When rock and roll icon Dave Grohl from The Foo Fighters and Nirvana says that Queens of the Stone Age are one of “the best rock bands in the world, like nobody even gets close,” then you know that you’re in for something special.

The Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater played host to Queens of the Stone Age on Monday, Aug. 7 on their “The End is Nero” tour.

Prior to QOTSA (Queens of the Stone Age) hitting the stage. The Connecticut crowd was introduced to two bands. The first act that opened up the evening of music was The Armed out of Detroit, Michigan.

The punk/metal band hit the stage around 6:45 and completely grabbed everyone’s attention who showed up early to show support for the openers. Both singers from The Armed at one time or another ended up in the crowd. Whether it was moshing in the pit or crowd surfing, The Armed left it all out there.

After The Armed left the stage, Phantogram was up next around 7:45 due to The Armed staying a little late.

Phantogram, who plays electronic rock and dream pop, was the perfect middle man between the type of music The Armed and Queens of the Stone Age played.

Phantogram, which features Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter from Greenwich, New York was able to win the crowd over after a few songs and as I stood in the crowd, I saw some fans look over to each other and give an approving nod while Barthel was moving around on stage.

After the minor time setback, at 9:00 the Bridgeport was graced with “Smile” by Peggy Lee out of the speakers which signaled one thing, that Queens of the Stone Age are hitting the stage.

The very first song they played was their hit and my personal favorite, “No One Knows” off of 2002’s “Songs for the Deaf.” The band’s setlist went as follows according to Setlist.fm:

1. No One Knows
2. The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret
3. Smooth Sailing
4. My God Is the Sun
5. Emotion Sickness
6. If I Had a Tail
7. I Sat by the Ocean
8. Carnavoyeur
9. The Way You Used to Do
10. Negative Space
11. Paper Machete
12. Make It Wit Chu
13. Litter Sister
14. In The Fade
15. God Is in the Radio
16. Go With the Flow
17. Song for the Dead

What I liked about this setlist was that they mixed in their older material with some of the songs off their brand new record titled “In Times New Roman…”

Sometimes bands will release a new record and never play any songs off it live and it makes me wonder what the point of releasing new music is if you’re not going to play it live for your fans.

I am very happy that Queens of the Stone Age decided to add “Emotion Sickness,” “Carnavoyeur,” “Paper Machete,” and “Negative Space ” to their list.

While being serious rock and roll musicians, it was fun to see lead singer Josh Homme interact with the crowd. Whether it was thanking a father for bringing his son to the show, or asking the crowd if they wanted to hear another new song and or hearing another “oldie” and getting “upset” that they chose an older song it was great to see the band taking time to interact with their very loyal fan base.

Throughout the night, I saw fans of all ages singing the words to every Queens of the Stone Age song and singing at the top of their lungs no less. I saw tonight just how loyal their fan base is. Here’s a little secret, they’re extremely loyal.

Going into the show, I only knew a handful of songs but I always heard people say that you have to see them live because they’re so great and they’re a tight band.

Now I know exactly what they meant.

Throughout the entire night the band never missed a beat, whether it was playing their songs front to back or throwing in a snippet of The Rolling Stones song, “Miss You,” the band brought their top game to a sweaty, sticky and hot crowd.

Even though it felt like it was almost 100 degrees out, the band played on for the audience who jammed into the general admission area eager to see their heroes.

I am so glad that I finally was able to see Queens of the Stone Age live. I love seeing bands that have their music down and are overall a tight, well oiled machine. Queens of the Stone Age are no different. I would in a heartbeat see them again, In fact, I am currently looking at tickets to their next show.

If you get the chance to see Queens of the Stone Age while they are in your town/city, go see them. It’s not that often that you get to see such a tight knit group. Everyone should experience a Queens of the Stone Age show at least once. You have to see them because they will absolutely blow your mind.