The Hives
The Ace of Spades, Sacramento
September 19, 2025
Photos by Paul Piazza
The Hives, a legendary Swedish garage rock band, played a ripping set for a sold-out crowd at Sacramento’s Ace of Spades recently.
The group was formed by the brothers Howlin’ Pelle Alqvist and Nicholas Arson in 1993. Pelle is the lead vocalist and Arson is on guitar and back-up vocals.
Throughout the band’s more than three-decade career, they have established themselves as an impeccably dressed bunch who careen through a venue like a runaway freight train. Their exhilarating music, built on concise garage-rock structures, leaps off the rails and pummels the crowd ecstatically, with little time for anyone to get out of the way. And why would they? It’s a fast-paced night of nonstop action.
The band leapt incessantly from one tune to another. Intermittently, vocalist Pelle would launch into a short sermon from the gospel of rock n’ roll as he prowled the stage. In case you are not getting the idea, it was a really fun night.
The Hives are touring on their fantastic new record “The Hives Forever the Hives.” The album is a life-affirming thrill ride that stays true to their garage-punk roots and on this Friday night, the crowd left fulfilled.
Opening the show were Snooper, a fun young punk band from Nashville. They are signed to Jack White’s Third man Records and play a Devo-core style of music. Some call this genre Egg Punk and it is characterized by cartoonish irreverence and distorted guitars.
