Queens of the Stone Age O2, Dublin

It has been a bittersweet few years for Queens of the Stone Age.

In 2010 frontman Josh Homme (below) suffered a near death experience when a routine knee operation went awry.

Confused and depressed, he poured his pain into the band’s latest album, …Like Clockwork. Rather than drawing strength from the singer’s catharsis, though, the LP turned out bleary and confused, packed tight with the group’s trademark sludgy riffola but with little of their customary sheet lightning swagger.