The concert film and companion audio are available now
Queens of the Stone Age’s new concert film, Alive in the Catacombs (AITC), makes its TV premiere on the Criterion Channel today (Fri, Aug 1st). The film is the cinematic realization of a dream years in the making, an audiovisual document of the band’s long-rumored performance in the tunnels of the famed Catacombs of Paris.
Recorded in July 2024, the film captures alternative-rock legends Queens of the Stone Age in a way you’ve never experienced. Each song was meticulously chosen and reimagined to resonate with the dark, atmospheric mood of the Catacombs of Paris. The result is an intimate, unprecedented performance surrounded by millions of human remains—”the biggest audience we’ve ever played for,” as frontman Josh Homme puts it.
This film, and the subsequent audio release, present the band in its most essential form: Joshua Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita, and Jon Theodore. They are joined by a three-piece string section and use unconventional instruments like chains and chopsticks for percussion. The entire performance is unfiltered, as every song was recorded live in a single take with no overdubs or edits.
The audio was recorded by Mark Rankin, François-Xavier Delaby, Henri d’Armancourt, and Alban Lejeune, and produced by Mark Rankin. Final mixes were done by Mark Rankin, Joshua Homme, and Michael Shuman.
