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Definition of a Rock Star Aug. 24th: The Hives in Reading, England The Hives are rockstars. Most of their fans would vehemently (and snobbishly) deny that. The Hives would probably deny it too, saying that they are much too cool and fab and supa to be told what they are. But that's just it. That's what creates and accentuates and propagates their rockstar status - they ooze indestructible, in-your-face, look-at-me-now cool. And will tell you so. Rather than groveling over the microphone about how much they love their fans, and thanking 'all the fucking amazin people out there' (a token opener amongst many of the up-and-coming but decidedly non-rockstar Reading groups), the Hives tell you how lucky you are to be seeing them and tell you that you should be in love with them already. Their most recent album is titled Your New Favourite Band. Thirty minutes, twelve songs. It has been described as the aural equivalent of a foodfight. They thrust lyrics at you in a choppy punk/garage/rock melange which somehow works. At the end of a sweet half an hour, you think you just might like it. Favourite band might be a bit drastic, but so are they, so go with it. Their song titles are wannabe political rants, things like "Main Offender", "Supply and Demand", and perhaps most appropriately, "The Hives are Law, You are Crime". But these Swedes don't seem to really care about all that, nor do they lament or wax philisophic or tell you about emotion. They just know how to play. The enigma of the rockstar. Beyond the commercial product and the record labels, rockstars are unfathomable, untouchable. You know the big guys from the meager as soon as you see them up close, on stage and surrounded by thousands of people. They don't need to thank anyone, they walk onto the stage and get on with it. And so the Hives did. Five geeky cool Swedes in black suits, white ties, and white shoes - a whiff of a trendy jazz quintet until you hear them. The jazz quintet turns hyperactive. Vocalist Howlin Pelle Almqvist dispells the surface impression as he lets loose into a song. Only this guy could get away with singing a two minute long song and then telling a crowd of festival goers that he has made their day worth it. Only a rockstar could do that. Read more articles in Arts » |
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