THE hives

The Swedes immediately captivated the crowd. Donning their trademark black and white blazers they strutted on-stage one by one like it was graduation day, and enrolled us into the school of cool. Pelle’s ballsy bravado and off-the-wall banter had the crowd in stitches. Stompin’ across the stage with his Jagger-esque swagger he shrieked, “We sound so good from up here, that’s cause we are! Let’s destroy this city, Hives fans are winners!” I felt a kind of religious zeal as Pelle preached the ‘gospel according to The Hives’ – shut your eyes for a second and you’d swear it was James Brown back from the dead. The band rocketed through fan-favourites from previous albums, ‘Veni Vidi Vicious’ and ‘Tyrannosaurus Hives’. Their latest offering, the Black and White Album, shows little deviation from their trusty formula of simple, jerky garage-rock riffs, but the bold move to collaborate with hip hop mogul Pharrell Williams indicates a wise shift in direction that could break down that adversarial barrier to stardom. Williams’ tracks ‘T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S’ and ‘Well All Right!’ added a touch of funk, while first track on the album ‘Tick Tick Boom’ is set to replace ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’ as their signature tune. Leaping onto the bass drum before the finale Pelle’s statuesque silhouette cut an iconic figure. The Hives are imbued with a revolutionary ardour that is impossible to resist. My New Favourite Band? Oh yes, this is what I’d been waiting for.