The Hives

Jason Landry, contributor

Picture this: guitar and drum techs dressed head to toe in ninja costumes, and a group of grown men with the energy of testosterone-fueled college kids wearing matching illuminated suits can only mean one thing—The Hives are back in town.

 

As a middle aged guy who has seen his fair share of concerts, last nights show with The Hives at the House of Blues in Boston, MA was one of the most entertaining and energetic shows that I’ve been to in a long while. And since I know most of the band is pretty close to middle-age too, I figured, if they were gonna hop around and belt out these songs for and hour and a half, I better join in.

 

“Everyone’s a little fuckin' bitch”, the exclamation point on the track “Enough is Enough” kicked off the set and the room went nuts! They continued with a flurry of tracks from their most recent release The Hives Forever Forever The Hives including “Paint A Picture”, “Born A Rebel”, “Roll Out the Red Carpet”, “Legalize Living”, and the title track to end the night. I knew going into the show that they were planning to build most of the setlist from their last two albums, and for a fan, that was fine by me.

 

Lead singer Pelle Almqvist spent much of the night winding up the crowd—balancing on the edge of the front row barrier, and even parting the sea in the middle and walking half way up the front of the room to interview concert goers.

 

I love listening and watching these bands that have been around for 30 years get on stage and romp around just as good as the youngsters do today. These Sweeds had the energy of their opening act The Chats, a rebellious younger garage punk trio from Australia but at twice the pace. This is a band that I cannot wait to see again. And if you haven’t picked up their most recent album, it’s their crowning achievement—read our review and buy it!