Well well well, well...well. The Hives? The Hives! THE HIVES!!!! T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is an exclamation. It’s exclaiming that the Hives are a band that played songs that vibrated my inner ears in such a way that I wanted to pull my eyeballs out of their sockets and reattach them in my ears just so I could get to see what ROCK looked like. At the very least, that’s what lead singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist expected of me…and rightly so.

Turns out I liked them. I liked them quite a gosh-darn lot. Amen. 

Straight off the bat, the support band Henry Fiat's Open Sore basically didn't really stand a chance. What chance they did have, alas they didn't take. The songs blurred into one, and the slipknot-esque "antics" fell slightly flat, to the extent that they were successfully intimidated by a foppish student in the front row. (Note to HFOS - Dont pass the microphone to your sternest critic - "You Fuckin' SUUCCKK!!" being a fairly damning but hilarious indictment). Ouch. Would have been ok if they could have handled the heckle, but they seemed to crumble, and didn't really say a word after. Way to lack the courage of your convictions.

As soon as the Hives stormed the stage, the atmosphere flipped on its head. As a frontman, Pelle works. And he works hard. Along with lead guitarist Nicholaus Arson, he so clearly enjoys what he's doing, and brings the audience along for the ride. The tried and tested moves of one Mr M Jagger are obviously employed, but to great effect.

The music was tight but jagged, the lyrics weren't really discernable at times, but the melodies were strong enough that for the most part that didn't matter. Best of all, the tracks off the new album seemed to stand up shoulder to sinewy shoulder with the established stompers. Theatrical to the end, The encore left us all aching for more. Pelle Almqvist being a fizzing battery of molecular energy, and leaving us all with enough soul food to shit feet for a week.

Before this little musical event, I was vaguely familiar with The Hives, but had pretty much written them off as one of the production line "The <Blanks>" bands that have been arousing the trousers of record company execs for the past few years. I was mistaken, oh yes.

It seemed to me that the majority of these bands can cut a reasonable record in the cosy confines of a recording studio, but put them in front of an audience, and the style over content becomes all too apparant. This was a goddamned shit-kickin' exception proving the arse off of the rule. Perhaps I'm over-egging the pud-pud a touch, but if you were there, you know...You know.

The Hives - My New Favourite Band.

 Photos by Bobby Goulding (c)

The Hives played at Rock City on Wednesday 16 April 2008

The Hives on myspace

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