Tonight featured the utterly inspired pairing of Brisbane’s The Grates and The Hives, from Sweden. Both bands have a great deal in common, such as a wonderful understanding and command of pop music with a punk attitude behind it. They also feature rather striking, can’t take your eyes off them, livewire lead singers.
First up were The Grates. Performing live as a four piece, Patience Hodgson and her band immediately got attention and, in some cases, rapturous adoration, from the crowd.
Their set featured a good cross section from their three albums, Gravity Won’t Get You High, Teeth Lost, Hearts Won and the latest release, Secret Rituals. The older materieal, especially tracks from the debut album “Gravity”, got the biggest audience response.
Patience was an absolutely frenetic and infectious bundle of energy on stage. Jumping, screaming, crowd surfing and, at one point, singing while sitting on a crowd member’s shoulders, she is a fantastic frontwoman. She also struck this scribe as very down to earth; there were a bunch of particularly excited female fans that she got to participate during “19,20,20” at one point. It’s really nice to see that in a live show – a band truly connecting with their audience.
Musical highlights of the very enjoyable set included the lead single off the latest album, “Turn Me On”, as well as better known older tracks such as “19,20,20”,”Science Is Golden” and “Trampoline”
Before The Hives arrived on stage, the bar had been set to quite a level by The Grates. One could have been worried that the two bands would cancel each other out in regards to live performance. This scribe had those fears put to rest during the first few songs of what would prove to be an absolutely blinding set by The Hives.
The Hives arrived on stage around 10pm. Living up to the claim they are ‘the world’s best dressed band’, they looked immaculate in matching tuxedos with tails and top hats. Over the next hour and a half, the band proceeded to stun and impress the close to full house crowd at The Palace.
Opening with “Come On” and then ripping into a fantastic live version of “Main Offender”, The Hives were at the top of their game. This is the third time, over the past ten years, that this scribe has seen the band live. They have never disappointed on a live front.
Formed in 1993, the band have been together, in its original line up, for eighteen years. That is very much in evidence with how comfortable the band are on both a musical and personality front. On a musical level, they are so together and play beautifully, creating a very distinctive and indelible sound. Secondly, this is a band that truly understand and appreciate performance and stage craft. There is a beautiful sense of style and panache with how they play, but they never overdo it. Watching them perform, you notice beautiful touches, like the drummer, Chris Dangerous, throwing his drumsticks in the air and catching them every time.
One can’t talk about The Hives without taking about their very striking lead singer, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist. Quite frankly, he is one of the best frontmen in music at the moment. A man who has perfected the microphone lead swing, he is equal parts Mick Jagger, James Brown and an evangelical preacher. Some may find his arrogance and self belief off-putting, but this scribe felt he struck the right balance between being cheeky and obnoxious. Constantly moving, he was continually egging on, encouraging and cajoling the crowd. This was one of the happiest and lively crowds this scribe has seen in a number of years. People were even moshing and crowd surfing like it was 1993 all over again!
At one point, Pelle asked the crowd if they wanted to collectively marry The Hives! The band were having a great deal of fun on stage. This was very infectious in relation to the crowd, most of which had a massive smile on their face. This makes such a nice change from bands that hardly say two words to their audience and give off this ‘rather be anywhere else’ vibe. Pelle has a wonderful sense of banter with the crowd and belief in both himself and the band. At one point, he told the crowd to sit down and asked someone who didn’t if he was from Sydney and if that was the reason why he wasn’t doing what he was told! There were a lot of moments like this that endeared him to the crowd. He also has a wicked sense of humour, which is all too rare these days in music. You have to love any band that call a compilation album “Your New Favourite Band!”.
Musical high points included previews of a few new tracks off the forthcoming album, the strongest of which was the rocking “Give Back The Toys”. “Walk Idiot Walk” came up an absolute treat live. Again, like The Grates, the older material got the greatest response from the crowd. “Die, All Right!” was a particular early highlight, which sent the crowd into a frenzy! The set also featured great versions of “Try It Again”, off “The Black & White Album” from 2007, and a brilliantly extended version of “Tick Tick Boom”, in which Pelle introduced the band. This also featured a very cool visual moment where the band literally froze mid-performance and held it for about two minutes!
The band ended what was a brilliant and fun (with a capital F) night with an absolutely storming version of “Hate To Say I Told You So”, one of their best known tracks, which just about brought the house down. The crowd basically went insane and the mosh pit virtually covered the entire floor area!
Together for nearly twenty years, age has not withered The Hives one bit. They are as fresh and exciting as when this scribe first saw them nearly ten years ago. One looks forward to the new material. Their fans definitely hold them in high regard, considering their last album came out in 2007, tonight was pretty close to a full house.
All in all, a fantastic night that reminds people why they go to see live music.
– Neil Evans
