Punk is Dad, Vol. V

How's it goin', music lovers.

Today BP and I knocked off one of our Bucket List concerts: we got to see the motherf***ing HIVES.

These guys were one of the four bands (along with The White Stripes, The Strokes, and The Vines) that roared onto the music scene in the Summer of 2002 and served as the vanguard for the Garage Rock Revival, which seemingly overnight vanquished the landscape of nu-metal and pop-punk bands that had dominated rock music throughout the late 90s and early 2000s. Kinda like how Nirvana heralded the rise of  Grunge and Alternative which killed off all those hair bands that had ruled over the 80s. The Vines fizzled out almost instantly, The White Stripes had five or six critically-acclaimed albums before calling it quits, and The Strokes had a couple solid albums before taking a decade off before returning with a string of great albums.

But The Hives? They've consistently dropped jaw-dropping albums every few years or so (with a decade in between two of their albums once), and have maintained a solid reputation as being one of, if not THE, best live bands of all time. When I saw that they were coming to Detroit in March, with none other than the Aussie-punk trio The Chats in support, I immediately texted BP and Kimmel and asked if they wanted to make this happen. Kimmel couldn't - he's got two little kids that take up a lot of his time (and he's out in Chicago, so a weeknight concert six or seven hours away is nearly impossible for him) - but BP pounced on the opportunity.

We met at a carpool lot in Brighton, which I drove to straight after work, rendezvousing around 5:15pm, and from there he drove us the rest of the way to our hotel in downtown Detroit, the Motor City Casino. We checked into our room, dropped off our crap, then caught an Uber further downtown to a pub for a quick dinner before walking the couple blocks down to The Fillmore for the start of the show.

Guys, I will go on record here and now and say that this concert, by far, was THE best live show I have EVER seen. The Hives aren't my favorite band that I've had the pleasure of seeing live - I've seen Rancid, The Who, The Bouncing Souls, and a slew of other punk bands that I enjoy more than the Hives, sure enough - but I have NEVER seen a better band perform live. BP and I both commented afterwards that we would have happily paid the $75 ticket price to watch the Hives' dynamic front man, Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, interact with the crowd without any music being played at all. He was hybrid of Mick Jagger and a stand-up comic, and he had the audience eating out of his hand throughout the duration of their set. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before, and I highly recommend to all of you to check this band out for yourself if you ever get the chance to do so.

Even if you don't care for the music, even if you're not a fan of the band, just do it. If you appreciate live music, and love a good concert, you're doing yourself a disservice not seeing this band in the flesh.

I've attached all the pics and video BP and I took from our balcony seats (a solid vantage point, for sure), and supplemented it with some screenshot pics and video taken off of other folks' Instagram posts (like I've done before with earlier concert posts.) Enjoy the hell out of them.

So here we go, gang - Punk is Dad, Vol. V - behold The Hives. . . .

BP and I checked into our room and began gathering up our stuff for the night's concert.

Some obligatory hotel room pics for ya, as always. . .

The bath and shower (that neither of us ended up using - we basically just woke up the next morning, brushed our teeth, and rolled out.)

BP doesn't take a lot of pis, so here's one to prove that I was actually there.

Later in the night, after the show as we were trying to go to sleep, a bunch of drunk people were hanging out by this elevator landing yelling and making a ton of noise. Thank God for brown noise and ear plugs. . . 

After settling into our room, we went back downstairs to the Casino entrance and BP got us an Uber downtown to this pub (which he found while looking up nearby bars within walking distance from The Fillmore.)

A couple of Bell's Two Hearted while we waited for our food.

Both of us ordered the same chicken club wraps - nothing to write home about, but it was solid pub fare. We had to wolf it down quickly because we were getting close to the doors opening at the venue by this point.

The venue was a few blocks away, about a ten minute walk, but the opening act - The Chats - were going on soon and we were running a little behind on time, so we briskly made our way through downtown Detroit.

Slightly warmer since the last time I walked around down here, that's for damn sure. . .

Walking down Woodward Street. . .

The Fillmore. We saw a line was wrapped around the side of the building, but at least it was moving fast.

Hell. Yes.

After passing through security, we made our way up to the top level of the concert hall and were directed to our balcony seats. A dude ushered us to our seats, and The Chats were already on stage, a few numbers in.

Our view from our seats, this theater is pretty badass, about a hundred years old (the singer of The Hives said that today was actually it's 100th Birthday, but he may have been making that up - totally like him to do so.) I actually took this pic between The Chats' set and The Hives', but figured as an establishing shot it'd be better served prior to the bands popping up. You're welcome.

These guys went viral for the music video to their first single, 'Smoko,' back in like 2018 or '19, and have since built up a respectable following. They're pretty tight for being as young as they are.

'Struck By Lightning'

'Smoko'

We got to hear about eight or nine of The Chats' songs before they wrapped up, and we used the half hour interim to hit up the bathroom and walk around for a bit. Neither of us grabbed anything to drink (not wanting to have to use the restroom during The Hives), but the drink options were kinda cool.

Ladies and Gentlemen - The Hives. . . 

The Hives opened up with 'Enough is Enough,' off of The Hives Forever, Forever The Hives.

I can't believe these guys are pushing 50 years old. Howlin' Pelle was pulling moves like this all night without missing a beat.

The floor saw lots of crowd-surfing throughout the evening, but not a lot of pit action.

Nick Arson (older brother of Howlin' Pelle.)

'Main Offender,' from Veni Vidi Vicious (courtesy of someone else's video I yanked off of Instagram that was at the same show.)

Howlin' Pelle Almqvist (during the middle of one of their numbers, they stopped on a random beat and held their poses, motionless, for about four minutes - the place went NUTS.)

Nicholaus Arson

Vigilante Carlstroem

Chris Dangerous

The Johan and Only (formerly of the Swedish punk band, Randy), who replaced Dr. Matt Destruction when he was forced to leave the band in 2012 due to undisclosed health reasons.

'Bogus Operandi,' from The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (one of my favorite Hives jams - I recorded this one.)

BP also got a video of this one, but his started halfway through and he kept the video rolling in order to capture some of typical stage banter from Howlin' Pelle. Like I said before, we both would have gladly paid the $75 just to hear this dude dick around with the audience without the band paying a single note, he was like a frickin' stand-up comedian up there on the stage.

Some more Insta pics for you (thanks whoever took these.)

'Hate to Say I Told You So,' from Veni Vidi Vicious

BP and I would have been right behind where this guy's head is, up in the balcony.

This dude could whip the mic up in the air, spin around, and catch it without looking every, single damn time without missing a beat. It was insane to watch.

'Come On,' from Lex Hives. BP managed to get a few minutes of stage banter in before the song kicked off, too (wish we would have captured more of it this evening, but neither of us like spending a ton of time on our phones at shows - much better to let other folks do that and that pillage their media on Instagram the day after the show.)

(BP took this one.)

Throughout the night the band members took off their jackets, one by one. Nicholas Arson here was like the third one to do so, preceded by the rhythm guitarist and drummer.

I don't think Howlin' Pelle or the bassist ever did, though.

I'd like a suit that lights up, that'd be pretty awesome to wear around to parties.

They closed with a lengthy rendition of 'Tick Tick Boom,' from The Black and White Album, taking time to introduce all the members of the band while the song was going (as you can tell, this was off someone's Ista post as well.)

Some more Insta pics, free of charge. . .

(Obviously these pics aren't all in order, but I did my best.)

He spent a ridiculous amount of time in the audience this evening, and it was definitely appreciated.

(So did his brother.)

Dirty Hippie Santa Claus (I assume that's his name, he gets a selfie shot of himself in there when Holwin' Pele jumps into the audience) here got a pretty cool montage video that summarized the whole concert. Thanks, homie.

I haven't listened to Randy since college, they're not on Amazon Music these days - I should really look them up again. . .

Another BP pic.

These guys put out two hours of no-brakes, high octane rock without slowing down for a second. BP and I were blown away, easily the best $75 I've ever spent.

Yes, of course they dressed up their roadies as ninjas (who frequented came out on stage to bang tambourines or cowbells, 'cause The Hives.) Seriously, though: GREATEST. LIVE. BAND. EVER.

- Brian