On a cool late-September evening where the surf meets the turf, The Sound in Del Mar turned into ground zero for rock and roll chaos, courtesy of Sweden’s beloved garage-punk showmen, The Hives. With Nashville art-punk oddballs Snooper opening the night, the bill promised mayhem from the jump — and it delivered in spades.
Snooper hit the stage first, a frenzy of lo-fi punk energy and avant-garde spectacle. Their set blurred the line between concert and performance art: jagged guitars clashing against minimalist synths, while frontwoman Blair Tramel darted across the stage like a pinball sprung loose. The band’s visuals were equally wild — cardboard props, bursts of color, and even a giant green mosquito costume that Tramel wore into the crowd during their finale. The theatrics often flirted with absurdity, but they were impossible to look away from. With their “expect the unexpected” ethos, Snooper set the stage perfectly for the sonic explosion that followed.
By the time the house lights dimmed for The Hives, the energy inside The Sound was feverish. The Swedish quintet walked out in their trademark black-and-white suits, looking like rock and roll dandies ready to duel for the crowd’s affection. From the first notes of “Enough is Enough,” from their latest album The Hives Forever, Forever the Hives, the room was theirs.
Frontman Pelle Almqvist, a master of self-mythology and crowd manipulation, wasted no time declaring that he wanted privacy and didn’t want to see phones recording the show. At one point, he even snatched a fan’s phone — returning it a song later — the whole stunt delivered more as theater than genuine scolding. His antics throughout the night, from climbing monitors to diving into the crowd and barking orders like a circus ringleader, turned the theater into his personal playground. Every quip dripped with equal parts arrogance and charm, the kind of bravado that could come off as insufferable in lesser hands but, with Almqvist, felt irresistibly fun.
Musically, The Hives remain a force of nature. Guitarists Nicholaus Arson and Vigilante Carlstroem sliced through riffs with razor precision, while bassist Johan Gustafsson and drummer Chris Dangerous anchored the chaos with bone-rattling rhythm. The setlist balanced old anthems with newer cuts: “Main Offender” and “Walk Idiot Walk” sent longtime fans into a frenzy, while fresh material like “Paint a Picture” and “Legalize Living” proved the band hasn’t lost a step creatively. And of course anthems, “Hate to Say I Told You So” and “Tick Tick Boom” nearly blew the roof off, still sounding as urgent and feral as they did 20 years ago.
But The Hives aren’t just a band playing songs — they’re practitioners of rock and roll theater. The false endings, the dramatic pauses, the choreographed chaos — it all felt as tightly wound as a Swiss watch, even when it looked like bedlam. The contrast between total control and wild abandon is what makes them great. They’re not just performing music; they’re performing the idea of rock and roll itself.
As the night wound down with a blistering “Tick Tick Boom,” the audience left The Sound dazed, sweaty, and exhilarated. The Hives had once again proven that few bands can match their mix of spectacle, swagger, and sheer punk ferocity.
In Del Mar, they weren’t just a band on tour — they were a reminder of how electrifying, unpredictable, and gloriously absurd rock and roll can be when it’s done without apology. If you could sum up a Hives show in one word, it would be FUN. They are one of the best touring bands today, delivering a performance worth every bit of effort and hard-earned ticket money.
SNOOPER Website