I think this picture I took says it all about The Hives.

A few months ago the band announced they would be steaming 6 shows in January, each one for a different city around the world. You could buy a ticket for every show if you wanted to, they wisely didn’t geolock them (they played from their home, Sweden).

Fans got to vote for a few songs to be played, they had a hotline to all into and overall it was really great. Even in a warehouse with a few crew members they put on a Hives worthy show through the internet. It was surprisingly fun! The picture broke up a few times with some bad artifacting but the audio was fine for the entire show. It was shot with one camera which was actually a great idea as it made it feel really intimate. The camera operator was basically moving around and through the band the whole time so it felt like I was there and Pelle was talking directly to me.

The only problem was-as always for The Hives-the show was too short! About an hour of sweat and swag. With so many great songs they could go forever but hey, a great way to spend $15 bucks. Solid set list and they played 2 rare/new/unreleased songs, Stick Up and Paint A Picture. Stick Up has been around for a while and is my favorite. Nick Arson’s guitar tone is killer, the riffs are dirty and it’s got the mind tickling moments of the trademark Hives bounce. It’s also like 2:30 long so it flies at you like a smack to the face.

More bands should do this.