The Hives are one of those rare live bands that never fail to put on a good performance. All around the world, fans claw to get a good spot in the mosh pit for the Swedes’ hit songs like ‘Main Offender’, ‘Hate to Say I Told You So’, and ‘Tick Tick Boom’.
It’s therefore no surprise that The Hives were chosen as one of the three suitable replacements for Blur’s sudden Big Day Out cancellation. Along with Beady Eye and Deftones, the five-piece will be rocking our stages this summer for no doubt another truly unforgettable performance.
“We love Australia and we love playing shows there,” laughs Chris Dangerous, the drummer for the band. “We love the audience, we love the country, we love the cities, the temperature, the fucking surfing…we love everything about it. It’s a beautiful place, and a fun place to go play shows.”
With the festival’s sudden cancellation of Blur, organisers were left scrambling to find a suitable replacement for the British cult band. So, how did The Hives react when asked if they wanted to play Big Day Out?
“No, no, it wasn’t [stressful] on our end,” says Dangerous. “We were just asked the question, ‘Do you wanna do the Big Day Out?’ and we said ‘When is it?’”
“We got the days, and it worked out fine with us. We asked each other if everyone wanted to do it or not and everyone wanted to do it. Basically we just said yes.”
The Hives are no strangers to the Big Day Out stage . In 2005 they played with the likes of The Chemical Brother, Beastie Boys, and System Of A Down. In 2014 the band will perform in second headliner position behind Arcade Fire and Pearl Jam.
“I’d love to play with Pearl Jam or Arcade Fire. We played a few shows with Pearl Jam earlier this year and they’re great guys, “ Dangerous says.
“A Hives show is never just a Hives show, it’s always different”“We’re maybe not friends, but when we met we were sorta friends. With Arcade Fire, I really love The Suburbs [the band’s 2010 album] and Neon Bible [2007 album] so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing some of those shows.”
“It’s always great to be around good bands. It helps with the atmosphere and makes it more fun.”
The reason The Hives are playing at Big Day Out is due to Blur’s controversial cancellation. When asked about how he felt about cancellations in general, Dangerous’ response is heavy-hearted.
“We try never to cancel shows, but there have been times in our career where we have to cancel shows. I can tell you, it’s sad…it’s nothing we want to do, but there’s five of us in the band and we’re regular people.”
“You know, shit happens. If something happens that really throws you over, personal stuff, then maybe a cancellation is the only way out.”
“We’re not machines,” he laughs, “I mean, 99% of the time we are, but the other 1% we’re still human.
Three bands were called upon in order to replace Blur, and in the eyes of Dangerous, The Hives make for a worthy replacement for the kings of Britpop.
“From what I know and from what I hear, and from what I see when we’re playing, people love it. Of course people would be sad that Blur cancelled, but a lot of people will be really happy that we’re coming back.”
One of the main attractions of the quintet’s show is the seemingly irrepressible energy that emanates from the stage.
“We can have some pretty fucking weird ideas”“A Hives show is never just a Hives show, it’s always different,” teases Dangerous.
“I mean, I don’t know what’s going to happen live tonight. We can have some pretty fucking weird ideas. All you gotta do is just go along for the ride. A Hives show is always going to be a fun one.”
A major consistent feature of their live performance has been the matching outfits. The band endearingly incorporates new styles regularly.
“We’re sort of in a new outfit right now. We’re doing these shows in North America and we’re wearing Mariachi outfits. I don’t know if we’ll bring these to Australia…we’ll see.”
While they may be prepared to experiment with attire, the thought of adding extreme stage theatrics such as pyrotechnics isn’t something fans are likely to see anytime soon.
“Pyrotechnics have never really been our thing. We’ve been one of those bands that could always do better without flames and stuff,” laughs Dangerous.
That’s not to say the show will be without its surprises.
“It is going to be a new set with new shows, maybe a new set of clothes…a lot of things can happen, and things can change over the course of two months. However, I know it’s going to be a good show.”
“We’re always trying to mix it up, play all the big hits. We’re not one of those bands that hates playing some songs because we’ve played them too much,” reveals Dangerous.
“The reason a song is a hit is because people love it, and if you go to the show, you wanna hear that song. So we always try to do that. We’ll try to do that with every record, so the show will be a ‘Best Of’ Hives kind of show. It just depends on the mood of the night, but it’s always going to be a greatest hits show.”
The Hives Big Day Out 2014 Sideshow
TUESDAY JANAURY 21 – MELBOURNE, 170 RUSSELL (18+)
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au
and the Corner Hotel Box Office 1300 724 867
Big Day Out 2014 Dates, Tickets
Friday 17th January ~ Western Springs, Auckland*
Sunday 19th January ~ Metricon Stadium & Carrara Parklands, Gold Coast
Friday 24th January ~ Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne
Sunday 26th January ~ Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney
Friday 31st January ~ Bonython Park, Adelaide**
Sunday 2nd February ~ Claremont Showgrounds, Perth**
*For New Zealand Big Day Out 2014 lineup and ticketing details, please refer towww.bigdayout.com and choose AUCKLAND
**Subject to council approval
Tickets and info at www.bigdayout.com
