My girlfriend looked across the bedroom at me this morning and after a few fuzzy moments of embracing her departure from sleep, she asked "isn't hives a disease?"
That one question has of course confirmed the lesson plan for her next class in my audio education programme when I return this evening.
For Day 94 of my THREEHUNDREDANDSIXTEEFIVE challenge I am proud to be wearing this The Hives T-shirt which I picked up from the merchandise stand at a Brixton Academy gig from their Black And White album tour I attended with my brother a couple of years ago. I use the term 'proud' because this tee serves to remind me how amazing that gig was every time I take it out of my wardrobe. Like, stupidly amazing. My brother and I both agree that it was the best gig we'd ever been to.
What was so good about it? Well for one, a number of elements that can spoil a gig were thankfully absent that night. There was no awful support act (the warm-up band was another refreshing Swedish outfit by the delightful moniker Henry Fiat's Open Sore, who's members sported makeshift gaffer-tape balaclavas, spat on each other, and formed a convincing tableaux during a sustained technical fault).
There were no crèche facilities (usually at a gig of the rock/alternative persuasion I find I am in a playground, surrounded by children on their lunch break, talking loudly to each other or playing with their phones loudly to each other or aimlessly shoving each other at each other).
And there were no urine-missiles (well, there probably were, but none of them clobbered me on the back of the neck like at the previous Hives gig I'd attended).
On top of that, The Hives played an incredible set that was nothing but super charged energy from start to finish. Howlin' Pelle Almqvist even taunted the crowd at one point for being exhausted! They played all the hits and were loyal to every riff. As a live band they had well and truly earnt my respect, so the least I could do was hand over some of my pocket money for a tour tee - a graphic representation of the Black and White album cover where Howlin' Pelle's 'Victory' hand gesture replaces the 'V' in the band title text.
