Never one to mince words, Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme has taken issue with a few tactics employed by Jay-Z when the band played the rap mogul’s Made In America Festival two weeks ago.
By all accounts, QOTSA’s Made In America set was an electrifying experience that stood out among the rest of the diverse festival lineup (check out our reviews/photos from the fest), but backstage the story was a little more awkward. Homme took issue with the way he and his bandmates were treated before they went on stage, according to a new interview with CBC Radio 2’s Strombo Show. The interview kicks off at 1:40:00.
“That guy’s a kook, you know. He has his security frisking the bands on the way in,” Homme explained. When it came time for the towering ginger to make his way through the backstage area, he came face to face with a security guard who wanted to search him, and provided the staff member with an ultimatum: “I just told him ‘if you open up my bag, then we’re not playing, so I guess it’s up to you now to decide whether I’m playing or not’.”
He continued: “No one’s ever done that…. You shouldn’t frisk my guys, you should fuck off.”
Jay Z also apparently asked bands on the bill to pose with a bottle of the rapper’s own brand of Ace of Spades champagne, which was provided in their dressing rooms. “I was like, ‘That’s not a gift – that’s a marketing tool.’ I destroyed it, ’cause I thought it was rude overall,” Homme said.
While the security measure was likely not a direct order by Jay Z, it’s anyone’s guess as to the source of the champagne marketing ploy. But the fact remains – smarmy opportunism and unnecessary suspicion is never okay, and the music world will hopefully always have the likes of Mr. Homme to keep the bullshit meter in check.
