Brightest Young Things

all photos: Mike Danko
all words: Morgan Hungerford

Them Crooked Vultures is a SUPERGROUP, and the 9:30 Club on Wednesday night was packed with exactly as many DUDES as you'd expect to come see a band made up of members of Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. Oh right, and Nirvana. Oh right, and FUCKING LED ZEPPELIN. Suffice it to say that Dave Grohl + Josh Homme + John Paul Jones (+ QOTSA's Alain Johannes) = CAN'T MISS PARTY TIME, even (especially?) for the older gentlemen, and I'm not 100% on this but I think I may have seen a grown man cry. I definitely saw, like, 4 grown men spill beer on me, but hey, I got there late and had to stand next to the bar. I guess I earned it.

I missed the openers, LA's as-yet-unsigned Mini Mansions. You can check them out here; in my imagination they sounded INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL and looked like THE LUCKIEST BAND IN THE WORLD. Really though I read somewhere that they sound a lot like the Beatles, and if I hadn't been at DC9 watching Libby eat fried pickles I would be able to tell you if this were true or not. Either way, I can't fathom what it must be like to suddenly be touring with TCV, who, without an album, sold out an entire UK tour in twelve minutes. Let's get real - "palled around with one of the guys responsible for 'Stairway to Heaven'" looks SICK on a resume, no?

The crowd was amped for Them Crooked Vultures, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking that - for a band that has yet to even release a full song - the hour-plus set sounded all warm and familiar. Why? BECAUSE A BAND MADE UP OF MEMBERS OF FOO FIGHTERS, QOTSA, AND LED ZEPPELIN SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE YOU'D THINK IT WOULD. Actually, it sounded mostly like Queens of the Stone Age, just steeped in 105.9 THE EDGE - immediately likable but complicated enough for every song to qualify as fucking amazing. My fave was "New Fang;" John Paul Jones's part at the end of "Spinning in Daffodils" was pretty sick, and "Dead End Friends" was brutal - and very, very Queens. Onstage there was no showboating (Josh Homme's perpetual man-swagger doesn't count) and no sparring egos - Homme graciously and quickly lauded Grohl and Jones, and banter was kept to a minimum. They were just three guys doing nothing more than what they're good at: BEING ROCK GODS. LOUD, TIGHT, ROCK GODS. And for the record, I would like to state that having seen Them Crooked Vultures means that I have now borne witness to Dave Grohl drumming, and this is something that I would like brought up about me at when I am discussed at cocktail parties and college reunions. Make a note.

Them Crooked Vultures is a SUPERGROUP, and they are worthy of the title.
This, of course, begs the question: who'd win in a wrestling match, Homme, Grohl, Jones, or God?
YOU TELL ME.

Previously in Live DC:

• 5/22: LiveDC: Spirit Animal @ Red Palace
• 5/22: LiveDC: Astra Via @ Black Cat
• 5/22: LiveDC: Father John Misty @ Rock & Roll Hotel
• 5/22: LiveDC: Drive-By Truckers and Lucinda Williams @ Merriweather
• 5/22: Photos: Summer Camp takes the "Ladies of Town" Drag Show
• 5/22: LiveDC: Penguin Prison & Class Actress @ RNR Hotel
• 5/21: LiveDC: James Morrison @ 930 Club
• 5/21: Photos: Que Sera L'Anniversaire @ Napoleon
• 5/21: LiveDC: La Sera/ Beach Week @ Red Palace
• 5/21: LiveDC: The Black Keys & Arctic Monkeys @ Merriweather Post Pavilion