Music- The Hives

NIYAZ PIRANI/Daily Titan The Hives conclude U.S. tour with hypnotizing performance

By NIYAZ PIRANI

Daily Titan Asst. News Editor

If youʼre planning to go to a Hives show, you might want to stay clear of the stage because kicks and Swedes will fl y.

Singer Howlinʼ Pelle Almqvist is convinced that his band is not only Swedenʼs hottest import, but also the best thing to happen to rock nʼ roll and he may be prepared to beat in into you; either with his spotless black leather shoes or shameless self-promotion.

Touring stateside to promote their latest album “Tyrannosaurus Hives”, the fi ve piece, consisting of Almqvist, bassist Dr. Matt Destruction, guitarist Vigilante Carlstroem, guitarist Nicholaus Arson and drummer Chris Dangerous brought their signature white suits to Anaheimʼs House of Blues for the last stop on their American tour before heading off to Austrailia.

Although subdued when off-stage, watching the skinny lead singer perform may lead some to believe that he suffers from seizures. In actuality heʼs slowly hypnotizing the crowd with his jolted movements, creating a frenzy that he knows will only stop when his last note has been shrieked.

From the moment the curtain went up, Almqvist led his band through a franticly spastic set which seemed to have no rhyme or reason to it.

The band opened by attacking the crowd with the fi erce one and a halfminute anthem “Abra Cadaver” before launching into the rubber-band twang of “Main Offender.”

Dangerous and Arson kept up

with Almqvistʼs pace through most of the set and the talents of Destruction were showcased during his bass solo on hit single “Hate To Say I Told You So.”

Almqvist, never to be one-upped by his band slowed the set to converse with the crowd, asking them to “make sounds like the monkeys do.”

A loud roar erupted from the crowd and after a few minutes of turning the House into a jungle, Almqvist decided to “bless [the crowd] with more music.”

Straying from their typical formula of in-your-face punchy garage rock, the Hives broke into an improved version of “Diabolic Scheme,” treating the fans to itsʼ jagged agony, but as the guitars came upon the middle of the song the Hives froze on stage and the music stopped.

The crowd began to scream and shout for their slim Swedish hero to emerge from his paralysis and as the two-minute mark approached, the band suddenly sprang back to life and fi nished the tune.

The Hives ended their set with “Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones” before returning to encore with the strangely addictive “Antidote.” Although the performance was short lived, simply because their last two releases combined barely break the hour mark, the Hives put on a show thatʼs worth the ticket price and then some.

Foundation: rock for free

By RYAN TOWNSEND

Daily Titan Managing Editor

Rock nʼ roll may be fun, but playing it doesnʼt usually pay the bills.

Therefore, free nights of entertainment are a valuable commodity for bohemians in Orange County.

Itʼs only marginally hyperbolic to point out that the best thing about living in Costa Mesa, aside from the short jaunt down the hill to Newport Beach, is the nightlife. Only slightly less marvelous than that fact itself, is the existence of no cover Mondays at the Detroit Bar.

This past Monday, I drove three blocks and around the corner to hear The Lassie Foundation. I was pretty excited to see them as frontman Wayne Everett played the drums for three bands I admired very much growing up: The Prayer Chain, Cush, and Starfl yer 59.

The fi rst striking thing I noticed on the way in was the average age of the assembled crowd.

Most of them had to be at least ten years older than me, and Iʼm no youngster at 24. However, they were dressed much more stylishly than I. Figures, I thought, they probably have real jobs and are just part-time hipsters.

Sure enough though, after a reasonably entertaining opening set by Greater

California, Everett addressed the collective age of the audience. “How many of you out there are old?” he asked. When one drunk woman in the front confessed that she was 40, Everett sympathetically said, “Weʼre all there or well on our way.”

Blessed or cursed with a baby face, itʼs impossible to tell how old the longtime rocker is, short of asking him. I chose not to do this, as

Everett has a reputation for being somewhat diffi cult.

After a two-year hiatus, the Lassie Foundation is back with a more energetic, 80ʼs rock-infl uenced sound. Where they were content with laid back shoegazer pop, they now seem committed to rocking with faster tempos and hookier guitars on new songs like “Face Your Fun,” and “Money, Money.”

As a showman, Everett played up his inner geek-rocker, at one point encouraging the crowd to “jazzercise with me.”

No one took him up on the offer, but the crowd of thirty-something yuppies seemed to eat up the Gen X irony with enthusiastic glee.

As for me, I thought the band sounded pretty damn awesome, but spent half the time wondering about the average income in the room.

Figuring that it was pretty high, minus the middle-age musicians on stage, this was confi rmed when Everett asked how many of the gathered worked 9 to 5.

Most hands went up and he smiled at the irony. Lassie Foundation are still living the dream, while their fans are content with solid jobs and weeknight shows.

The Detroit Bar is located at 843 W. 19th Street in Costa Mesa. Catch the Lassie Foundation tonight Stretch your vocal muscles every sunday night with Karaoke. Tuesday night, help support Tsuy night, help support Tsunami Victims while listening to tunes from Something Greater. For more information please call, 949 642 0600.