Queens of the Stone Age stopped in El Paso, playing at the Abraham Chavez theater on February 11, 2014.  If memory serves me, they had only been here once before, in support of Songs for the Deaf.  I didn’t go then and was quite surprised that they were coming back in support of …Like Clockwork.  I didn’t want to miss this one, so I snagged a couple of tickets as soon as the pre-sale was announced.

They opened with the fast paced “You think I ain’t worth a dollar but I feel like a millionaire“.  That song still packs a punch even without Nick Oliveri on lead vocals.  From there it was a non stop assault.  Queens is a pretty tight band, and one of the few whose songs you can count on sounding excellent live. Josh Homme’s vocals have been the constant through the bands revolving door lineup over the years.  I would wager he’s one of the current top rock vocalists.  No auto-tuning or trickery required.

The Chavez is a medium sized venue, pretty much every seat gets you a good view.  QOTSA played like they were in a stadium though, it was LOUD.  Three songs in I had to resort to ear plugs (I’m old, I know.)  They slowed mid-way for the title track off the latest album, which I’ve posted a clip of below:

(Turn the volume down, its quite loud even on the slow parts)

The show lasted about an hour and 45 minutes and they did not disappoint.  They came out for an encore and on the last song they literately brought the set down.  Shortly after the start of the last song, Song for the Deaf, Michael Shuman knocked his amp stack to the floor, leading Homme to pull the drum kit down. Rock n’ Roll baby!

If they come again I’ll definitely catch them next time.  The Sun City has finally been getting some acts worth seeing.  With last year’s NIN, and upcoming Old 97’s in May I guess IT IS ALL GOOD EL PASO.

Here are some more crappy cell phone pics from the show: QOTSA on flickr

Sunday was rally day for the EPMINIS and the day’s rally was set for White Sands New Mexico.  After 3 three days of rain it was nice to get out and enjoy the break from the bleakness.

The group met at the Starbucks at Redd Road and after a quick trip update, we were on the way.

There was quite a turnout from the El Paso crowd as well as some MINI motorists from New Mexico.  After a brief stop and Micky D’s on Highway 70 in Las Cruises Cruces it was a high speed burn out to the monument.  There had been reports that because of the rain we wouldn’t  be able to drive in far but the weather had turned in our favor and the road in was open.

There was some sledding:

and sliding:

Via marisoldiaz79 @ Instagram

There was plenty of great photo opportunities and the MINIs all lined up are always quite a show. After a couple of hours it was time to motor.

On our way back, we had a bit of a MINI excursion on our own. We stopped at a few old buildings on the outskirts of Las Cruces and I wandered around for some pics:

Here’s a full flickr set of the days activities: EPMINIS @ White Sands

Also check out the EPMINIS page for a feed of pics from other members of the group: EPMINIS

“I am personally accountable for providing prompt, accurate, friendly, and cost-effective service to our customers”

That phrase, originally meant to be a reminder to some faceless phone bank worker while making and taking phone calls 8 hours a day, could also be interpreted as the phones motto.  When plugged in, this phone will work as instructed. Dialing and ringing, over and over. No need for updates, apps or GPS coordinates. A simple cost-effective way to talk from point A to point B.

It has a real “ring-tone” to boot.

Rudolph Volkswagen hosted this years El Bugo event.  The show consists of a ton of classic and current VWs and was well attended.  Some of the unique rides included various Buses, GTIs, Beetles and every Thing in between.  There were even a few custom baja bugs:

It was a eclectic mix for sure, with even the versatile T2 truck well represented:

   The weather was perfect and I hope that El Bugo will continue and only get bigger.  Who knows, I might even have an entrant someday:)

View the whole set on flickr, here!

Time to get out and vote!