At a Hives gig, you know you’re going to see some carnage. Taking their ‘The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons’ tour to Dublin’s glamorous and historical Olympia Theatre may initially seem like an odd matchup but the Swedes quickly made it their home with all of their distortion and punk-fuelled energy.
Opening act ‘Bad Nerves’ rose to the occasion as well as any band could hope to when supporting the Swedish heroes, providing enough punch and gutsy energy to quench anyone’s desires, claiming their melodies hook so deep even a lobotomist couldn’t get them out of your head. Sold yet? They saved their biggest track ‘Can’t Be Mine’ until last, with guitarists crashing around their fretboards and the drummer trying his hardest to punch a hole in his kit. Naturally, applause followed.
When The Hives took to the stage they immediately blitzed it with their irresistible energy, bursting into 2023’s single, ‘Bogus Operandi’. Frontman Pelle Almqvist is known for his raucous live performances, always dressed head to toe in a suited black lightning bolt. It becomes clear very quickly that this is a man made to be on the stage.
By the second song he’s already dived into the crowd, letting the audience take over for vocals on ‘Main Offender’ while he does enough head-banging to give anyone a migraine. The performance isn’t dressed up to perfection, but who wants that? The Swedes thrive in their chaotic, who-gives-a-fuck energy, rollicking around the stage like the rockstars they are.
“Is anyone losing their mind? Usually, when I lose my mind the show gets better” stated the frontman before bursting into the infectious rhythm of fan-favourite ‘Walk Idiot Walk’. From here on, there aren’t any pitstops to slow the tempo. Instead, The Hives continue to crank it up, making the entire show feel like a jam session in a grungy basement.
Other highlights include the irresistible ‘Come On’ (if you know the name of the song you know the lyrics), ‘Countdown To Shutdown’ and closer, ‘Tick Tick Boom’. Almqvist requests the audience to sit down during the bridge of the closer and they follow without question, the entire theatre naturally ignoring any sore knees and joints to jump when the song kicks back into life with thrashing drums and blitzing power chords.
As the show closes, the five-piece band all join together for one final bow of the UK & IE tour, allowing themselves one more time to be consumed by the claps and cheers of the crowd. To call a Hives gig a good time would be doing it an unprecedented disservice; this is rock’n’roll presented in its purest and most pantomime form.
Words by Niall McGreevy