qotsa villains tour

Review: Queens of the Stone Age Get Glammy, Groove-Centric With Mark Ronson

By Will Hermes

Will Hermes

Queens of the Stone Age Reveal ‘Villains’ Album Details, New Song + North American Tour With Royal Blood

No more cryptic clues from Queens of the Stone Age on their new album, Villains . The band has just announced an Aug. 25 release for the record along with North American tour dates with Royal Blood .

We’ve finally got all the info for Villains , which will be QOTSA’s follow-up to the phenomenal 2013 album, …Like Clockwork . After hundreds of shows, memory lapses, unexplained injuries, a one-year long detour with Iggy Pop and multiple Grammy nominations later, Queens are ready to bring it back for their seventh studio album. “The most important aspect of making this record was redefining our sound, asking and answering the question 'what do we sound like now?' If you can’t make a great first record, you should just stop—but if you can make a great record but you keep making records and your sound doesn’t evolve, you become a parody of that original sound,” says frontman Josh Homme .

“The title Villains isn’t a political statement. It has nothing to do with Trump or any of that s—t,” Homme adds. “It’s simply 1) a word that looks fantastic and 2) a comment on the three versions of every scenario: yours, mine and what actually happened… Everyone needs someone or something to rail against—their villain—same as it ever was. You can’t control that. The only thing you can really control is when you let go."

Villains was produced by Mark Ronson (Paul McCartney, Adele) who is a massive QOTSA fan. "Queens are and have always been my favorite rock n roll band ever since I walked into Tower on Sunset and bought Rated R in the summer of 2000, so it was incredibly surreal to be welcomed into their secret, pirate clan—or the ‘jacuzzi’ as Josh likes to call it,” says Ronson. “I also knew that my super fandom alone would not keep me in the jacuzzi. There were moments during the making of the album in which I was aware I was watching my musical heroes craft something that was sure to become one of my favorite moments on any Queens album. And to have some part in that felt like being in a dream --a very heavy, dark, wonderful dream.”

Beginning Sept. 6, Queens will hit the road with Royal Blood, starting in Port Chester, N.Y. After rounding the East Coast and the North, QOTSA will finish the tour back in New York, this time at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Fans can now pre-order Villains on vinyl, CD and digitally. With each pre-order, fans will receive an instant download of “The Way You Used to Do,” which you can listen to above. Check out the track listing for Villains below along with QOTSA’s full North American tour routing.

Queens of the Stone Age, Villains Album Artwork

Queens of the Stone Age, Villains Track Listing:

1. Feet Don’t Fail Me 2. The Way You Used to Do 3. Domesticated Animals 4. Fortress 5. Head Like a Haunted House 6. Un-Reborn Again 7. Hideaway 8. The Evil Has Landed 9. Villains of Circumstance

Queens of the Stone Age 2017 North American Tour Dates:

06/22 — Niagara Falls, N.Y. -- Rapids Theater 06/24 — Montebello, Quebec -- Amnesia Rockfest 2017 08/10 – Ventura, Calif. -- Majestic Ventura Theater 08/12 – San Francisco, Calif. -- Outside Lands

With Royal Blood:

09/06 – Port Chester, N.Y. -- Capitol Theatre 09/07 – Philadelphia, Pa. -- Festival Pier 09/09 – Toronto, Ontario --  Budweiser Stage 09/10 – Grand Rapids, Mich. -- 20 Monroe Live 09/12 – Columbus, Ohio -- Express Live! Outdoor Pavilion 09/13 – Pittsburgh, Pa. -- Stage AE (Outdoors) 09/15 – Cleveland, Ohio -- Agora Theater 09/16 – Chicago, Ill. -- Riot Fest 10/09 – Salt Lake City, Utah -- The Complex 10/10 – Morrison, Colo. -- Red Rocks 10/12 – St. Louis, Mo. -- Peabody 10/13 – Kansas City, Mo. -- Crossroads KC 10/14 – Saint Paul, Minn. -- Roy Wilkins Auditorium 10/15 – Milwaukee, Wis. -- Eagles Ballroom 10/17 – Detroit, Mich. -- Fox Theatre 10/18 – Indianapolis, Ind. -- Old National Centre – Murat Theatre 10/20 – Washington, D.C. -- TBC 10/21 – Boston, Mass. -- Agganis Arena 10/22 – Portland, Maine -- State Theatre 10/24 – New York, N.Y. -- Madison Square Garden

See Queens of the Stone Age in the Best Hard Rock Album of Each Year Since 1970

See QOTSA's Josh Homme in 11 Rockers Kicking Fans Off the Stage

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Josh Homme Warns QOTSA Fans: ‘When We Come to Town, We’re Hoping to be Someone’s Villain’

Queens of the Stone Age singer Josh Homme talks touring, the band's most recent album, "Villains," and why working with Mark Ronson made perfect sense.

By Dave Brooks

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Playing the part of the villain seems to come natural to Josh Homme, who relishes his role as rock ‘n roll’s modern day provocateur.

“It’s no secret that we’ve been at the other end of someone’s pointed finger before,” the Queens of the Stone Age front man tells Billboard during a break in Germany on the band’s Villains World Tour in support of their seventh studio album of the same name. If the band’s 2013 record .. Like Clockwork  was Homme’s somber retreat into darkness, Villains is his dancey self-revival, produced by Mark Ronson  (Lady Gaga, Adele, Amy Winehouse).

See latest videos, charts and news

Queens of the Stone Age Bring Rock 'n' Roll Swagger to NYC's Madison Square Garden

After a couple months off, Homme and QOTSA are back touring support in of Villains and putting tickets for the second leg of their tour on sale today (Nov. 10), including a return to The Forum in Los Angeles on Feb 17, six months after performing at Dave Grohl’s Cal Jam fest in San Bernardino.

Billboard caught up with Homme (pronounced Hommy, rhymes with “mommy”) to talk about his love for the IE, the sounds of Villain  and why Satan always makes for a great dance-party theme.

I was really happy for Dave. That’s a big risk. From the perspective of being in a band and what you wish a festival would be like, taking little pieces of European festivals that are kind of wonderful and everyone is still free to do what they want, and mixing that with your own line up, is a big risk. It was quite good to be one of the bands there and Dave has a way of saying “we should really enjoy ourselves, everybody go!” He’s always had that way about him. 

You’re from the Palm Desert, not far from the Glen Helen Amphitheater, the home of this year’s Cal Jam. I’ve always had mixed feelings about Glen Helen — it’s a gigantically magical place, albeit a bit cantankerous and pitiful. What is your relationship with this glorious dump of a music venue?

To me, it’s in the elbow crease of many freeways, in the middle of nowhere. It’s where you are when you’re about to go somewhere else.

You pass it on your way to Vegas or when you’re trying to run from something.

Yes. It’s a high use area for drug trafficking. But it’s part of the Inland Empire, which sounds so much like the Roman Empire until you’re there. Then you realize it’s not Rome. As Nick Oliveri used to say, “it’s a great place to get gas, take a shit and keep driving.”

Do you feel comfortable taking credit for making the Inland Empire credible and perhaps even cool?

Queens of the Stone Age Share Behind-the-Scenes Clip From the Making of New Album 'Villains'…

The title of your latest album is Villains . You’ve already said it’s not about Trump or any particular person. Is it more of a construct, a shape-shifting creature?

I just love how the word looks, especially the hardness of all the lettering, except, of course for the unfortunate letter S. It’s a word that immediately elicits a reaction, and because of that immediacy, much like pin the tail on the donkey, people know exactly where they want to put that word. It’s in a different place for everybody. Real art elicits a reaction and it’s immediate. And I knew what we were about to do. I know what the climate is in the world. I’m living in it.  

Are you the villain?

I believe it’s an honor to be the villain if you’re a villain to some asshole. That’s a wonderful thing to be, and I’m always proud to be that villain when it’s someone that I am not on board with. 

Does that make you a villain of a villain?

Yes. Oftentimes, if you are being played the villain, it’s against what you believe to be a villain. I’ve always had a little bit of a disdain for humanity and a chip on my shoulder, but I’m not a passive-aggressive person and we don’t have a passive-aggressive relationship in our band. Everyone says what they believe — you have to be honest when the time is right.  

So you aren’t the real villain?

How about this — when we come to town, we’re hoping to be someone’s villain. Most of the world will just text somebody and tell them “you’re the villain.” But we’re ready to walk right up and stand in front of you and say “It’s me, I’m your villain.” If anything, that’s just a good mantra for life.

It’s also very confrontational.

Well, I don’t think it pays to be reactionary. That’s why striking the first blow sometimes forces the other person to react. “We’re here. What are you going to do about it?” I think living in the now starts by being willing to initiate a discussion, some action, and ultimately elicits a reaction. But I would rather be on the vanguard of action than sit in the throne of reaction.

What was it like working with Ronson?

I’ll say this — We were all aware of what revealing Ronson’s involvement in the album was going to do, and “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” felt like the song version of the dirty trick that Ronson was going to be.

Where can you hear Ronson most on this album?

I’m not sure there is any one place. Where do you taste the right spice in a recipe? It reigns omnipresent. As a band, our request is that someone in that role become the sixth member. We move at the speed of inspiration, and when someone has a good idea, we race to catch to that inspiration. That way the only thing you are chasing is what you’re passionate and excited about instead of focusing on what you don’t like, which is a silly way to bond with somebody. 

With that song I had this idea about letting the floor drop out at the apex of the song and hitting the string section, which was almost like the percussion section instead of strings. I was having a hard time finding how to transition into that, and Ronson pulled this deejay trick using a filter drop and make it immediate. Old school Queens would take time to get there, but this had to be like a rug pull, because pulling the rug was the theme of the record, like trying to find the right moment to get someone to look left and hit them from the right side instead. 

Did you tell him you wanted to change your sound?

We knew we we’re going to try to reinvent and redefine our sound, which coming from a band that has a sound, can be tricky. And so we needed someone on the other side of the glass. We’re supposed to surprise and excite people — that’s the part of the job I really like  — to surprise people by leaping out of the darkness to go boom. 

But when you take risks like that, you face all the tweets and Facebook comments and the chatter from the interwebs. Does that bother you?

I don’t read about myself, I don’t think it’s healthy for me. I can already guess what everyone’s going to do, not because I’m Alfred Einstein — Albert’s dumber brother — it’s just that it’s obvious. What else are they going to do? My hope is to agitate, agitate, agitate and in order to say ‘”if you pretend you know in advance, you are wrong.” When I ask for an open mind, I’ve got to have one myself. It’s a great way for our audience and our band to say “whatever music it is, as long as it’s good, it doesn’t matter.” I’m hoping that if we ever decide to play reggae, it’s reggae you could like.

Sounds like you don’t fear losing your audience.

Au contraire. I always assume we’re going to lose 15 percent of our audience with every record. I assume that we’re going to probably shake off some fairweather friends who are on for one bus stop and I’m OK with that. I told Ronson “if 15 percent of the people don’t hate you, you suck.” And Ronson very acutely said “I’m just trying to get it down to 45.”

You just said fairweather friends, which happens to be an incredible track from your last album. Was that intentional?

Let’s talk about“The Way You Used To Do” video. Did you do all your own choreography and dancing?

The truth is I tore my knee by 10 in the morning, and there was so much more I wanted to do that I couldn’t quite get to. But I love to go dancing and again, with Ronson pulling rugs and  going where we’re not supposed to go — which is really one of my favorite things of all time — I thought “what if we made a satanic dance video that was Cab Calloway inspired and had death metal backup dancers.” I wanted to have the audience do a deal with the devil. The director of the video is Jonas Åkerlund, a death metal drummer from Sweden. Who else could do this but this guy? Who else would know that it’s real? And after each take, he would look at me and say “hail Satan.” And I would respond “hail Satan.” Even still today, that’s how we great each other.

There’s a lot of rock stars getting into entrepreneurial businesses — tequila, wine, even pasta sauce. I’d like to pitch you on a business idea that might be interesting — Homme’s Salamis.

Homme’s Salamis?

Yes, fine artisanal processed meats.

Ha! I drink a lot of tequila so I’m sure I can picture myself owning a tequila thing but by the same token, I think a lot of the times people split their focus by trying to sell you champagne or bottled water, which by the way has to be the world’s greatest business. But I’m not interested necessarily in hawking anything for you, or to you. When people say “I’m working on my brand,” that makes me want to take a hot iron and burn you. I never begrudge anyone their success and what they want to do — the way to support artists you love has been stripped away over the years. I have to deal with eBay kids who want me to sign something they can upcharge my fans — they’re getting in the way of our relationship.

And a lot of the world is very entitled and has high expectations and is easily disappointed. That’s kind of lame. But at the same time, I’m not pointing any fingers and it doesn’t make me lose sleep at night. I understand why people want to preserve themselves and have something else. They are not simply relying on music, because that can be scary and difficult and challenging.  I’m always expecting someone to walk in the door and say ‘”no one likes your music anymore, it’s over, go home.” It’s why I try to enjoy it now – that and because I haven’t crossed the threshold into selling water yet.

Learn more and buy tickets for the Villains World Tour at  QOTSA.com .

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Queens of the Stone Age “Villains” Tour

• By: Steve Jennings (Photos and Text)
• April 2018 , Wide Angle
• April 12, 2018

Solaris Flares light the audience. Queens of the Stone Age photo by Steve Jennings

Queens of the Stone Age are touring in support of their newest album release, Villains , bringing high energy to the stage in a lighting design that is also programmed and directed by Emmanuelle “Gigi” Pedron, who has also crafted looks for Jack White, Ryan Adams and At The Drive-In.

Gigi Pedron took Leroy Bennett’s concept and made it her own. Queens of the Stone Age tour photo by Steve Jennings

Before Pedron joined the tour to design, the band had asked designer LeRoy Bennett about concepts, and he came back with a plot containing GLP X4 Bars on poles as side lights. The band liked that idea very much.

When Pedron was brought in for the design, she was told — and she quotes — to “f**k it up [and] make it mine.” So she came on as designer, programmer and director.

“It’s a work in progress, too. There’s not a leg of the tour that’s the same as the one before it. It is very convenient and safe to keep the same design over the months, but the band and myself like the challenges, the changes, the evolution and freshness night-to-night. It’s the edginess that make Queens of the Stone Age one of the biggest rock bands in the world, and we want to keep that… our tour is called Villains , after all.”

Upstaging’s Sabers adorn the stage. Queens of the Stone Age tour photo by Steve Jennings

After a few weeks of the tour, Pedron decided to add GLP X4 Bars on the floor, on the back behind the band and on trusses. “It’s a great fixture for color freaks like me, with a beautiful and flawless color mix and great velocity. The band wanted danger on stage — they wanted unusual placements, obstructions, interaction. After a few of my X4 Bars broke because of being thrown on the floor, we quickly reached out, and Upstaging were able to come up with a solution — custom-made LED strips on a spring. It looks simple, but a lot of engineering was involved in it. The band can now play with the lights, lean on them, drag them across the stage as they please.”

The Sabers are spring-loaded. Queens of the Stone Age tour photo by Steve Jennings

‡‡         Sabers on Springs

Upstaging has been looking after the lighting for the Queens for several years. When called upon to design something that would allow band leader Josh to shove lights in any direction and have them re-erect themselves, they came up with the ideal solution. They built custom poles and lined them with their own Saber light fixtures, a dual row of LEDs lining a strip of metal in 10mm increments, like video LEDs. They attached these poles to a spring which, in turn, is mounted to a 60-pound horseshoe base. ( See image at left .)

LED fixtures make up the majority of the rig. Queens of the Stone Age tour photo by Steve Jennings

The Queens tend to tour all over the world with little two week runs mixed in with festival performances and one off events. For the band’s recent West Coast shows in the U.S., they obtained the overhead touring system from VER, due to the locality of these shows. The Upstaging spring units fly to every gig.

Budget is always a fight, notes Pedron — but she tries to not let that affect her designs. “‘Less is more’ is as true now as it ever was. I have multiple small fixtures on my rig. The Magic Dots are the tiniest, brightest, fastest lights I’ve ever seen. Ayrton is releasing LED products every year that are top notch quality. I also have Solaris Flares… they’re so bright, solid and reliable.

“During our European tour, I’ve achieved one of my biggest lighting fantasies by having a full LED rig,” Pedron adds. “I had the Quantum Spot from Martin Lighting and I really, really loved it. Talk about a great, small, light and bright fixture.”

Martin MAC Vipers silhouette the stage. Queens of the Stone Age tour photo by Steve Jennings

‡‡         Timecode… NOT

There is no timecode on the show — “No way, not now, not ever… everything is live and I like to change it up every day depending on my mood and the venue. There are no cues per se, it’s just me and the band having a blast! It’s art in vivo, a live canvas, and the result is different for every audience.”

Pedron says that Queens of The Stone Age is one of her all-time favorite bands. She knew every song, their back catalog and side projects, way before joining the tour. So in that respect, programming was a piece of cake, and if the band want to change the set list mid-show, it’s not even a problem for her. “I mostly punt it like I’ve been doing it for the past 18 years since I first started behind a console.”

Speaking of, Pedron says the grandMA console is her favorite. She first started lighting with an MA Lighting Lightcommander 24/48 eighteen years ago, then moved to the Scancommander and then to the MA1, then MA2… and soon to the MA3, which MA Lighting will feature at Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt this month.

“I have a great relationship with MA Lighting and would never change my console,” she says. “It is the industry standard for a reason! Every single user can configure the console and use it as they please, what a fantastic tool. It’s also is a very fun console to customize as I like to change the color of my console accordingly to the tour I’m lighting.”

Queens of the Stone Age Villains Tour

LD, Lighting Director & Programmer: Emmanuelle “Gigi” Pedron

Pre-Tour Lighting Concepts: LeRoy Bennett

Lighting Cos (U.S.): VER, Upstaging

Lighting Crew Chief: Colin Craig

Lighting Techs: Matt Bulter, Matt Partch

Tour Managers: Alexis Lower. Kevin Carter

Production Manager: Rob Highcroft

Stage Manager: Jack Dunnett

Custom LED: Upstaging

Staging: All Access

1               grandMA2 console

64            GLP X4 Bar20’s

40            Claypaky B-EYEs

19            Martin MAC Vipers

14            Elation Cuepix WW2’s

10            Ayrton MagicDot-R’s

12            Solaris Flare LED strobes

More Queens of the Stone Age tour photos by Steve Jennings:

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Queens of the Stone Age

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• May 24 , 2018 Thursday 8:00 PM Buy Tickets

Event Information

On the tails of completing the most successful North American run of their storied career, Queens of the Stone Age have confirmed a second installment of the 2018 Villains World Tour, stopping at Budweiser Gardens with Royal Blood on May 24th!

The 2017 Villains Tour reaffirmed Queens of the Stone Age's interminable prowess as live performers, culminating in an electrifying two-hour, 20-song, career-spanning set at New York’s hallowed Madison Square Garden – their first time headlining that stage – which garnered some of the most enthusiastic reviews the Queens have ever seen:

“On stage at MSG, where countless others have played rock shows before, Queens of the Stone Age come across as refreshing originals… massive and cool at the same time. It’s a hard rope to walk and one Queens of the Stone Age excels at.” – CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND

“The seasoned rockers were on fire, leaving no doubts as to why they were born to play huge shows at high volumes. In the chaos of fast strobes, smoke machines, and saturated lights, QOTSA were rock solid and dominant, almost daring the effects to overshadow their all-encompassing sound (an impossible feat).” – PANCAKES AND WHISKEY

Other markets were just as blown away, with Port Chester, Grand Rapids, Cleveland, Salt Lake City, Denver, St. Louis, Kansas City, St. Paul, Milwaukee, Detroit, Indianapolis, D.C., Boston, and Portland, ME selling out, leaving in their wake tens of thousands of satisfied fans and dozens of ecstatic reviewers:

"Queens of the Stone Age plays music that sounds like grunge and nü-metal never happened, and the sleazy, strip-club glam of 1980s hair metal was allowed to grow and mutate in new ways over the decades....Adding these elements together, they then pummel you with sheer volume. The music was muscular, sexy and loud, and the audience was even louder."—PORTLAND PRESS HERALD

“A thing of beauty... a wonderfully ugly, gnarly, twisted batch of songs that offered equal parts release and rejoicing for the sold-out, cramped-but-lively crowd”—MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

"[QOTSA] turned in a tight, muscular set with the black-clad quintet in ferocious lockstep amidst a stage full of slalom-like light poles... the show focused on Queens’ latest album “Villains,” whose melodic anthem “Fortress” was the best performance of the night, but the group sampled enough older favorites... to acknowledge the long-time fans in the sold-out crowd." – THE OAKLAND PRESS

Produced by Mark Ronson and Queens Of The Stone Age, Villains was released August 25 on Matador Records. The album debuted at #1 in the UK, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland and Portugal, #2 in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Norway and Ireland, #3 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the U.S. album chart, #4 on Japan’s international chart and #5 in Italy—easily the single biggest global sales week of the Queens’ seven album stretch. Villains’ first seven days in existence also saw nearly 100,000 vinyl albums moved worldwide, as the record became the #1 selling vinyl LP in the UK, U.S. and Germany. Villains also took the U.S. #1 spots on the Alternative, Hard, Rock, Internet and Independent Label Album charts and #2 on the Digital Album sales chart.

Queens Of The Stone Age are Joshua Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Dean Fertita, Michael Shuman and Jon Theodore.

For further information, visit  http://www.qotsa.com

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Bag Policy: No bags larger than 12"x8" in size will be allowed into the venue.

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Ready Your Dancing Pants, The QoTSA ‘Villains’ Tour Is Heading Down Under

Courtney Fry

QOTSA return off the back of a big 2017 that had the band release their seventh album  Villains   not long after playing  Splendour In The Grass and selling out their last Aus tour in a hot minute, the Villains tour sees them hitting Sydney ,  Newcastle ,  Brisbane ,  Brisbane ,  Melbourne ,  Adelaide ,  Perth , and  Hobart (yes, Hobart!) in Aus , and both  Auckland and  Christchurch in  NZ .

The whole tour is completely all ages, so it’s truly on for young and old, folks.

They’re bringing along Northern Territory ‘s blues wizard  C.W. Stoneking for the whole run, who’s most recently been working with  Jack White on his latest album – notably the spoken word section of ‘ Abulia and Akrasia ‘.

Presale tickets are happening over HERE for  Frontier members on  May 1st from  2pm , and general sale is   on  May 3rd from 12pm noon local time.

Check out the full dates and ticket deets below, and get those ticket-buying fingers ready ‘cos this one will probably sell quick.

Thurs 23 Aug – Auckland Spark Arena ticketek.co.nz

Sat 25 Aug – Christchurch Horncastle Arena ticketek.co.nz

Tue 28 Aug Brisbane – Riverstage ticketmaster.com.au

Thu 30 Aug Newcastle – Entertainment Centre ticketek.com.au 

Fri 31 Aug Sydney  – Hordern Pavilion ticketek.com.au

Tue 4 Sep Hobart – Derwent Entertainment Centre ticketmaster.com.au

Fri 7 Sep Melbourne – Margaret Court Arena  ticketek.com.au

Sun 9 Sep Adelaide – Entertainment Centre ticketek.com.au

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Queens of the Stone Age announce June 2023 UK tour

They play a trio of outdoor gigs

Queens of the Stone Age will play their first headline UK shows in five years this summer.

Sandwiched by their previously confirmed European festival performances, Joshua Homme and co. will perform a trio of outdoor concerts in England and Wales in June 2023.

QOTSA open at Halifax’s The Piece Hall on Tuesday 20th June before playing Margate Dreamland (Thu 22nd June) and Cardiff Castle (Fri 23rd June). Isle of Wight indie rockers Coach Party will support at all three dates.

Tickets to Queens of the Stone Age’s UK shows go on sale from Kerrang! Radio Tickets at 9am on Friday 21st April.

Queens of the Stone Age last performed live in the UK in July 2018 as part of their global Villains Tour.

Their European festival dates this summer include Southside Festival, Pinkpop, Roskilde, Open'er Festival, Mad Cool, NOS Alive and Rock Werchter.

Queens of the Stone Age’s UK tour dates:

Halifax The Piece Hall – Tue 20th

Margate Dreamland – Thu 22nd

Cardiff Castle – Fri 23rd

Buy Queens of the Stone Age tickets

Rock stars' jobs before they were famous, including josh homme:, bon scott – postman.

The AC/DC legend was a postman in Fremantle, Western Australia in his late teens. Tenuously linked, postmen now deliver mail to Bon Scott Crescent in Moncrieff, which was named in the late singer's honour earlier this year. Other notable people who were postmen include Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney and Steve Carell. (© Getty/iStock)

Mick Jagger - Porter in psychiatric hospital

While he was a student at the London School of Economics in his teens, Sir Mick worked part time as a porter at the Bexley Mental Hospital. Brought up in the nearby Wilmington, Mick (who is worth an estimated £260million) was paid a reported four pounds and ten shillings a week.

Malcolm Young – Sewing machine mechanic in bra factory

After leaving school aged 15, late AC/DC founder Malcolm Young worked as a sewing machine mechanic at a Hestia bra factory in Sydney, Australia. Malcolm was in a band called the Velvet Underground at the time (not to be confused with the Lou Reed band) but went on to form AC/DC with his younger brother Angus in 1973. Incidentally, Malcolm and Angus came up with the AC/DC band name when they saw the letters – literally meaning alternating current/direct current - on their sister Margaret's sewing machine.

Josh Homme - Farm worker

While still a member of pioneering and highly influential desert rockers Kyuss, Josh Homme still worked on his grandad's farm and only quit when he launched Queens of the Stone Age in 1996 aged 25. "I didn't want to lose my grip on reality," Homme told Red Bull. "I knew the world of rock music is one that it's all too easy to get lost in, and one where you can turn into an arrogant, decadent a--hole if you're not careful." Asked if he'd recommend working the fields to fellow rock stars, Homme replied: "Hard work and a bit of humility never hurt anyone. In that sense, I think it would definitely do a lot of musicians some good!"

Ozzy Osbourne - Slaughterhouse worker

Before Black Sabbath, Ozzy was a jack-of-all-trades working as a construction site labourer, trainee plumber, apprentice toolmaker and car factory horn-tuner. However, it was his job in an abattoir that left a lasting impression on Ozzy. "I had to slice open the cow carcasses and get all the gunk out of their stomachs," he said. "I used to vomit every day; the smell was something else."

Steve Harris – Architectural draughtsman

After studying architectural drawing at Leyton Sixth Form College, the 19-year-old Steve Harris founded Iron Maiden in 1975 but earnt a wage working as an architectural draughtsman in the East End of London. Steve told Nights with Alice Cooper in 2020: "Straight after school, went straight into that job. I did my college stuff and on the weekends, two nights a week, and I made sure I got qualified to a certain degree because I thought, if the band don't work, then I'll have something to fall back on." Steve briefly became a street sweeper after losing his job, but fortunately Iron Maiden's career took off at the turn of the 1980s.

Gene Simmons – Assistant to Vogue magazine editor

The young Chaim Witz (who later renamed himself Gene Klein) was a self-certified "excellent typist" and in the mid-sixties landed himself a job as an assistant to an editor at fashion bible Vogue Magazine. Fortunately he downed the typewriter and a few years later started KISS with Paul Stanley. The rest, they say, is history.

Kurt Cobain – Janitor

During Nirvana's embryonic stages, the teenage Kurt worked as a janitor to help fund the band. Bassist Krist Novoselic said: "Here was a man who would never clean his kitchen or take out the garbage, or do those kind of chores, but Kurt Cobain was not a lazy person. Basically he cleaned toilets – that's how he paid for (our first) demo."

Chris Cornell – Fish handler

Long before his Soundgarden days, the late-great Chris Cornell earned a crust working for his seafood wholesaler. A far cry from his eventual lifestyle as a rock star, Chris told Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 2010: "My job was to wipe up the slime and throw away the fish guts. I met pretty much every sous-chef in town because they would come in and look around at what we had. I think we had the best wholesale seafood in town. The owner was impeccable about it."

Eddie Vedder – Security guard

In the early nineties, Eddie worked a variety of jobs including as a contracted security guard at La Valencia Hotel in San Diego. After the demise of his first band Bad Radio in 1990, Eddie worked as a night attendant at a petrol station. Fortunately his fortunes changed when friend and ex-Red Hot Chilli Peppers member Jack Irons handed him a demo from a band looking for a new frontman…

David Bowie – Butcher’s delivery boy

After discovering the life-changing music of Little Richard, the 10-year-old David Jones quickly decided he wanted to be a saxophone player for his musical idol. Determined, David got a job as a butcher's delivery boy to fund the purchase of his first instrument and took his first tentative step on his glittering music career.

Freddie Mercury – Market stall trader

Freddie and Roger Taylor both had separate stalls on the top floor of the now demolished Kensington Market in London in the early seventies. Alongside clothing items, Freddie sold many of his own paintings and drawings on the stall and even continued to work there when Queen released their self-titled debut album in 1973.

Patti Smith – Toy factory worker

Although it sounds like a harmless enough job on paper, Patti's job in a toy factory testing toys and packing boxes was a traumatic experience for her. Speaking about her colleagues, Patti said: "The stuff those women did to me in that factory was horrible. They'd gang up on me and stick my head in a toilet full of p***."

Joe Strummer – Gravedigger

In his early 20s Joe decamped from London to Newport, South Wales, where, alongside being the part-time frontman of band The Vultures, he worked as a gravedigger at St Woolos Cemetery. When the band split in 1974, Joe packed in his job and moved back to London and formed new rockabilly outfit The 101ers.

Keith Richards – Tennis ball boy

The legendary Rolling Stones axeman worked as a ball boy at a tennis club as a young lad – predominately for his mum and dad Doris and Herbert! He says: "My parents played tennis and I was dragged every weekend to the court as their ball boy, so I got to know the ins and outs of the game!"

Jonathan Davis – Embalmer

After studying at the San Francisco School of Mortuary Science, Jonathan became a professional embalmer. Speaking to The Guardian in 2015, Jonathan said mortuary college was an intriguing experience: "I've pulled so many dead bodies out of cars. It's like a puzzle. Trying to figure out how someone died. It gave me attention too. It was f***ing weird. I got into it for attention and ended up liking it."

Lemmy – Jimi Hendrix’s roadie

A far cry from some of the humdrum jobs on this list, the late Motörhead legend became a roadie for the Jimi Hendrix Experience in his early twenties when he was sharing a flat with Noel Redding and the band's manager Neville Chesters. He was paid £10 a week to go on tour with Jimi plus the extra incentive of "handfuls of acid."

Lars Ulrich – Tennis player

The Metallica drummer has tennis in his blood; both his dad Torben Ulrich and granddad Einer Ulrich were professional tennis players for Denmark. Instilled with a love of the game and ranked in Denmark's top 10 for his age, at 16 Lars attended the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida but realised it wasn't for him: "At the academy, I realized that my ability wasn't enough to be a successful professional, far from it, and the discipline necessary was not in me."

Tony Iommi – Sheet metal worker

The heavy metal pioneer aptly worked with heavy metal pre-fame. The much-fabled story goes that aged 17, Tony lost the tips of his middle and ring finger on his right hand in an accident at the metal factory, however, inspired by jazz musician Django Reinhardt (whose fourth and fifth fingers were paralysed from burns) it did little to thwart his enthusiasm for guitar playing. With the aid of thimbles, over the ensuing years Tony honed his inimitable and influential metal sound.

Tom Araya – Respiratory therapist

The bassist/vocalist used his job as a certified respiratory therapist (dealing with air mixture ratios, drawing blood, asthma and more) at the Brotman Medical Centre in California to partially fund Slayer's debut album 'Show No Mercy'. Pleased he escaped the humdrum life, Tom told KNAC: "I'd get up in the morning and deal with traffic; and then leave at three and deal with traffic." He was at the hospital when Michael Jackson was treated for burns in 1984.

Eric Clapton – Bricklayer’s assistant

Kicked out of art school in 1961, Clapton was told he had to work for his granddad Jack Clapp if he was to carry on living under the same roof as him and wife Rose. Making £15 a week, Eric said working with a master bricklayer "was no laughing matter" due to the hard work but "I really did love it. (My grandfather's) legacy to me was that I should always do my best, and always finish what I started."

Jon Bon Jovi – Janitor

Aged 17 in 1979, the young John Francis Bongiovi Jr. landed a job as a janitor at his cousin Tony Bongiovi's Manhattan recording studio, Power Station. It was while sweeping the floors here that John made his first professional music recording by singing lead vocals on the festive Star Wars song 'R2D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas' from Meco's 1980 holiday album 'Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album'. Balancing his day job with his fledgling rock career, John laid down a number of songs at the studios. In 2001 the unearthed tracks were released as the album 'The Power Station Years: The Unreleased Recordings'.

Maynard James Keenan – Army soldier

The Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifier singer and esteemed winemaker joined the United States Army in 1982 after being partially inspired by the Bill Murray movie Stripes. Distinguished in basic and advanced training, Keenan spent two years in the army but turned down a four-year appointment to West Point (United States Military Academy) and opted to pursue a career in music insteam. The rest, they say, is history.

Tool's Adam Jones - Visual effects on movies

Prior to achieving global fame as the guitarist with Tool, 57-year-old Adam Jones worked in make-up, special effects and set design on a number of blockbuster Hollywood movies. Famous films Jones worked on included Batman Returns, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Dances with Wolves, Ghostbusters II and Jurassic Park. Jones also created the fearsome 'Freddy Krueger in the womb' make-up for 1989 horror movie A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, and he worked on its predecessor A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. Due to his work in the special effects industry, Adam Jones has used his stop motion camera techniques on a number of Tool videos including 'Sober', 'Prison Sex', 'Stinkfist',' Ænema', 'Schism', 'Parabola', and 'Vicarious'. His warped visual creations are a mainstay of Tool's live concerts with the videos often played alongside the live music.

Listen to Everything That Rocks on Kerrang! Radio. Download our free app, listen online and via your smart speaker (“play Kerrang! Radio”).

• Queens of the Stone Age

2018 Primetime Emmy & James Beard Award Winner

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A History of Moscow in 13 Dishes

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• Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Best of Moscow by high speed train

By shuguley , February 15, 2014 in Regent Seven Seas Cruises

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Sure would appreciate someone who has taken "Best of Moscow by high speed train" from St. Petersburg could please share their impressions of this shore excursion. From the description this sounds like a very long day.

Wondering how the 4 hour train trip was in terms of accommodations, etc. Also what time did you leave the ship and what time at night did you return? Were both legs of the trip on the high speed rail (I read that slower trains also travel the same tracks)?

My wife and I are considering this excursion. We thought that if we are making all the effort to go to Russia then how could we pass up going to Moscow, walking in Red Square, seeing St. Basil, etc.

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If you are considering this on the 2015 June Baltic cruise on Voyager; my suggestion is don't. There is so much to do in St. Petersburg and although a train is one of my favorite ways to travel the time would be far better spent in St. P.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, this would be on the Voyager during the 2015 season but not yet sure exactly which cruise.

We did the Moscow excursion "on a different luxury line", but from your brief description it sounds very much like the same trip, so I will operate on that assumption. It is a VERY long day! We left the ship at 5:30 AM and returned at 12:30 AM. The highspeed train trip is comfortable, and while they call it "Business Class" it does not compare well to the equivalent class on say Rail Europe. When we did it in 2011, we did have highspeed both ways, and the trip back seemed much longer as the adrenaline and excitement had worn off!:D

Moscow itself is not that terribly different from any other big city in the world, but this Cold War kid never thought he would ever stand in Red Square, never mind walk the grounds of The Kremlin, or tour The Kremlin Palace, or see (but not visit) Lenin's Tomb, or visit The Armoury. But he did, and he loved every minute of it! Yes, it is a long day, and you barely scratch a scratch on the surface, but it is worth it. There is a tremendous amount to see in St. Petersburg, but every Baltic cruise goes to St. Petersburg, so you can go back if you choose to. Not every cruiseline offers you the chance to see Moscow.

I have not personally done this tour, but our last time in St Petersburg, the private guide that we hired for a day was leading the regent tour to Moscow on the high speed train the next day. He said it was way better than the previous alternative, which was flying to Moscow and back. He said that you actually got to Moscow faster because you didn't have to deal with airline checkin etc. it did seem like a very long day to me, and there is so much to see and do in st. Petersburg that I didn't consider doing it.

countflorida

We toured to Moscow from St. Petersburg via the hi-speed SAPSAN train last September, from a Baltic cruise on the Oceania Marina. You need to have a two-night, three day port call in St. Petersburg to take this tour because the tour typically leaves the ship around 5:00 - 5:30 AM and doesn't return until after midnight the next day. We didn't take the ship's tour; we made private arrangements with TravelAllRussia for three days of touring, the first and third days in St. Petersburg and the second day the tour to Moscow by train. Our cost for the private tour for three days was about the same as what the ship charged for the excursion to Moscow alone. There are a number of private tour agencies that operate in St. Petersburg and offer the Moscow train tours; we would strongly recommend them over the ship's tours.

All three days had private guides with car and driver. The second day, the driver picked us up at the ship and took us to the train, but we were alone on the train, and met in Moscow by the guide on the station platform. After our tour and dinner, we were brought back to the train and after the return train trip met by the driver and taken back to the ship. Because you are alone on the train you must have your own Russian visas.

If this is your first visit to St. Petersburg, I would agree there is much more to see there. We found Moscow somewhat a disappointment, particularly Red Square. The Kremlin and the cathedral in Red Square were also worth seeing. But the best thing we saw was the Moscow subway! I worked for the Washington Metro system back in the 1980s as it grew from 40 to 80 miles and although I was in the computer area, I learned a lot about the challenges of running a subway system. We used the Moscow system to get across the city from where we had dinner to the train station, and I was amazed at the cleanliness', speed of operation, the short headways maintained, and the courtesy of everyone involved. A very impressive experience!

We had been to St. Petersburg before, and so had the time to take a day and go to Moscow. Also, I really like trains, and the SAPSAN is a German train set running on Russian rails. Seats are like first class domestic air, spacious but not too plush or comfortable, but with enough room. Not too much recline, and almost 8 hours on the train in two shots is a lot for an old man. They come through and sell drinks, candy, etc. but the sellers don't speak English and no one around us helped, so we had just poor coffee once coming, and brought stuff with us for the trip back. Not too much to see from the train either, particularly on the return when it is night the whole way.

If you decide to go, take a private tour and avoid the overly expensive ship's tour. I'm glad we did it, but wouldn't bother to repeat the tour; we've seen Moscow.

Thanks so much to all of you for the thorough and thought insight. Yhe information you have provided is most helpful.

countflorida: Your detailed post is very helpful. We are not quite ready for a Baltic cruise but should do so within a year. Time enough to do our pre travel research, bookings and visa gathering.:) Thank you!

Emperor Norton

Sure would appreciate someone who has taken "Best of Moscow by high speed train" from St. Petersburg could please share their impressions of this shore excursion. From the description this sounds like a very long day.   Wondering how the 4 hour train trip was in terms of accommodations, etc. Also what time did you leave the ship and what time at night did you return? Were both legs of the trip on the high speed rail (I read that slower trains also travel the same tracks)?   My wife and I are considering this excursion. We thought that if we are making all the effort to go to Russia then how could we pass up going to Moscow, walking in Red Square, seeing St. Basil, etc.

I did this on Seabourn. IMO DONT. Take Aeroflop (er Aeroflot). The train has non folding seats where you are literally knee to knee with your fellow passenger (facing each other). Further they don't believe in air conditioning. It's also the worlds slowed bullet train. I think I would have found more enjoyment wandering around the St. Petersburg and Moscow airports.

Countflorida,

This is a little off topic,, however we had planned a river cruise in Russia but decided we would rather stay on land and have booked about two weeks with Travel-All-Russia using the private guide and driver. I'm curious as to how you found them as a tour company.

The guides they provided were fine. We had a different guide each of the days in St. Petersburg, but both were flexible, pleasant, knowledgeable and spoke English very well, as did the guide in Moscow, incidentally. She was a bit aloof, distant, not too friendly, but otherwise fine. In fact, she was the one who suggested taking the Metro, which unexpectedly became one of the highlights of the Moscow excursion. If I have a complaint with AllTravelRussia, it is with their plan and its execution (more later).

I had requested emphasis on World War II (in Russia, the Great Patriotic War) sites and info. In scheduling us, they weren't careful about dates and a couple of the sites we wanted to see were scheduled on the third day, after we'd been to Moscow. But both sites were closed that day of the week, and that info was readily available, right on web sites describing them. Also, the included meals (lunches in St. Pete, dinner in Moscow) were not what we asked for: light meals with some choices, so we could avoid things we didn't like and choose things we did like. My request was ignored; we were given full Russian meals with a fixed menu, no choice. On the first day, a fish dish was the entre, but I am allergic to fish. Fortunately, I had the e-mail I'd sent with me and showed it to the guide, and she was able to change my entre to chicken, which was very good actually. But we didn't want a 3-4 course lunches or dinner (in Moscow). We had the guide drop the lunch the third day, although we never got any credit or refund. But, particularly in contrast to the ship's tours, the prices were so reasonable we didn't worry too much about it.

The people who were on the ship's tour to Moscow saw us boarding the same train for which they were forced to queue up and wait on the way back, and asked us what we had done. I was candid and open so they were not happy when I explained what we had arranged and particularly what it had cost. Also, when we returned to the ship, we found they had laid on a late supper for those who had gone to Moscow, so up we went and had something. Well, it turns out the late supper was supposed to be just for those on the ship's tour, but we and others on 'independent' tours, there were a dozen or more of us, crashed the party, actually got there first, and they didn't realize it until the larger group arrived and there weren't enough tables/places set. By that time, the 'independents' had all gotten served and were eating; what could they do?

A couple from the larger group sat down with us and asked us about our tour, and they were the ones I told about our arrangement and its cost. They turned to others who’d been with them and announced the details, loudly enough so the whole room heard, which started a lot of bitching and complaining. I gathered they weren't very happy with the ship's tour to begin with, and this was the straw that broke the camel's back. We finished up and beat it out of there, but overheard later that one of the excursion staff came to check on something and ran into a real mess. I caught a cold on the trip, which forced me to bed the second day following in Tallinn, so by the time we reappeared we heard about the contretemps' but apparently no one recalled who started it, thankfully.

Because of what happened to us, I would probably not use AllTravelRussia if I were to go again, or if I did, I would be sure to get confirmation of every detail of the tour. They do have good reviews generally, and we were certainly helped by their visa department and liked the guides and drivers. Their weakness, I say now with full 20:20 hindsight, is that once the sales person who plans the tour, sells it to you and collects your money, he (or she) transfers the plan to their Russia office for implementation; there is no follow-up to make sure it gets done right. And that is where our problems arose; we paid for a custom tour but got a standard package with a few destinations switched, and no one checked them out, even to see when they were open the day we were scheduled to go. If you check every detail that’s important to you, it should be OK, but that’s a hell of a way to have to do business, in my opinion.

Thank you for the 20/20 hindsight observation on your Russian tour operator, and better priced than the ship's excursion cost.

Thanks very much for the feedback.

We had the same experience as you so far as price. We originally booked a Viking Cruise but, hearing some things about the river cruises that made us unhappy, looked into other options. T-A-R cost the same or less than a cruise and had us in hotels for 11 days. We opted for the private tour. They have three tour levels, based on hotels. We originally opted for the four star as it did not cost much more than the three star hotels. Finally we decided to throw it all in and upgraded to five star. In Moscow we will be at the newly opened Kempinsky which is two blocks from Red Square. In St. Petersburg it is the Grand Hotel Europe, one of the most vaunted luxury hotels in Russia. Location is important for us as the tours use up only part of the day so being in the center of everything for our independent touring is important. As with many other cities, the less you pay, the farther out of the center of town you are.

We have been working with our salesman in D.C. and he seems to get back to us with the changes we want. He recently returned from Russia so is up on everything. When I asked they said they paid the full TA commission if I wanted so I got my usual TA on board so he is watching our back and giving us that extra level of comfort. He also set up our air, which I know pays him little or nothing, and got us business class for much less than T-A-R wanted for economy, though it took working for a while with a consolidator. He's happy to get his 10 percent on this trip without having booked it. He also took care of the trip insurance. We've been doing a lot of research on the CC sister site Trip Advisor and will write a report there. We will, I guess, become a source of info for CC members after having spent 5 days in Moscow and 6 in SP.

• 4 months later...

scubacruiserx2

Anybody considering a day trip to Moscow from St. Petersburg on the Sapsan may want to look at our travelogue filled with pictures.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1927687

Very informative. Thanks dor sharing. Jeff

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Home Page › Our tours › Towns of the Golden Ring. Trips out of Moscow › Dacha Tour

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Explore Russian Summer Life: Visit Russian Dacha!

People from Northern countries soak up every bit of pleasure out of summertime. Its days are numbered, and we do our best to store up the sunshine for the long, cold months that make up the rest of the year. Russians are among those who take full advantage of the brief, hot weather.

At summer’s peak, many Russians don’t venture far. The reason is dachas , our country houses. August brings the harvest for our small garden plots, but a dacha is much more than just an economic benefit: it embodies a culture dating back to Communist times.

The dachas is a unique phenomenon in the life of anyone who lives in the boundless expanses of the Russian Federation. A small plot – just 0.15 acres – with a few currant bushes, apple trees and a vegetable patch, a little wooden house with no telephone or running water and a discreetly located outhouse. I’d love to how you mine.

How we’ll get there:

I believe that it’ll be fun to experience the Russian suburban train (electrichka), which is very popular in our country. Electrichka is inexpensive and it might even be faster than a car as it doesn’t depend on the traffic. Travelling by commuter train you’ll be able to see ordinary people and possibly talk with them. Sometimes trains offer you such “free entertainment” as listening to numerous vendors and musicians. But local trains might be crowded at certain times of the day so in some cases we’d recommend you to go with us by car.

What we’ll do:

We start the trip with the tour of Dmitrov , an ancient Russian town, founded in 1147 and called Moscow younger brother. It is located 1 hour drive out of Moscow.

Learning how to prepare a Russianlunch:

First you choose the right meat, then the right recipe for the marinade.The fire has to be started and allowed to burn down until it’s almost out, but still smouldering. If you catch it at that moment, then the meat will roast evenly and not burn.

Meanwhile, the fire keeps threatening to go out, compelling family and guests to furiously fan it with pieces of cardboard. We serve sashlik with baked potatoes, pickled vegetables and of course Russian vodka. Lunch is followed by traditional Russian tea drinking .

You’ll be so involved, you won’t even notice when it’s time to go back to the city.

The tour cost is 200 USD.

Tour price is for 2 people but I can accommodate up to 6 people in this tour, however the price will change.

Transportationis extra.

Tour duration: 8 hours

We take part in BBC series of documentaries "World's Busiest Cities"(Moscow)

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Interpreting and assistance at exhibitions and conferences, our garage ( vehicles+drivers), where to stay in moscow, what and where to eat in moscow, visa support, learning and discovery, our partners (trips to st.petersburg).

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