The Hives have been coming to the UK for 25 years but this is by far their biggest headline event and an evening to remember on November the 29th.

It has been a mixed tour for The Hives, looking to build on the successful purple patch of the last two albums, 2023’s The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons and this year’s The Hives Forever, Forever the Hives. They had booked in a series of 10,000 capacity venues in Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow and London. The promoters had seriously miscalculated. Embarrassingly, they were forced to downgrade from the Glasgow OVO Hydro (capacity 13,000) to the O2 Academy Glasgow (capacity 2,500), with similar at Cardiff with the Utilita Arena Cardiff moved to the smaller DEPOT. No downgrade was required in London, however tickets were still on sale the day before so it might not have quite sold out.

Spiritual Cramp

We had missed out on Spiritual Cramp at Reading in 2024 but had enjoyed their recent album, Rude, released in October. They are six strong on stage with keyboard, drums, bass, two guitars and are fronted by the energetic Michael Bingham.

They are old school rock and roll with very little in the way of modern touches. Bingham brings Mick Jagger in his prime to mind, not the greatest singer but enthusiastic.

Yard Act

The last time we saw Yard Act they were opening the Main Stage of Reading Festival in 2023 in triumphant style. They are the latest in a line of socially conscious UK indie bands with frontmen who like to talk as much as sing, that leads from Ian Dury and the Blockheads, through Pulp, to this impressive Leeds outfit.

Singer James Smith might have a dull name but is a magnetic presence on the stage. The rest of the band barely get a look in as your eye is constantly drawn to what he is doing. There is a new album coming next year and they treat us to three new tracks from it, ‘Tall Tales,’ ‘The Thrill of the Chase’ and the pick of the bunch, the upbeat ‘New Beginnings,’ which feels like an instant new classic for their setlist. Smith keeps a roadie busy by constantly catching his microphone cable on a monitor. The cause of this is the thrust stage set-up that The Hives are employing on this tour to give Pelle Almquist and Nicholaus Arson more room to roam. Smith is also stalking his way along it. On the best one of these, as the cable catches, Smith jerks backwards in a controlled roll along the floor. He is a memorable orator, teasing us that we can be involved or we can be distant Londoners, “Chose your own adventure Ally Pally”. Towards the end, lying down on the stage he implores us to, “Open a pit, or at least open your cold dead hearts, or open your wallets and buy some merch.” It is a great 40 minute set packed full of post rock-funk fuelled polemics like ‘We Make Hits.’

The Hives

Before they begin there are two roadies dressed in full ninja outfits setting up practically getting more applause than Spiritual Cramp did.

The Hives are not a subtle band. They have a blueprint and they have been executing it since 1993. What is in their favour is that they have got better at it as they get older, the singles from the last album sitting alongside any of their earlier classics from Veni Vidi Vicious. Tonight they launch with ‘Enough is Enough’ and you know this is going to be a glorious set of music.

‘Walk Idiot Walk’ follows. Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist is on top form all night. He constantly demands applause and adoration, it might be annoying in a less decent front man. Pelle gets away with it with his cheeky mannerisms and moments of wry wit. “This is our biggest ever London show. This is peak Hives. You should all consider yourself fortunate to be seeing this. Some might say it is all downhill from here. Not us. We are going to plateau. We will stay at the peak.”

The band are known for their matching uniforms. This current tour they are replete with light up jackets. There is a wonderful double of new classic “Paint a Picture” and old classic “Main Offender.”

Pelle continues to talk throughout. “Do you like hits? Do you like mega big huge hits? Giant enormous hits? Do you want a giant enormous hit now or later? Why am I asking you, we are playing it anyway.” Alexandra Palace is not exactly static this evening but ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’ gets even the most reluctant moving. It remains one of the most thrilling rock singles of the 21st century. Whilst it isn’t a bad crowd we would have loved to bring in the one from Turnstile the other week as they would have lifted the energy levels through the roof and elevated it even higher.

Pelle continues to ramble. “Alexandra Palace. Ally Pally. Pelle Palais. This is a big space but boy do you in the UK not now how to make buildings. I am freezing up here. And I am from Scandinavia. What is that all about?”

The hits continue to fly past like ‘Tick, Tick Boom’ and ‘ Legalize Living. The encore was going to be three songs but a crowd sign requesting ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ is acknowledged and squeezed in as well. There is only one way to end the evening. ‘The Hives Forever, Forever The Hives’ has rapidly become a fan favourite and a wonderful celebration of the band. On this form the Hives forever sounds like a superb idea. They are a fun band, gleeful to be playing live and that translated into an absolutely fun evening.