22nd Rockpalast Rocknacht - Cologne 2008

A small optical detail already distinguished THE HIVES from the other bands performing at that night in Cologne. They were wearing stylish and elegant suits in black and white (which are specially-tailored for them by the way). In the background a red neon sign was hung up reminding a bit of the ones in Jazz clubs you can often see in older movies. I already heard the band would be delivering a cool show but that couldn’t prepare me in any way for what should happen there on stage in the following 90 minutes. As soon as the band started their set, the whole venue turned into a madhouse with the band leading the way. I’ve never seen a band playing a show a t that level of energy, especially Pelle was absolutely incredible. I could have sworn he wouldn’t be able to hold that level all the way through but he proved me wrong.



He was moving and jumping over the stage like a whirlwind and spinning around his microphone. Soon the stage became too small for him and so he just “extended” it a tiny bit stepping onto the stage rim or the speakers. Several times he jumped off the stage to get to the fans as close as possible. In fact so close, that the security had to hold him and keeping him from falling into the screaming crowd even though I think the audience would have liked it a lot. But also his brother Nicholaus couldn’t resist moving a lot and showed some awesome tricks with his guitar. Pelle proved to be a master in controlling the whole crowd as well. If he addressed the “ladies” all women screamed and if he called the “gentleman” they did it as well. Usually it’s the duty of the band at a rock show to do some stage diving but that wasn’t possible and so you saw several people out of the audience doing that instead. I would also tell you something about the light but to be honest, I was too fascinated by the action on stage.