The Hives are on the road supporting their latest release, humbly entitled The Hives Forever Forever The Hives, hitting San Francisco on an unusually balmy Saturday night that packed the historic Warfield.

Nashville’s Snõõper kicked the night off as the crowd was still filtering in, their generous 45-minute set getting the crowd amped with their high energy. Known for the low-tech production, the band were flanked by large light-up cardboard “speakers” while vocalist Blair Tramel pogoed across the smoke-filled stage. The set ended with their giant bog mascot joining the crowd in the swirling pit … a perfect queue-up for the night’s headliner.

Dressed as ninjas, The Hives crew made quick work clearing the stage … leaving plenty of open space for the the band’s impending hijinks. Taking the stage promptly at 9 p.m., the band wasted no time breaking out the new material, launching straight into “Enough Is Enough” from The Hives Forever Forever The Hives.

While the album has only been out less than a month, the crowd responded immediately, in no small part due to the boundless energy on stage. Frontman “Pelle” Almqvist made ample use of the steps set up inside the barricade, getting up close and personal with the front few rows while his brother and guitarist Niklas “Arson” Almqvist glared at the crowd from the edge of the stage.

What Pelle lacks in humility, he makes up for in stage presence, the high kicks and jumps off the drum risers punctuated by between-song self-effusive banter that was both ridiculous and entertaining. Claiming a blown-out voice and slippery stage (apparently solved with black gaffers tape wrapped around his shoes), Howlin’ Pelle relied on his “good looks” (his words) to compensate.  All in good fun, of course, and the crowd was more than happy to egg him on as he constantly implored the San Francisco audience to make noise.

The general admission floor was in a constant churn but hit peak levels of chaos as Pelle teed up fan favorite and main-set closer with the chant of ”tick tick tick …” of “Tick Tick Boom.”  A quick break and The Hives were back for their encore that had Pelle heading straight through the pit and perching himself on a railing for the set closer.

Taking a few moments to toss out picks and sticks, the band came together at center stage for a final bow bringing their high-energy, over-the-top rock and roll show to an end. Ninety minutes have never flown by so fast!

 The Hives

Snooper