"Do we need to take disciplinary action?" Howlin' Pelle Almqvist yelled at the crowd.
"You don't talk when I talk. You clap". he retorted at a fan yelling something nonsensical. Thus began one of the greatest live acts of today-with a false narcissism that the audience readily embraced.
The Hives graced San Francisco's Fillmore stage Wednesday night, paling all other forms of entertainment in comparison. A few months ago, they were simply the opening act for a much more commercialized Maroon 5 but it seems that The Hives have finally begun to receive the credit that they deserve.
After a too long sub par opening set by local act The Donnas, the suspense-filled instrumental A Stroll Through Hives Mansion was played. The crowd eagerly cheered for the band to come on stage, and they soon obliged. They ran out and started off with a high energy deliverance of You Got It All Wrong. The opening lyric summed up the vibe throughout the show: "You wanna dance, you really wanna let it go";. A couple of minutes in, it was evident that even the reluctant, shy members of the audience were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The Hives provided an excellent medium for expressing this exhilaration through body shaking and head banging, and they were fully aware of this fact. Lead singer Pelle instructed the audience to "clap when the band stops playing", and yelled "stick your arms in the air, this is a stick up!"; The Hives delivered a strong musical set accompanied by a spectacle of high kicks and stage dives, with matching black and white school boy uniforms and consistently witty remarks.
The band mostly played off of their recently released Black and White Album, with a good amount of songs from their acclaimed Veni Vidi Vicious and a couple of tracks off of Tyrannosaurs Hives. The set plus encore included seventeen tracks, going a bit over an hour and a half. Almqvist introduced Main Offender by stating that it was about him in a partly humourous but profound tone. The most memorable songs of the night were Die All Right and Tick Tick Boom by sheer virtue of how much interaction there was with the audience. Well All Right exemplified a signature Hives characteristic: the eclectic song-within-a-song phenomenon that keeps things fresh rather than repeating the same old lines over and over again.
The song that yielded the highest energy from the audience was definitely the rendering of their widely known Hate To Say I Told You So; almost everyone sang along and there was an unofficial consensus to jump excitedly and dance like there was no tomorrow. Diabolic Scheme's slower tempo allowed the audience to catch their breath and snap a few pictures before the band delivered Won't Be Long, which Almqvist described as the anthem of people desperate to leave their small town. The Hives themselves hail from Fagersta, Sweden, a lesser known city in the vicinity of Stockholm.
"Some people think that I talk too much. But that's about the time that I feel I've talked too little". Pelle kept the audience entertained with his feigned egotism between every couple of songs. His vocals hit home hard, never overshadowed by the amplified music or the screaming fans. Never one for vocal lessons, Almqvist has been singing for fifteen years, since the band was formed in 1993.
Lead guitarist Nicholas Arson was phenomenal throughout the show, with both strong solos and mind blowing riffs, particularly during You Dress Up For Armageddon. Bassist Dr. Matt Destruction and guitarist Vigilante delivered excellent performances as well, although their showmanship was quite limited in the back corner of the stage. Drummer Chris Dangerous gave a solid backbone to the music and persevered though he was evidently exhausted. The dedication of the band to their music was exemplified after the show when they obliged every autograph request and posed for countless photos. They conversed with their fans so casually that it seemed that they were oblivious to the fact that they are globally acclaimed rock stars.
I asked Nicholas Arson if he had ever done theatre, eager to understand the source of his dramatic and highly amusing facial expressions. He replied concisely "No, I'm not the kind of person who thinks that just because I am a musician that I'd make a great actor". Even after millions of record sales and fans all over the world, The Hives are still unpretentious and unaffected by fame. Fortunately for us, they remain first and foremost a garage rock band, and are grounded in the spirit of creating good vibes through music rather than dwelling on glamour. The Hives are high up on the list of must see live acts, and their performance will unquestionably transcend you to rock n roll bliss.
- 22 February 2008
The Hives - Won't Be Long
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