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THE HIVES AND SAHARA HOTNIGHTS
Cool Swedes
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Watch Mick Jagger singing "Satisfaction" on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1966. Turn off the color. Speed it up half again. That was Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist as the Hives lit into the hurtling tilt-a-whirl of "Abra Cadaver," the first track from their new Tyrannosaurus Hives (Interscope), at Avalon Friday night: the lithe and lascivious embodiment of cocksure cool, smirking ’neath a greasy mop-top. As is their wont, the Hives took the stage dressed smartly in black shirts and trousers with white jackets and Colonel Sanders ties, their name in glowing red neon script above them. It wasn’t long before the heat of the moment had the band shedding their jackets, but Almqvist kept his on. Class. A catalogue of kinetic on-stage antics, he was a blur of splits and kicks and microphone lassos, a white James Brown in black and white, goading the crowd with petulant clapping and bring-it-on hand gestures. Not that that the rest of the band were wanting for stage presence. Man-mountain guitarist Vigilante Carlstoem exploded with sweat as his several chins rippled. Mustachio’d sparkplug Dr. Matt Destruction choked his bass and glared with mock menace. Guitarist Nicholaus Arson contorted in a palsied St. Vitus’ dance. Drummer Chris Dangerous stood at attention and pointed a stick at nothing in particular. It’s imperative, of course, that a band this arrogant and animated back it all up with the goods. And the Hives’ set was supercharged, from the hurtling herky-jerk of "Two Timing Touch and Broken Bones" to the slow-burning simmer of "Walk Idiot Walk" to "Diabolic Scheme," in which Almqvist channeled Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. There were, of course, classics — "Main Offender," "Outsmarted," "Hate To Say I Told You So" — from 2000’s Veni Vidi Vicious (Epitaph), and the crowd screamed every word. "Boston, Boston, Boston," Almqvist exhorted the gathered faithful like an enraptured Southern preacher. "Are you with the Hives? Or with some other band?" He needn’t have asked. Fellow Swedes Sahara Hotnights, fronted by Almqvist’s toothsome girlfriend, Maria Andersson, turned in a brisk set of biting power pop culled mostly from their new Kiss & Tell (RCA). Among the best of their offerings was the criminally catchy "Hotnight Crash," which splits the difference between Rick Springfield and the Runaways. Always tight, they did at times seem perfunctory (Andersson was rumored to be under the weather). But when they tore into the towering squall of "Top of the of the World," from 2002’s Jennie Bomb (Jet Set), they were four howling Valkyries in lipstick and tight jeans.
BY MIKE MILIARD
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