N°106 THEM CROOKED VULTURES - ELEPHANTS

Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) on drums again, Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age, Eagles Of Death Metal, Kyuss) on lead guitar and vocals and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) on bass and/or keyboard makes one hell of a setup for a rockband. Put an extra guitarist on the live stage with Alain Johannes (Queens Of The Stone Age, Eleven) and it’s even more explosive.

The idea riped in 2005 in Dave Grohl’s mind but it took them four more years to find the time for this side project. It also started as a secret project between them but Dave Grohl’s wife stated in the summer of 2009 that the three of them sound like no other band before. Pretty Fucking Amazing she said. Later that summer the three of them would start a small tour through the European festivals and music halls. I’ve seen their third concert ever (again) at Pukkelpop 2009 where they were anouced as a surprise act. Some investigation by a friend of mine and me tought us they’d play in The Netherlands the day before and in Austria the day after the so called surprise gig so we were pretty sure it had to be Them Crooked Vultures. And so it was. I remember the Marquee stage was crowded with people and it started raining during the sound check so everyone fled into the Marquee tent. So did we and we were standing at the outer edge of the tent. Wind and rain pouring in our necks, enjoying the raging guitars and snaring drums. Hard sounds, special, three monuments on stage. It was great.

They only toured in 2009 because the three of them continued with their respective bands. They also released only one album carrying the name of the band later that year. They’ll get back together again someday for some more music but who knows when. Untill then you’ll have to do with a line-up of 13 songs. The one even harder than the other and all of them with a Stoneagian FooLed Queen Zeppelin Fighter sound., or something like that.