{Originally published on UR Chicago Magazine Online}
FEB 29: THE HIVES ROCK THE RIV
photo by Jason Horine
Youth is alive and well in this country. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. The pure energy, vigor, rage, and spirit have not yet been consumed by complacency, and for this we should be grateful. Adolescence is a time of rights and wrongs, dos and don’ts, all or nothing – and perhaps it’s this duality that drives the vitality of young life. Maybe the album title for the latest release from The Hives, The Black and White Album, is not intentionally referring to this particular paradox, but their sound is certainly a fitting background score.
When the Swedish quintet took the stage Friday night at The Riviera Theater, the packed house of sweating, undulating, violent youth consumed every power chord, howl, and scissor-kick. With their punk rock sound more refined than ever (and black and white outfits pristine as always), The Hives were simultaneously precise and frenetic, volatile and predictable, and came off as true rock veterans.
