‘The Hives Forever Forever The Hives’: Live in Glasgow
The Swedish rockers prove once again why their live show is untouchable.
Photo: Isla Kerr
Unless you’ve spent the last three decades in complete sensory deprivation, you’ll be familiar with The Hives masterful command of the stage. Their reputation precedes them everywhere they go: a guarantee of high-octane chaos, a wink of self-aware theatre and the pure showmanship of a band who’ve been perfecting their craft since the 90s.
Touring their mighty seventh album, The Hives Forever Forever The Hives, the Swedish rockers arrived at Glasgow’s O2 Academy determined to prove – at least to non-specialists like me – that the truth really is printed right there on the tin.
With the stage lined with glowing balloons spelling their name, Glasgow’s now-iconic “Here We Fucking Go” chant erupted before anyone had even set foot on stage. When the countdown tone began and the band emerged in their LED-trimmed suits, the Academy’s already feverish temperature shot up a good few degrees.
Detonating straight into Enough Is Enough, the crowd’s arms shot skyward as frontman Pelle Almqvist immediately began pin-balling across the stage. By the second song, Walk Idiot Walk, he’d already been nose-to-nose with fans at the barrier and scaled half the staging like a man testing its structural integrity.
Yet half the time, it barely mattered what he was doing or saying; the crowd would have followed him anywhere. Between tracks, Almqvist slipped into a flow state of surreal, rapid-fire ramblings. Part preacher, part game-show host, he conducted the crowd into collective delirium while drinks rained down from the balcony and crowd surfers tumbled out of the pit like big kids set loose.
From Rigor Mortis Radio into Paint a Picture, the band’s grip on the room only tightened. Almqvist praised the audience’s unity – “You’re really good at that” – as two men in the back rows got to their feet, dancing like they’d been waiting decades for permission. Everywhere you looked, someone was either smiling, sweating or screaming lyrics with total abandon.
Predictably, Hate To Say I Told You So sent the room into full-blown pandemonium. After a knowingly self-referential monologue about having played it “a lot of times”, the band delivered what the audience demanded: maximum volume, maximum sweat, maximum snarl.
The final run was ferocious. Countdown to Shutdown blurred into a gloriously unhinged Come On!, before the thunderous Tick Tick Boom arrived loaded with an explosive mosh pit, and Almqvist wading triumphantly into the crowd like a folk hero.
Finally, after a well-deserved encore, the band bowed as one – showmen to the very last second.
Soaked, buzzing and red-faced, fans spilt out into the chilly Glasgow night knowing they’d witnessed exactly what The Hives always promise: reckless abandon delivered with absolute precision.
All photos by Isla Kerr.