M'Lou Elkins
I first saw Swedish rockers The Hives in 2008 at the Mayan in Los Angeles. I’d spent the majority of their set backstage with friends the Eagles of Death Metal, who were the support act on the tour, and only came out to watch The Hives perform their last two songs of the night. I remember thinking what a massive mistake I’d made in not catching their entire set because they were absolutely killing it onstage! The energy of their performance was unlike anything I’d ever seen and the excitement they generated permeated throughout the entire crowd. I was honestly devastated that I’d missed such an amazing show but figured I’d get the chance to catch them again soon. Never in a million years did I think it would take 13 years for that to happen. Shortly after that show, though they did release Lex Hives in 2013, The Hives fell into obscurity and became one of those bands that people often wondered about.
Flash forward to 2021 when news that The Hives were headed to the States to play Atlanta’s Shaky Knees Festival that October, along with very few select dates around the south (one of which was scheduled for Dallas, TX), began to circulate. By this time, I had relocated to Dallas, so after all these years I was finally going to get my chance to see them properly. That show was everything I’d expected it to be and more…it was the concert highlight of my year and I hoped that this sudden resurgence of The Hives meant new music and more shows would be on the horizon.
My wish came to fruition when after an 11-year hiatus, in May 2023 the guys announced a forthcoming North American tour and dropped their sixth studio album, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, on August 11, 2023.
With only 13 dates on the tour and none of them anywhere near Dallas, naturally, I hopped on a flight to Los Angeles to catch the first night of two sold-out shows at The Belasco. I invited 3 Los Angeles friends along. None of them had ever seen the band live and two, in fact, had never even heard any of their songs before, but I was confident that after they witnessed what was to come that they’d be fans for life….and I was right. We were about to experience greatness in an intimate, yet packed to its 1500-capacity, sold-out venue.
At promptly 9pm the sharply dressed 5-piece took the stage in their glow-in-the-dark suits and wasted no time launching into “Bogus Operandi” off of their latest release, followed by “Main Offender” from Veni Vidi Vicious (2000), and “Walk Idiot Walk” from Tyrannosaurus Hives (2004). Their setlist was all killer, no filler, with back-to-back classics that combined seamlessly with their latest material.
Energetic frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist was constantly on the move, with his high kicks and leaps, often jumping into the enthralled crowd, who loved every second of it. He often prompted the audience to make some noise by yelling, “Everybody scream!” – and we were all happy to oblige.
Guitarist Nicholaus Arson was equally entertaining with his jerky movements and quirky eye twitches, and he spent some time in the pit with those lucky enough to be along the barricade as well.
A word to the wise – Nicholaus has an amusing penchant for snagging your phone and tossing it onto drummer Chris Dangerous’ drum riser…..for the duration of the show. He tried, unsuccessfully, to snag my phone several times, but he did get the phone from the poor, unsuspecting dude next to me. So keep a firm grasp on your phone when he’s on the barricade because he will try to grab it and don’t hand him your phone if he asks you for it…unless you want to be without it for the show’s duration.
The encore consisted of “Come On” and “Tick Tick Boom” and with that, the 15-song set was a wrap. There’s no denying the fact that these guys thoroughly love what they do and give 100% every night. The show was such a blast that time flew by too quickly and made the show end way too soon. I found myself wishing like hell that I’d known before I’d booked my travel that they’d be adding a second show the next night at the Belasco because I’d have gone in a second, but I had a 5 o’clock plane to catch back to Dallas. I can only hope that they’ll possibly add more North American dates next year when they’re back in the States for their stadium shows with the Foo Fighters.
Check out all of our concert photos from The Hives show below:
