The Hives - Live in Phoenix/Tempe - Pix, review

Another fantastic night of fast, blazing, sweaty rock and roll action from The Hives in Tempe, AZ last night. So glad I could go and see the band turn a sort of lackluster crowd into raving fans by show end.


(photo by Dfactor)


(photo by Dfactor)

Both singer Pelle Almqvist and guitarist Vigilante were said (by Pelle) to be suffering from fevers....although only Vigilante's proved to be true. His attempts at singing backups all night were but poorly-disguised cough sessions in the direction of the microphone. Pelle warmed up slowly but got better and better as the night wore on. The redemptive power of rock and roll, no doubt.


(photo by Dfactor)

It's either the third or fourth time I've seen the band, and I purposely kept my expectations low last night, not knowing how The Hives would react to playing in front of only a few thousand folks, after playing to massive crowds over the past few years. But The Hives (again) surpassed my expectations. They are truly in their prime, the calling of a great live rock and roll band.


(photo by Dfactor)

Special "Best performer" award last night had to go to drummer Chris Dangerous! I mean, singer Pelle and guitarist Nicholaus are great, great great fun to watch, but without a kickass drummer, the Hives might fall apart. Dangerous keeps everything so very dangerously fast and exciting. His drums were all over the stage by gig end, and then were stacked upright. Great visual.

See way more pictures at my Flickr site.

What a wonderful night, culminating with the always lifting song "Return the Favour" during the encore! I've been singing this song in my head all weekend! God Bless The Hives!