THE HIVES - BOSTON, MA 9.25.24
Coverage by Adam W Gerhold
It Goes 4, 3, 2, 1… Countdown to THE HIVES!
Picture this, or just look at the pictures, but picture this anyways: The lights drop inside Boston’s Roadrunner, a restless crowd lets out a collective gasp followed by near deafening roars as five massive letters, H, I, V, E, S, begin to light the stage, barely illuminating four of the five Swedish superstars. Rumbles from amps begin to soar out into the atmosphere, thick with nerve and edge before slamming us into the wall of the opening track, “Bogus Operandi,” off the band’s latest record, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, and then from out of nowhere, singer, high kicker extraordinaire, and complete madman, Pelle Almqvist, with mic in hand runs roughshod all over the stage. Throwing the mic, the mic stand, his legs, arms, hair, and with the vocal ability early 2000’s pop stars could only dream of.
The energy from the band knows no limits. These amps go to 11 and beyond… infinity perhaps? And Almqvist is Buzz Lightyear leading a collision course of high intensity Rock N’ Fucking Roll! The stage was just the rocket platform from which Almqvist often jettisoned from, by way of a conveniently placed set of stairs, into the crowd. Singing into faces, phones, and crossing back and forth along the barricade with the tenacity and confidence of someone who may have done this a time or two before.
It’s cool being The Hives, Almqvist admits. He taunts and eggs the crowd on, he poses for photo ops and then requests phones drop into pockets. Be here now. Or have your phone snatched and tossed on stage… a few times. Whose phone is this? Doesn’t matter!
The band storms through new tracks like, “Rigor Mortis Radio,” “Stickup,” “Countdown to Shutdown,” and of course the heavy favorite, “Hate To Say I told You So,” with maniacal facial expressions and shredding riffs from Nicholaus Arson. All the while being met with just as maniacal facial melting hollering and cheering from the hive of fans beyond the barricade, and sometimes over the barricade. A swarming buzzing from a nest in the state of an all out assault. An oral smoke bomb. Wild. Chaos. Real fucking energy. High octane, in your eye, up your nose, smashing your teeth energy! Split the crowd, join the circus, introduce the band, spit on the ground, watch out, duck and cover, jump everywhere, TICK TICK B O O M !!
UK punk rockers, Bad Nerves opened the show with so much jumping and attitude that I felt like we were watching pro wrestling, plus they came out to The Ramones, “Blitzkrieg Bop,” which ruled.
Come On!
BAD NERVES
