After a long absence, the Lollapalooza tour rolled into Atlanta with a wide range of bands attempting to appeal to all listeners' tastes. With bands like Incubus, Audioslave, and the newly cleaned up version of Jane's Addiction, the average listener would be quite pleased, but to this jaded music fanatic, the abovementioned bands leave little to desire. I'm to old to deal with Incubus, I have watched Soundgarden since they were touring the small clubs to the degree that Audioslave just doesn't cut it, and Jane's Addiction without their original bass player and assorted drug addictions just doesn't have the same oooomph. Now to the truly non-corporate, still original group of the day, Queens of the Stone Age.

I have had the pleasure of seeing these guys on this tour four times this last year and a few months, and it just keeps getting better and better. After the first time that I saw them with Dave Grohl, I knew that they could not improve, but Oh was I wrong. With their new drummer stolen from the Dark Overlord Glen Danzig, the Queens have built a touring juggernaut that is hard to dismiss. Pounding listeners over the head with their ever-growing list of molten classics, the Queens take you on a journey of a wide array of styles during their hour-long set. From Nick Oliveri pounding his bass as he screams his way through a sonic assault to Josh Hommes with his strangely emotionless voice singing the more rock radio friendly tunes like "Go with the Flow", you don't know what to expect next. But wait! Half way through the set, Mark Lanegan the reincarnation of Jim Morrison and former singer of the Screaming Trees, takes a long drag on his cigarette and walks to the center of the stage to add one more voice that is hard to forget. The three vocalists can create a harmony that can best be described as Black Sabbath backing up the Beach Boys. Where Queens of the Stone have always been Josh Hommes and Nick Oliveri's project, it has been announced that the current line-up is the permanent one. If their Lollapalooza date in Atlanta is any indication, we have lots to look forward to as we chant.... Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, Marijuana, Ecstasy, and Alcohol........