Setting the stage for the Swedish-bred rock band The Hives, a black-and-white backdrop of the singer Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist sinisterly smiling down with puppeteer strings reaching down to the audience could not have been more perfect to describe the playful and controlling skit Almqvist used as his unique form of engagement on stage. The show began with running music lines of piano like that from a film of the villain tying the damsel to the train tracks and the spotlight shining on Almqvist’s ominous face. All of this action occurred while the stage crew was dressed as ninjas in black with Go Pros around their neck, untangling the chords and checking the equipment. The opening song “Come On” consisted of literally those words for about three minutes in anticipation to get the crowd jumping on their feet.

Interjecting between songs, Almqvist boasted the act of a circus ringleader with his jokes of how the audience was his trained animals to respond “yeah!” to everything and anything he said.  It was his finest act when during the encore, everyone obliged to his request to sit down so they could see how magnificent of a band The Hives are. While his intermissions were funny among some songs, he stole the show from the band with his poor taste in jokes about how he was a rock god who could have the crowd wrapped around his finger, similar to a young Jim Morrison.

You got to hand it to these guys  for their energy and enthusiasm to keep rock alive and providing an entertaining and hand clapping show to get your heart going.  They are also staying true to their punk rock/garage band roots with their latest album release "Lex Hives," which harks back to their earlier success of angst-ridden teens jumping around to their upbeat tempos. Look for these guys to keep rocking out and living up to the black-and-white stereotype of going big or going home as they shake up fans with their stage antics and rock god acts.

 

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