Them Crooked Vultures make their debut with a post-Lollapalooza set.
By James Montgomery
<P>Officially, <a href="/news/articles/1617945/janes-addiction-killers-turn-up-heat-on-lollapaloozas-last-day.jhtml">Lollapalooza ended Sunday night</a> in Chicago's Grant Park, with dueling sets from <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="1244299">the Killers</MTVNLINK> and <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="702">Jane's Addiction</MTVNLINK>. Unofficially, it ended <i>very</i> early Monday morning, across town at venerable rock club the Metro, with a surprise show by Them Crooked Vultures.</P><P>To the unfamiliar, the Vultures might seem like an odd choice to close out Lolla weekend ... until you realize that they're made up of <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="986">Foo Fighters</MTVNLINK> frontman/ former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="503135">Queens of the Stone Age</MTVNLINK> mastermind Josh Homme and <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="993">Led Zeppelin</MTVNLINK> legend John Paul Jones. And their gig at the Metro was their world premiere.</P><P>According to <a href="http://blogs.suntimes.com/derogatis/2009/08/them_crooked_vultures_at_metro.html" target="_blank">some reports</a>, the Vultures actually turned <i>down</i> Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell's request to replace the Beastie Boys as headliners at the festival, opting to debut in front of some 1,100 super-psyched fans at the Metro, rather than 75,000 in Grant Park (tickets for the gig were announced via Foo Fighter/ QOTSA fan clubs). Meaning that, in a lot of ways, this was the most sought-after ticket in town.</P><P>Taking the stage just after midnight, the Vultures — Grohl on drums (of course), Homme on guitar and vocals, Jones on bass and keys and frequent QOTSA contributor Alain Johannes on guitar — ripped through 12 songs in 80 minutes, all taken from their upcoming debut, which may or may not be called <i>Never Deserved the Future,</i> and may or may not be hitting stores on October 23 (early "promo" videos touting both those facts were revealed over the weekend to be hoaxes perpetrated by QOTSA fans).</P><P>The songs, with appropriately Homme-ian titles like "Scumbag Blues," "Mind Eraser (No Chaser)," "Caligulove" and "Interlude w/Ludes," sounded pretty much how you'd expect, given the band's pedigree. They rocked, hard — <a href="http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2009/08/concert-review-them-crooked-vultures-at-metro.html" target="_blank"><i>Chicago Tribune</i></a> critic Greg Kot described them as "fresh, invigorating and just plain nasty" — delving off into psychedelic, reverb-filled excursions and exploring proggy territory, "both of the old-school Yes variety, and the more modern Tool flavor," according to the <i>Chicago Sun-Times'</i> Jim DeRogatis.</P><P>It's not known if Monday's Metro performance was a one-off event for the Vultures — there have been whispers of a full-blown tour, but a spokesperson for Homme had not responded to MTV News' request for comment at press time. Nor was it clear whether or not they'll have an album out in October.</P><P>Early Monday, a <a href="http://twitter.com/crookedvultures" target="_blank">Crooked Vultures Twitter account</a>, which had previously posted links to the band's <a href="http://www.themcrookedvultures.com/" target="_blank">official-looking Web site</a> and the Metro's online ticketing site — posted a link to what appears to be the group's first bit of official merchandise: a <i>Deserve the Future</i> T-shirt. Cost: $30.</P>
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