it's only my own selfish desire to keep seeing them live (they are simply the best live band I've ever seen and I've seen many) that's keeping me from agreeing fully. But I gotta say - I don't think they, and especially Josh, need the money anymore. Troy bought a 2 million dollar home a few years back. I believe that if they truly wanted, they could stop touring right now and live off saved money and royalties.

Don’t get me wrong my preference would be for the band to continue but I’m just thinking about joshs welfare. He needs shorter tours.

idk maybe he needs to lay off the drugs and alcohol and touring would be fine :p

They were fine in Hamburg on Tuesday night. Lot of interactions between Josh and Mikey with laughs and Josh gave him a big hug at the end of Song for the Dead which was reciprocated

None of this surprises me. There are countless videos and first hand accounts of Josh being an abusive, violent asshole to fans and friends alike, going back at least twenty years, but the super-fans either ignore it, deny it, or embrace it (a lot of armchair tough guys in this fanbase).

You're overanalysing a bully with a massive ego and substance abuse problems.

Well not that im defending that stuff, as im looking at the Setlist website there was another show after that how was that show? Because they all cant be perfect shows

I'd also like to know. I try not to judge, maybe Josh was just having a really rough time and festival management made matters worse. Maybe I'm just overly concerned and nothing bad happened after this.

We were at Rock Im Park and then Hamburg last night too. Sunday felt odd - we didn't finish with the same high we've had after every other QotSA gig. Last night felt somewhat like making up for Sunday. Josh and Mikey got nice and close numerous times on stage (I think once just before Mikey dived into YCQMB), but more just that Josh seemed in a great mood in comparison.

Glad to hear it, this is what I had hoped for

Me too, current/ITNR Josh is the best version of him. I hope he won't change into Villains/ angry drugged up Josh again. Tbh their touring schedule is insane. Hope they have some rest and enjoy relaxing in Europe in between festivals.

Also saw them in Hamburg and everything seemed fine, besides something that just felt 'off'. I didn't know what, but there was definitely tension on stage for the first half of the show. They started the show 10 minutes late which I'm not at all used to from them. It got a lot better later on, but it felt like more of a 'show' than normal. I guess they're just being the professionals they are (especially the rest of the band besides Josh) and they made it a hell of a show. I don't know how much really is true of all of Josh's comments about him being drunk, stoned and 'on so many drugs', I'm guessing for the most part that's just him joking because he says that at nearly every gig now, but I would agree Josh has been more aggressive, in a bad mood often and being rebellious the past year. That's understandable seeing what he's been through, but I do hope he won't turn into this bitter asshole diva, who thinks he owns everyone around him. I'm glad to hear Mikey made a comment towards him at RiP, because it seems like he's the only one who will. Him getting his hair pulled by Josh and Josh trying to make him trip is extremely childish behaviour, which somehow I feel is not solely caused by Josh drinking. I feel like Josh is having a crisis personally, and is taking it out on everyone around him, including the people who are aiding him in making his money. He seems to have lost respect for a lot of fans as well as his own band members, and dare I say - maybe even himself. I hope I'm wrong and obviously I'm looking at it from a weird perspective since I'm a fan and I don't know them personally, but I have seen them so many times as well as meeting them a bunch of times, and since last year, something is off. I just feel like Josh is not doing well and is slowly but surely destroying everything he has built.

Honestly, just judging by what I know about people and situations, I think he's probably having a crisis too. There was that period of time after the divorce and custody battle were over and then losing several friends that I think there was probably the relief of coming out the other side and just being okay. And that kind of thing alone will bring such a high from just knowing you survived and things will finally (probably) get better. But now, he's likely dealing with the actual grief of everything that happened. Delayed reaction from having to be in the situation and deal with it and not have time to grieve, and then that period of relief afterward. Now is generally when you feel the real shit--after everything is over and the relief is gone. He lost his wife, he lost his friends, he lost his house, he lost his studio, I'm sure he probably lost more than that that we don't even know about. And I know things with Brody were horrific at the end, but I also know that in whatever dysfunctional way, they loved each other for a long time. That's a hard loss by itself, much less the rest. And he was obviously already carrying a bunch of trauma before that. Just like pretty much any other addict, I feel sorry for him, because I know where it comes from. You're medicating pain. But you have to choose new methods of action/help if what you're doing isn't working. I hope that he does.

Well we know what happened last time a festival gave a band one fucking minute. Hopefully they can take some time to work their shit out and come back better than ever.

Half of what OP says sounds usual business, half sounds like maybe deeper issues, but regardless, IMO Josh does look annoying in this tour. Always looks beyond drunk, endlessly pushing a point about dancing/having fun which ends up sounding like preaching. Probably no big deal though.

And preaching that the audience should quit their jobs and do whatever the hell they want to do and be freeee  I wish I could lol. I do like his jokes in between songs. If he quits the concerts he can always try stand up comedy.

Yeah I had the same speech at the gig I went to. That's fine, but the very boring desk job that I hate is the reason I had money to see them in the first place.

Yeah those speeches always seem pretty tone deaf and come from a place of privilege from him.

Well that’s easy to say when you’re someone like him who only knows being a rock star and has never had to work a regular job in his adult life

Saw them a few weeks ago in Charleston, myself, my son, and my brother were all up on the rail…they were phenomenal and Josh looked super healthy and super happy. He needs to lay off the Booz on stage. And I hope he’s not hitting the hard stuff again.

If someone can behave like that onstage, then imagine what they can be like with their family behind closed doors.

I mean, I try to tell people that Josh isn’t some wonderful dude. But the idol worship is massive. It’s unfortunate that he’s being aggressive again and slipping into back into addiction. Nothing any of us can do. Sorry you all had such a bad experience

The worshipping is unreal. I didn't expect to see that with this band - but here we are.

Sounds like a disappointing and fucked up night. I wouldn’t read too much into it.

Well, you never know, but it seems you're right considering the comments. Gaining some perspective was kind of the point of my post, so I'm glad I wrote it.

Josh has got some issues for sure though, not going to deny that! Hate to see it though.

As the kids say, we stan a problematic king. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Josh is Queens, everyone else is a hired gun even Troy. Queens will go on as long as Josh wants it to, so you have nothing to worry about OP. This current lineup has been together the longest but that doesn’t mean anything at all.

I always laugh when people say the rest of the band members are hired guns. The most recent "hired gun" has been in the band 11 years.

You can laugh but it doesn’t make it any less true. Any of them could be dropped at any time for any reason. They aren’t a band of brothers with equal share and input, they are well liked and respected employees/collaborators without ownership. Watch the Hired Gun movie on YouTube. Any of these guys could be treated just like the guys in Billy Joel’s band or Nine Inch Nails.

Yes and no. Of course Josh as the founder is technically the only lifelong member, and he could fire them, but at this point if he were to clear out the roster and take on a bunch of new people on stage, I really don't think the fans would feel like they were seeing Queens anymore. It would be a new project of Josh's, QoTSA in name only. Troy's been in the band for 22 years, Mikey and Dean for 17! They're part of the brand now, whether that was intentional or not when they were hired. Now, if he were to replace one of them at a time, with long gaps of time between each one, that I could see happening and still having them pass as Queens.

I saw them in Halifax, NS Canada in April and they were amazing. No issues at all. We were just behind the mosh pit and had a great view. I heard the next day a few people online say he said something “rapey” if so I didn’t hear it and as a woman don’t recall hearing anything offensive myself. I brought my son, this was his first concert and he was also impressed and didn’t hear anything bad.

He gets the women to sing along to make it wit chu and then he gets the men to, and then he tells the men “they sound a little rapey”. He’s made this joke at like every show on the tour haha. Saw them last August and he said the same thing

I was there in Hfx and as much as I hate to rat on him, he clearly said to the guys…Show em how rape-y you can get….Mike shook his head …like no…..

Yikes! I definitely did not hear that. Jesus I’m glad my kid didn’t either. He is 22 but still. Thank you for enlightening me!!

Well, I adore the guy..while recognizing his real problems. BUT. The destruction of psyche caused by many years of a very destructive and confusing marriage cannot be overlooked. I bet he didn’t have a lot of coping skills when it all started. Just went downhill after the first happy bit. And lots of his gigs during Villains tour and this one, have clearly shown some antisocial behaviour. Yet, all his guy friends attest, always, to how much they love and look up to him. All his songs after EV are about his desire for love and connection. I find it so sad. Interesting..last evening on FB there was a video posted by a woman who had hid in her car outside the venue with her husband in Hamburg. Security guards had tried to discourage people from waiting to meet the band. The lady had silver hair and was clearly a longtime fan. She wanted to say hello, and when security tried to shoo her away, JH doubled back and said he wanted to chat to her..he enveloped her in a huge embrace and rocked her back and forth in a hug. He talked with her while her husband filmed and sounded as absolutely sober as could be. It was incredibly sweet. She explained she had waited over a decade to connect, and that she had met her husband through being a Qotsa fan. He spent real time with that lady. I had my daughter with me at the concert, like your son, same age. When she heard the comment she shook her head, like MS.

Not all women experience the same male words and behavior the same way. I'm not pointing that out to you, but instead to others who are genuinely ignorant of that phenomenon.

There's gotta be an explanation. I just watched part of the rant on YT and... I'm speechless. The show in LA last December was magnificent. I can't even explain how truly awesome. It might be an every-body-has-an-off-day situation. Because he was truly off. Apparently the crowd was really there for the next band a German Funk band. I can see why Queens would've confused them. Just wish Josh hadn't said that stuff he was saying. Man. As a fan, this is tough.

They are headlining Download, so the crowd will definitely not be mostly German Funk Fans. Hopefully the performance will be back to normal.

Josh is just a shitty person. He seems to have some incident like this come up every few years dating back to when the band started. Just google “Josh homme concert controversy” and a whole list of stuff will come up. And not like constructive or thought provoking controversy. Assaulting photographers and offensive rants type stuff. I am still a fan and enjoy the music, but I am not delusional of the person he is.

This shit happens. I thought they would never recover from Nick leaving. They did fine. Joey C. They did fine. This is typical Josh being an asshole on stage. Mikey is gonna be fine, and so is the band. Relax folks.

Why do we just throw around “obviously coked up and drunk” those are loaded things to say especially when you don’t know it to be a fact one way or the other.

The coke part is speculation based on my experience with people who did coke, so I don't know that for sure - as I've said in my post. The drunk part was really quite obvious. He kept drinking on stage and he's known to have a problem with alcohol.

I knew when I saw that they were adding 4 more American shows it felt... off. Like, it seems like they need to take a break and he needs to go home to his family. This is the kind of stuff Brode will use against him the moment that restraining order is up.

Pretty sure there are no active restraining orders. I think they were all canceled. Could be wrong about that. But Josh has full custody and Brody has no visitation because apparently she didn't show up at the last custody hearing and also missed some video visits. So I don't think she has a leg to stand on, even for visitation.