The Hives

This is my second concert in Germany. Actually I don’t really familiar with their music. So at first, I am a bit undecided for going. It was my classmate who encourages me to go. He wants to go, and knowing that I am a rock chic, so he asks me to join. Before deciding, I made my own research: browsing into Youtube and Wikipedia to learn about The Hives.

I found out that their songs are pretty easy listening. Not too special, actually. But what makes me interested is that they are a good performer. They are among top live rock performers according to some music magazines. So, it surely worth to watch.

So, that’s how it started. I decided to watch.

The concert was on Friday 28 March 2008 in Pier 2, Bremen. The place is in harbor area, far away from city centre. It looks like a big storage room. The capacity is for 2,000 people. Me and my friend arrives at around 7 PM because it said that the concert will started at 8 PM. But of course we don’t believe that.

After we go inside, I put my jacket in the jacket place. In here, the cost is only €1 although I put 2 pieces of clothes: my sweater & my jacket. There’re some of drink booths inside the arena, so people won’t get thirsty. In Indonesia, mostly drinks are not allowed inside the arena. Well it’s not the drinks that will make problems. It’s the container, like glass or bottle. It could create a plastic bottle or plastic glass wars.

Since the place isn’t so big, the stage also closes to the audiences and not too high. So, although it doesn’t have big screens, I don’t have a problem to watch it. Well, it depends of course. If most of people in front of me are tall, then I am in trouble.

Anyway, before The Hives plays, there’s an opening act for about 40 minutes. And then, at around 9.15 PM, The Hives plays. And just like what people claims, they are surely a good performers!!! Not just they are so crazy in stage, but they surely can make the audiences hysterical. They know how to interact with the audiences and make them scream. For example, they always call ‘Ladies…?!’; so the ladies will scream. And then they call ‘Gentlemen…?!’; so the gentlemen will shout. Or, they ‘threat’ us that they are not gonna sing the next song if we haven’t scream harder enough or until most of the audiences clapping.

The show itself isn’t a type of sing along concert. It becomes a big moshing pit!!! Everybody just dancing, jumping, and pushing everywhere. I don’t know how many times my feet get step on. Once, I get pushed very hard and my head lands on the back of a big guy. That feels really really worst! But surprisingly, no fight among the audiences. If somebody falls down, then people next to him or her will help to make standing up again. Woow, that’s a very nice rock concert attitude. Something that, somehow, is rare to see in Indonesia.

And what makes me more amazed, I bring my small rucksack with me. So I am moshing around with rucksack in my back. And I don’t know how, but my rucksack is opened and my stuffs start falling out! And I don’t realize it at all, until a girl behind me grabs me and tells me. Of course I am so shocked, but apparently she managed to save my stuffs! In the end, I just lost one battery of my camera. My camera falls and opened, Thank God, the card is still intact!!! (Oh God, probably in Indonesia, people will tell me after they steal my camera!!!). I really can’t thank enough about how grateful I am.

The show lasts in 1.5 hours. And like before, it takes me long time to get my jacket back. And the situation isn’t friendly anymore, people just pushing around to get their jackets! I guess I feel more unsafe during this rather than in moshing arena…

Apart from all the bruises and sore body that I got from the concert, I feel so starving. What an exhausted concert! We stop by at Mc Donald’s with new friends that we make during the concert before we go back home.

The Hives rocks!