There have been a LOT of high-profile comebacks in the last year or so… Oasis, Rilo Kiley, The Prodigy, TV On The Radio, to name a few. Somehow, the return of the literal greatest live band of their generation, The Hives, seems to have crept on the radar. They played a handful of club shows in 2023, plus a handful of dates opening for Foo Fighters in stadiums (and covering for The Sounds at Just Like Heaven at the last moment), but 2025 was the first full-scale tour since 2013.
And if you are sleeping on these shows, you are vastly mistaken.
But, first, the opener.
Snõõper. Dear god, Snõõper. Sometimes you find a band that perfectly encapsulates what goes on in my head all the time, which is pure, unadulterated frenzied chaos. The fascinating thing about SNOOPER is that, unlike most jittery punk acts, there isn’t much overt anxiety in their music. In fact, they are immensely confident. Vocalist Blair Trummel was impossible to photograph, even when she was playing the sampler. Drummer Cam Sarrett played fast and furious. In their 45 minutes on stage, they probably played 3 hours’ worth of music. It was amazing, and I really need to see this band play a full set.
The Hives took the stage, all in their most current uniform- black and white suits with a long white ascot. In the classic R&B tradition, drummer Chris Dangerous came out first to start the show, while each member came out one by one, and actual ninjas handed their instruments to each member. It’s worth noting that, of the five people on stage, four of them have been Hives since 1993. New guy, The Johan and Only kept the low end solid. Rhythm player Vigilante Carlstroem locked right in, despite having the most magnificent beard in music. Then Nikolaus Arson thundered out in his Wayne Kramer conjuring glory, playing his guitar not as if it’s a guitar, but like his body is a Rube Goldberg machine and his guitar would reappear on his body in the most surprising ways. All while never missing a note.
And, of course, center-stage was the master of ceremonies, Howlin’ Pele Almquist. I have no idea how much sweat is built up in that suit. He is a maniac on stage. One part James Brown, one part circus ringmaster, one Mick Jagger, and one part master of the comical one-liner. His lines like, “We put out the best Hives record you’ll hear all year,” “This is the greatest show The Hives will play in San Francisco tonight,” and so on. It was all so silly.
The set struck a nice balance between the new and old, getting a frantic, sweaty pit going from the start. We got the tour debut of “Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones,” my favorite song from the catalog. They stretched out the monster hits “Hate To So I Told You So” and “Tick Tick Boom,” playing with space and dissonance in surprising ways that managed to increase energy levels instead of calming the crowd.
And how did the main set end? With Almquist parting the crowd in half, then climbing onto the railing of the second tier of the floor and singing the last verse of “Tick Tick Boom” perched in the most uncomfortable manner, but bringing the crowd in like no other band. Bloody brilliant. Then they encored with new material. Typically, this is a bad move, but the crowd did not want the night to end. And I understand that 100%, as I didn’t either.
