.::The Hives::. IMAGES Reviews: Roxy Theatre

December 01, 2001 at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California (USA) by razorcake

To be honest, there were other bands on the bill, but I didn't like 'em. I didn't want to harsh my Hives afterglow, so I stood outside and pontificated about the resurgence of leather bras and zebra bodysuits on hard-run ladies walking the Sunset Strip. The Hives: it's refreshing to see a band that's so wired into what they're doing - rocking the fuck out - and have them do it so proficiently without coming off as too-cool rockstar professionals, or too sloppy, too drunk lifestyle-eclipsing-talent, no-fi rockers. They've got the energy - it's quickly wound and isn't like watching sterile musical surgery. The Hives are spazzy and tight, like a virgin, veteran cheerleader with secret kung fu moves in her pom poms. You know - it's rock'n'roll - it ain't all that hard to attempt (buy an instrument and hit it and start yelling), but it's so, so hard to get it right and make it stabbing and new and make you want to yell along and high kick shit from the walls. They make dirty songs with infected scalpels that fit in the body of work routed out by folks like Scared of Chaka, The Weird Lovemakers, Los Federales, and Chuck Berry.

at Roxy

So what makes 'em so good? Besides an innate understanding of hooks, melody, and when to fucking end a song, The Hives have a lead singer who sweats so much confidence and exudes so much disarming charm that he prompted the audience to "clap when I take a drink" in his Swedish-cum Mick Jagger accent. And the crowd went wild... while the guy took a long pull off a sports bottle in the middle of their frenetic set. Yeah, they're cocky. They deserve to be. Part of it is a show, but not with light machines and fog machines, but a show with human combustion and chemistry - jumping around, high drum flourishes, the lead singer goading the audience, and the entire band refusing at all costs to be a bunch of dudes staring at their (very white, matching) shoes. To end with an what seems to be a tangent; one of them looks like a Mexican bandito from a '50s movie, with a rape guy mustache, and I thought to myself, "Huh. Sweden: Meat balls. Vikings. Women's volley ball teams. Massages. Penis pumps." That now is amended to include portly, dark-skinned bassists who are in one of the best, underrated rock'n'roll bands on the planet right now. Get down. Get a rash. Get The Hives.

from Scott Harding for deadontheweb

Before I begin this review I need to get something out of my system. Now normally in show reviews I like to talk about each band that played, tell you a bit about each of their performances and call it done. But on this one I think I’m going to do things different and here is why; I really think that the person that coordinated this show should go have their head checked because I feel the line up sucked. Don’t get me wrong, both The Hives and International Noise Conspiracy are some of the best talent out there but why did the show coordinator have The Hives open, then Rival Schools and then T(I)NC? First of all just about everyone there were there to see The Hives, so you would think they would at least play before the headliners. But no! They have The Hives open up, get everyone in a great pumped vibe and then have everything come to a screeching halt by having the boring slow crappy emo sounds of Rival Schools play after and put everyone to sleep! Look, I don’t care if you like bands like Rival Schools, that’s fine…there is nothing wrong with that…. But when you book shows put the emo bands with the emo bands and the punk bands with the punk bands! Or at least have the lame bands play first! Didn’t this guy that booked the show do any research, or know anything about these bands? My guess would be no because he would have found that The Hives are a band that people have been waiting a long long time to see play in the US and if he knew that he would not have had them open.

I can almost guarantee that the majority of the tickets sold for this event were by fans of The Hives, not Rival Schools. And it sucked for the people who wanted to come see The Hives but showed up after their set because they thought they would at least play second and not first! If I had a buck for every time I heard some one in the crowd saying the same thing I would be a rich man. People were upset! And I don’t blame them. I was there to see some rock’n music, not music that puts me to sleep or makes me want to cry. Both The Hives and T(I)NC are rock’n! Rival Schools….well lets just say that they were so boring to watch I left the show during their set because I was so bored and pist off that they played after The Hives and I had to sit through this shit to see T(I)NC I figured it wasn’t worth it and I left! Besides I have seen T(I)NC play many times before, so I know they kick ass and I didn’t want to have to sit though this misery to see them again. I noticed a good amount of people did the same as I did. But you know what? The show was still worth the money spent! Why would I say this after my experience? That’s simple, THE HIVES BABY! So now ladies and gentlemen I will start and end this review with the one… the only…. The Hives!

The Roxy in Hollywood is one of the best places to see a show, especially if it is your first time seeing a particular band. In this case for me it was my first time seeing The Hives. Im stoked on The Roxy because no matter where you are standing you can still see the band perfectly! I have been a long time fan of The Hives and now they finally have a tour in the US! I knew that they were the reason the show was sold out by noticing just about everyone buying merch were all at The Hives table and I could hear people talking about how they just saw The Hives play the Saturday before and they just had to come see them again! Not too many bands get that kind of response, but we aren’t talking about just any band, we are talking about The Hives! I was getting antsy because the show was supposed to start at 8:30 and it was no about 9 and there was no band on stage. But just as I was going to give up, I saw a team of guys taking the stage. I was surprised because I figured Rival Schools was going to play first and it was not Rival schools taking the stage. I knew this wasn’t Rival Schools because these guys were all dressed in black slacks, black shirts and white ties, the uniform of The Hives! Once that was apparent everyone in The Roxy scrambled to get to the front of the stage to get the prime spots.

And then it happened, they started to jam! As they did this the crowed yelled back and started to get their groove on! After a short intro from the band, the front man Howlin' Pelle came out and got the party started! The sounds of The Hives are like a velvet glove with brass knuckles. Brutal and sophisticated at the same time. And it’s the brass knuckles that slam you in the face with the raw 70’s punk sound that knock you down and keep you coming back for more. The Hives take the stage as if they invented it!

Pelle is the front man that every band wants to have. He has attitude, enthusiasm and charisma all packed into a person never seen since Mick Jagger was first unleashed with the Stones, in fact he looks and struts around the stage a lot like Mick! And in true rock fashion he keeps the people interested by talking to them and feeding off them. Always referring to the band as “The Hives” he expressed how happy they were to be there to play for us Americans. And he also mentioned that “The Hives” thought Hollywood had the best looking crowd they have ever seen. I would have to agree because there were a lot of fine looking chicks there but that’s another story.

The Hives played all my favorite songs and then some. Each song played with more energy than the one before. And when they finished and the dust settled, they came back on for more! I fell in love with The Hives the very first time I heard them and after seeing them live my love amplified even more. I have seen thousands of bands play in my time and I have to say that next to The Toy Dolls, The Hives win best performance in my book of records. Now if you live in the US and you missed their tour, well it sucks for you because like the Toy Dolls they don’t play here that often. So next time you hear of them coming out to tour, I don’t care what you have planned, cancel it and go see this band live, you can thank me later!