“There is a heatwave across Europe. The Hives are touring Europe. Coincidence? I think not.”
Me neither, Pelle. Me neither.
When I first saw The Hives play live at London’s (sadly missed) Astoria on their co-headline tour with The (International) Noise Conspiracy way back in 2001, a quote by frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist was the only way to begin a review. On this sticky October night in Lisbon, some 22 years later, the same remains true.
On stage and among some in the audience, the hairs may be greyer, and the bodies somewhat less limber, but Almqvist remains one of the most charismatic frontmen out there, and The Hives remain one of the most electrifying live acts you will ever see. Those catching Sweden‘s modern garage punk legends on the festival circuit or as the summer stadium show warm-up would undoubtedly witness a spectacle. This, however, a headline show in an intimate sub-1,000-capacity venue encapsulates the essence.
A word about the Cineteatro Capitólio, the venue for the evening: When I first entered the Art Deco building my immediate thoughts were: “Beautiful place, but those high ceilings are going to play havoc with the sound.” I needn’t have worried. The sound, just as the onstage performance, is impeccable.
Before The Hives took centre stage, the spotlight illuminated the supporting act of the day – Bratakus, a Scottish hardcore duo with a distinctive feature: no drummer. Two young sisters hailing from the highlands, they exuded a hint of nervousness initially, but the crowd’s warm reception quickly enveloped them. With their unconventional setup, the siblings delivered a set that might have been geared towards a younger audience, but the raw, unapologetic energy resonated with all present.
The Hives opened with “Bogus Operandi“, the first track off the new album ‘The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons‘. The crowd is instantly on board, chanting along in all the right places as if it were an old favourite. It’s a trick – winning enthusiastic approval for new, comparatively untested material – that the band manages to pull off repeatedly throughout the evening.
Pelle engages the audience in a humorous exchange in one of his typically charismatic interludes: “This is the part of the show where you agree with everything I say,” he orders.
“What is your name?” The crowd enthusiastically responds “Yeah”! Ok, they get it. “The Hives is the greatest band of all time,” he declares. Resounding agreement. “Would you like us to play a song off your favourite Hives album?” Again, an eager “yeah” echoes through the venue. “Your favourite Hives album is called The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons.” And before the crowd has a chance to realize what they are agreeing to he declares: “too late” as the band launches into a song off that very album.
This seamless fusion of humour and energy is something only The Hives know how to pull off like this.
Naturally, the crowd-pleasers, of which there are too many to list in editorial form, are all present and correct. “Hate to Say I Told You So” and “Main Offender” both find their place in the setlist. If anything, they are performed with more precision but just as much vitality as they were back in 2001. The band also dips into the albums ‘Barely Legal‘, ‘Tyrannosaurus Hives‘, ‘The Black and White Album‘, and ‘Lex Hives‘ in what is essentially almost a Greatest Hits show. Needless to say, this approach itself is possibly the greatest hit of the night.
To focus on the showmanship of Almqvist may be doing something of a disservice to the rest of The Hives. The almost disdainful precision of Chris Dangerous on drums, the bratty energy of Nicholaus Arson on lead guitar, Vigilante Carlstroem bossing it on rhythm guitar, The Johan and Only fitting into the shoes vacated by Dr Matt Destruction so seamlessly – everything is exactly as you’d want it to be at a Hives show. The performance, even all these years later is so expertly crafted. But such is the magnetic presence of Almqvist that you still can’t take your eyes off him.
After little under an hour of injury-defying leaps across the stage, Almqvist announces the show is almost over but openly assures the crowd the band will be back out in a matter of minutes for an encore. True to his word back they come to bash out “Come on!” and “Tick Tick Boom” before taking a theatrical bow before an audience that is almost as sweat-drenched as the band itself. A beautiful whirlwind. A trip back in time. The show is over, for now.
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