“I’ve always wanted to play in this place – always,” declared Queens of the Stone Age leader Josh Homme during the early portion of his band’s set Tuesday night at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre. Homme lived in Seattle for a while in the ‘90s and must have attended his share of shows at the venerable old theater. And on Tuesday, Homme and company commemorated this kinda sorta homecoming by demolishing the Paramount with a titanic blast of good old fashioned RAWK! (Stops typing momentarily to raise devil horn salute.)

I’ve seen the Queens five or six times, and those guys never disappoint. The latest configuration of Homme’s supporting cast includes Troy Van Leeuwen, Joey Castillo, Dean Fertita and Michael Shuman. And on Tuesday, those guys seemed like the last true rock stars, Gen-X throwbacks at a time when the cool kids prefer the arty stylings of Sufjan Stevens over a good, Sabbathy riff. (No offense to Sufjan, who I actually like, but what’s up with Gen Next?) Queens delivered the goods, from the opening notes of "Regular John" to an encore that included the rarely performed "You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire." My only disappointments were that they didn't do “Everybody Knows That You’re Insane” (sadly left off the set list for something like the fourth tour in a row) and “I Think I Lost My Headache” (listed, but apparently omitted at the last second. And speaking of the set list, check back later and I’ll figure out what happened to my jpeg of said list. Heh, hope I didn't accidentally delete it.)

In contrast, I was lukewarm when it came to opening act Jaguar Love. That’s the new Portland-based indie super group composed of former members of Seattle bands the Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves. All of the above are shining example of bands that hipster seem to drool over nowadays, but that I don’t quite get. Sigh, must be getting old.

Before and after, I was on the lookout for Seattle rock royalty since Queens shows tend to be good for a sighting or two. And lo and behold, who do I spy on the way out? Why, it’s Death Cab for Cutie’s Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr chewing the fat with one of the sound and light guys. And later in the lobby I ran into renowned rock poster and comic artist Justin Hampton, whose profile was bolstered a few years back after he designed a killer series of posters for Queens a few years back. Hampton tells me that he, too, is joining great Seattle’s indie rock exodus and moving to Portland.

Anyway, enough of that jibba jabba. Here’s some of what you missed last night.