On 15 April, 2024, Dublin was ransacked, pillaged and sanctified by a rabid set of Scandinavian invaders. No, it wasn’t the return of the Norwegian Vikings who first arrived circa 800 AD, nor was it the Danish pasters who thumped Ireland 5-1 at the Aviva Stadium in 2017.

Instead, it was a set of glow-in-the-dark suit bearing, riff-ripping Swedes. The Hives, buzzing, swarming and equipped with a lethal sting, demanded ownership of the Olympia Theatre’s stage, steadfastly backing up their self-proclaimed status as being one of the best in the world at what they do.

An Irish gig was a long time coming for the band, who’ve had to postpone multiple shows on the island. This time, not even Storm Kathleen or Alex Turner’s acute laryngitis (The Hives were lined up to support AM at last year’s cancelled Marlay Park show) could stop them.

The Hives at the 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin 15.4.2024 Copyright Colm Kelly

Promising Leeds outfit Bad Nerves provided the foretaste, helping heart rates get to a suitably high baseline BPM, before the lights dimmed and the menacing riff to the lead single off the Hives’ latest decade-in-the-making opus, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, began to echo around the storied auditorium.

Howlin' Pelle Almqvist bursts into frame as the band kick into the deliciously vicious opener ‘Bogus Operandi’. It’s made immediately and abundantly clear that this guy has a doctorate in frontmanship. He starts where most lead singers stop, treating the mic like it owes him money, violently swinging it around and prodding it into the pit for fans to volley back choruses.

He's intoxicated by the crowd’s energy and vice-versa. Whether he’s standing statuesque on the speaker cabs and synthesising the applause or egging them into boos by mentioning the English, he has Dublin like putty in his hands.

The Hives at the 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin 15.4.2024 Copyright Colm Kelly

Buttressing Almqvist’s antics are an equally extraordinary rip-roaring posse of musicians.

Standing stage left is telecaster-chugging madman (and Pelle’s older brother) Nicholaus Arson. He’s got a satanic stare and all the moves, exhibiting about 30 different ways to flick a plectrum into the audience throughout the set. On the far side is the cooler, more restrained Vigilante Carlstrom, who stands upright and makes the fretboard Olympics seem as straight forward as any five-finger exercise.

Together, the pair artfully revive the art of the guitar riff in perfect synchronicity. They’re Ramonesy on ‘Smoke & Mirrors’, gloriously Stooges-like on ‘Rigor Mortis Radio’ and Sabbath-esque on ‘Bigger Hole To Fill’.

The rhythm section are no slouches either. Low-end wizard Johan Gustafsson was nicknamed “Rolex” by the frontman because of his uncanny ability to keep time. He doesn’t stop for the whole show, smashing any stereotypes of the bassist being an afterthought with the crowd singing along to his lines.

Topping things off is fan-favourite can basher Chris Dangerous, who’s as good at throwing his sticks in the air and catching them as he is at keeping a beat, which, for those wondering, is very good. The individuality of each character combined with their collective chemistry creates an live show like no other: where the theatre is as high-class as the musicianship.

The Hives at the 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin 15.4.2024 Copyright Colm Kelly

The five-piece were more than happy to make up for any lost time too. They capped off their UK & Irish run with an extended set, which culminated in a ferocious encore of ‘Come on’ and a ten-minute face-blasting rendition of ‘Tick Tick Boom’.

Despite the increase in length, the show passed as quick as a bullet train and just like that, the rockers were taking their bows to the tune of Carly Simon’s ‘Nobody Does It Better’.

There couldn't have been a more fitting song to soak the applause to. After seeing them in the flesh, Howlin’ Pelle’s prior claims of his band being the best around seem neigh-on irrefutable. One hopes that The Hives don't encounter any more storms or sore throats, and make a hasty return to these shores.