Comments on Last night's Hives show at Showbox Sodo, as reviewed by my hives.

The "New Favorite Band" remark could be a reference to Hives stage banter from years past. When I saw them six years ago, Howlin' Pelle must've said "We are your new favorite band, the Hives" about 50,000 times over the course of a 45-minute set.

Awesome review. Laughed my ass off.

"But my hives, having histamines for brains, couldn’t remember what the big Hives song was."

Now THAT is interesting perspective.

What if the Hives were opening for the Shins - and you had hives on your shins?

Ah! I DID have hives on my shins...

Ok, I've got it - it's Hives opening for Shins with hives on the shins, and the Hives play that "Voulez vous coucher avec moi, ce soir" song (Patti Labelle?) and it goes:

"Itchy Kitchy ya ya da da"?

That's a stretch. I know. Do hives itch?

um, YES.

@1: Your New Favorite Band is the title of a Hives greatest hits CD. Yes, I actually said, 'Hives greatest hits'.

So, I saw the show last night. Or at least, part of it. Left one or two songs after 'Hate (not Hard) to Say I Told You So' (yes, I recognized it; I love that song). Also liked a few songs from the new album, like Try It Again. Yeah, the music's not terribly innovative, but it does rawk, and sometimes that's all you need.

No, what got me out of there early was a distaste for their live show, which grew with every minute. I'd never seen them perform before. I honestly had no idea that this band would seem so contrived, so manufactured. Like every little gesture, expression, movement, bit of banter, even the singer's fake Jagger-esque accent, was completely calculated. The way the singer kept begging, no demanding, that the audience applaud, got old really fast. And every time he extolled the residents of 'Seattle Washington' to clap and cheer louder, it just felt like he was working from a script for [insert city name here]. So yeah, I guess he was being ironic. At least, I hope so. Either way, I lost interest.

"What if the Hives were opening for the Shins - and you had hives on your shins?"

You'd probably have to give your Shins a few Strokes then, I guess.

PS - Hives can be a sign of something more serious going on. And in severe cases, it can involve your larynx and cause acute airway obstruction. Just sayin'.

The Hives stage banter is contrived and over the top for a reason, its supposed to be funny and to make you laugh.

Its a clever joke that might wear thin if you believe that they honestly think they are the greatest band in the world.

There's a fine line between stupid and clever.

Oh my gosh, wow this review is not really all that good. You didn't even get the name of the hit song right. I am by no means a huge hives fan (or at least I wasn't). I thought the show was great, very entertaining. Not contrived at all, the comments by the lead singer were very tongue and cheek. I thought it was funny, and I think most normal people would too. They are from sweden, so I would imagine that is where the accent comes from. They just rocked, what more can you ask for for 12 bucks?

Nice job. I just hope you never review Throbbing Gristle.