Live At The Corn Exchange, Cambridge [with Blues Explosion + D4]

When three established and quality rock bands play together, the chances of the gig being anything but a wild time becomes, statistically speaking, insignificant. But - but - how so? This is the quandary that faced the university students who ventured out from the depths of murky libraries to witness this geetarfest. For everyone else there was beer.
The D4 should be grateful for this tour, as the audience are theirs for the taking. Any fan of The Hives will appreciate their huge sing-able chourses and uncomplicated melodies (‘Get Loose’), even if they are roughed up in a dirty garage-punk smear. The newly incarnated Blues Explosion however, interrupt the momentum somewhat with their convoluted Elvis impersonations being a little too elaborate to be able to pogo to. Great band, good try, bad result.
The brief spell of listening just means the energy’s pent up when The Hives take to the stage. Dressed up in their trademark matching attire, they’re a band with unashamed front, headed by the born performer Pelle Almqvist.
His hilarious preacher-like banter is as entertaining as the songs themselves, and that takes some beating, with their staccato three-chord riffing and memorable tunes now being their trademark. While newies from their latest album Tyrannosaurus Hives are met with a more muted response than classics like ‘Main Offender’ and ‘Die, All Right!’, the pace is frantic enough for individual songs to be glided over in favour of the Hives Experience. Clearly, their purpose is to remind the world that shows should be exactly that – reliably fun events after which you leave the venue exhausted, slightly sticky, and unable to go to sleep for the ringing in your ears and smile on your face.