The Hives at Hammersmith Apollo

Pelle Almqvist has been widely accepted as a particularly exceptional frontman since The Hives rose to fame in the early 2000s. The group themselves were labelled “Best live band in the world” by Spin in the noughties, creating a certain level of anticipation for tonight’s sold-out show at Eventim Apollo.

Dressed in their signature black and white suits, this time adorned with vivid glow-in-the-dark lightning bolts, The Hives take to the stage to Chopin’s Funeral March and launch into their new single Bogus Operandi. Thankfully, the band have kept their music as fun and in-your-face as it was 20 years ago, as Almqvist explains “Rock’n’roll can’t grow up, it is a perpetual teenager and this album feels exactly like that, which is all down to our excitement – and you can’t fake that sh*t.”

Wasting no time, they get going with the almighty Main Offender as their second song, a firm favourite amongst The Hives catalogue. Take Back the Toys, from their 2012 album, serves up more anarchic perfection, and the crowd have fallen head over heels for the Swedish showmen by this point.

Almqvist clearly has enormous respect for his audience – music fans have no end of appreciation for a musician who wants to talk to them and appears to really want to be there. His energy is quite incredible: jumping, running and singing, while the only break he gives himself is a quick sip of beer now and again. It’s easy to take this for granted and think, “Well, surely this is what being a rockstar is,” but not many frontmen can truly deliver on this level without letting something falter.

Walk Idiot Walk is another impeccable highlight, but the undeniable winner of the entire set is the phenomenal Hate to Say I Told You, inspiring the kind of frantic excitement that’s few and far between in venues these days. Every person in the Eventim Apollo was buzzing, whether they were sitting on the balcony or in the pit.

The inevitable encore begins with drummer Christian Grahn first on stage, goading the crowd before the rest of the band join him for Come On!, Smoke & Mirrors and finally finishing on the brilliant Tick Tick Boom. The Hives live up to their reputation, and then some.

Hannah Broughton
Photos: Nick Bennett

For further information and future events visit The Hives’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Hate to Say I Told You So here: