The Hives

Ever since the extraordinary lineup for this years’ Splendour In The Grass festival was announced back in April, Australia became very excited for the vast array of musical geniuses that were heading our way. Whilst the main headliners decided to avoid sideshows in general, there were the select few who were gracious enough to bless the remaining major cities with their presence. One of those amazing acts were Swedish rock superstars The Hives, whose show was downscaled from the Hordern Pavillion to a smaller Enmore Theatre due to lack of ticket sales. Although that sounds quite negative, the downsizing of venue allowed for a far more intimate and involving performance.

There was much anticipation surrounding the show that was to unfold that evening, with some amazing past appearances, unanimous rave reviews and amazing tracks at their disposal and boy did they deliver. The Hives are perhaps one of the greatest live acts in the world and they exceeded every whisper of hype that has ever been said about them.

To open their show, was a deliberately chosen and extremely fitting act that would certainly prepare the crowd for some serious energy and that would be newly downsized duo The Grates, whose reputation for energetic performance is just as renowned as the band they were supporting. Their aim was simple, to get the crowd excited and ready for action, and they most certainly excelled at the task. Lead singer Patience Hodgson is truly more of a frontman than any of the men are in the industry. Her undeniable swagger and evident friskiness surpassed that of many bands that are described as rock. Along with two accompanists, the Brisbane pair powered through a set of many well-known favourites as well as a bundle of newer tracks from their latest album Secret Rituals.

One thing that is just simply amazing about The Grates is that whilst they are performing, they get highly involved with their audiences and make the punters part of their show, which was enjoyable both to watch and experience. The amount of times that Patience ran through the audience, surfed the crowd and had conversations with people was beyond countable. They love their audiences to bits and their love was returned through incredible applause and attention.

Once the audience was primed and set for excitement, the half an hour wait between bands was almost unbearable. But eventually, the finest dressed performers in the entire world, The Hives, graced the stage, complete with matching formal tuxedos and extravagant top hats. 4 of the 5 members entered first and got straight into business, starting off their fast-paced, fuzz-distorted madness, only to be joined by frontman Howlin’ Pelle Alqmvistin a explosion of exuberance and energy.

Right from the get go, the audience were in the pockets of these fine Swede’s and for the entire hour and a half, they continued to be. This was mostly due to the outright entertainment provided by the music being performed, but also due to the flamboyant and encouraging words of Alqmvist, he came to “rock at 200% and expected his audience to reach that limit by the end of the evening.”

The Hives treated everyone to special previews from their forthcoming album, which continued on their trademark garage sound and intense screams that we have all become so accustom to over their decade spanning career. Generally speaking, for the majority of the show, the audience wasn’t too familiar with the songs being played, except for the occasional single, which was received incredibly well by the crowd. Walk Idiot Walk was the first of these that truly got the crowd going, mainly due to people actually knowing the lyrics. But there was one song that everyone wanted, and begged for from the very beginning and that of course was Tick Tick Boom, which was saved until the end of their regular set. At that point the crowd was absolutely crazy and The Hives were more so, their live presence was simply amazing, with guitars and microphones being thrown and caught as if gravity was no factor.

This show was certainly one to remember, by one of the greatest live bands of our era. It was definitely a disappointment that not enough people bought tickets and for the venue to be downsized, but for those who were there, they received a far more intimate show than was previously promised and it was just incredible. Long live The Hives and their amazing Swedish extravagance.

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