The Hives @ Fillmore Philadelphia 9/29/24
This was actually my second Hives show of the week. I went to see them on 9/24 at Kings Theater and it wasn’t enough. I had to drive down 90 minutes to Philly for the next show as well. While I was there I met a couple of other people who were in the same boat that I was. One girl had been to 3 shows that week. Another girl saw them for the first time in August and was so blown away that she had to come back to see them. This is how it is with the Hives. They are my favorite band and in my opinion, they are the best live band in the industry. Back in the early 2000’s I would also get into a sort of frenzy when they were in town and would go to multiple shows in a row. Afterwards I would lose my voice and have trouble sleeping for days. Seeing them live is a rush like nothing else on earth. Their energy is unmatched and the crowd interaction is always hilarious and fun.
The Hives’ frontman, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist has been compared to Iggy Pop or Mick Jagger. I just think he is his own breed of awesome. He is often heard singing his own praises during the show but it’s all in good fun and in the name of Rock and Roll. Unfortunately during the intro to their song “Go Right Ahead” HPA disclosed that he has torn his ACL and needs surgery, to which he remarked, “Do I look like I care about a fucking knee when there’s Rock and Roll to be Rocked?” He said that He was going to “Go right ahead” and really there’s nothing more Rock and Roll than that. The show must go on.
The crowd went absolutely crazy when the band went into their signature 60 second freeze during the song “Good Samaritan”. After the freeze, in typical HPA fashion, he came into the audience and was touching the audience members’ heads in an almost blessing-like manner.
The show continued on for just over an hour with songs from their new album “The death of Randy Fitzsimmons” as well as older songs from throughout their 30 year career. The last song of the encore was their extremely popular “Tick Tick boom” from the Black and White Album. During this song HPA paused While Drummer Chris Dangerous continued to keep the beat and he made his way into the back of the crowd where he shook hands, gave hugs and even had a little chat with a few fans before making a corridor to run back to the sage. Before he could make his way back to the sage, a fan got in the way and Pelle said “What the fuck are you doing, man. would you stand in the way of an Evil Knievel car jump?” Eventually he make his way back to the sage with the torn ACL, finished the song and then dropped the mic. Then he and his brother Nicholas Arson, the lead guitarist walked along the barricade and shook hands with fans as if we had just finished a ball game. It really shows that they love their fans and they love what they do and we love them for it.
It’s insane to me that they are able to still rock out as hard as they do always in their signature suits and with the same energy that they had 20 years ago. It almost makes this close-to-middle-aged woman feel like she can do anything.. maybe even start a new passion project of photographing and reviewing concerts.
below photos were taken with a point and shoot camera from the crowd:
