PHOTOS: RICHIE DOWNS | Since the mid-’90s, Fagersta, Sweden’s The Hives have been one of the leaders of the neo-garage rock revival, and have shown no signs of stopping anytime soon. Renowned for their frenetic live shows and no-frills rock and roll, The Hives have spent much of 2013 headlining, playing festivals, and supporting P!nk on her arena tour. They have made the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. a regular stop in their travels, and the bitter cold December weather did little to deter anyone from this visit to the nation’s capital.
The night started out with DC-based female trio Ex-Hex, the latest undertaking of Mary Timony, formerly of Helium. Mary, along with bassist Betsy Wright and drummer Laura Harris has found a sweet spot of stripped down, real, and raw rock. Harris’ beat was tight, and Wright’s bass sound was huge, almost at the forefront at times, making for a potent rhythm section. Timony’s vocals were smooth and heartfelt, and unfortunately lost a bit in the mix early in their set. After a pleasing cover of Johnny Thunders’ “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory,” the tempo and power of the songs picked up a bit, and the rapidly filling room returned the surge of energy from the stage.
After a brief respite, the lights went down. The ominous backdrop with its’ marionette strings snaking down to the stage overlooked the audience as a hilariously off-key version of “Also sprach Zarathustra” aka the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey played. Drummer Chris Dangerous took the stage and started the familiar pounding beat of “Come On!” The other members made their way to the stage one by one, the packed house delighted when singer Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist arrived. They were clad in matching black and gold mariachi outfits, harkening back to rock groups of the ’60s, a la Paul Revere and the Raiders.
Going straight from “Come On!” into “Main Offender,” from the moment The Hives took the stage, it was as if a Wile E. Coyote-sized powder keg had been ignited. The sheer amount of energy exuded from the stage was enormous, and it didn’t stop until the last note was played.
Playing seven songs from 2012’s Lex Hives, and interspersed with older songs like “Walk Idiot Walk,” “Hate to Say I Told You So,” and “Die, All Right!” the raucous set was tempered with the genuine yet hilarious stage banter from Almqvist. Before going into “1,000 Answers,” Howlin’ Pelle asked if anyone in the crowd had any questions for him. An eager fan in the front responded with an enthusiastic “I love you!!” to which he responded, “My dear, thank you, but that is a statement, not a question.” Jumping from the top of the drums, and strutting with a swagger like Jagger, Pelle’s stage presence and interaction with both the crowd and with guitarists Nicholaus Arson and Vigilante Carlstroem was something to behold.
Pelle, in an attempt at a DC joke, asked if Dana Brody from Homeland was in the audience. He followed that with “Carrie, are you here?” Save for a few Homeland fans scattered through the crowd, the joke fell a little flat, leading Pelle to reply, “Well, that went awfully quiet real fast,” poking fun at himself before going into “Hate To Say I Told You so.”
After the obligatory encore break, The Hives returned to the stage and blasted their way through their hit “Tick Tick Boom.” Late in the song, the music went down a bit, and Pelle asked the crowd to “ponder, reflect and meditate on everything that had happened this evening” before asking the entire floor to sit down. Once seated, he crowdsurfed out to the center of the crowd, and as the song exploded back to life, screamed, “Stand up! Stand up!” and was lifted up and back to the stage. As the song concluded, the band all froze in place, and their ninja-clad roadie came out and switched Arson’s guitar. After a few moments, the band came back to life and played “Insane,” a bonus track from Lex Hives, before ending the night with the incendiary “Patrolling Days.”
If anyone ever tries to make a case for rock and roll being on the downswing, send them to a Hives show. This is a band that you need to tell people about, a band you need to bring your kids to experience, a band that is keeping rock and roll alive and well. Case dismissed.
Ex Hex
