Triggerfinger and The Hives at Stimmen-Festival - 26 July 2014

"This song is addressed straight to your buttcheeks", says Triggerfinger singer Ruben Block when the band launch into All This Dancin' Around. And when Triggerfinger say you're going to dance, then you're going to dance! The Belgian band's blues-rock riffs transmit such an irresistible force that the trio gain new fans at every one of their shows.

As always, My Baby's Got A Gun is the linchpin of their concert, an electrifying fast-slow-loud-quiet tour de force on guitar, drums and bass. On this Stimmen-Festival evening, Triggerfinger play a shorter set than they did back in May in Zurich, but even a short set is better than none with this band. An absolute must-see.

*************************************************************************************************

Sweden's The Hives are similarly high-energy: frontman Pelle Almqvist is like a demented dervish as he runs around the stage, executes scissor kicks, crowdsurfs, throws his microphone in the air and launches himself off amps and bass drums.

The five-piece have been making music since the early 1990s. Acclaimed as one of the best live rocks bands around today, they always perform in matching black-and-white suits, while their stage crew have taken to wearing black ninja attire. The look is stark and clean, with the focus firmly on the music and the antics of frontman Almqvist and his equally animated guitarist brother Niklas Almqvist.

The singer's in-between song banter can be on the lengthy side and you find yourself wishing that the band would just play the music. But when Almqvist says things like "we are about to set this town alight!", while simultaneously thanking the fire department for their presence, it takes a hard heart indeed not to be charmed.

The Hives play a straightforward, lively mix of rock 'n' roll and garage rock. This is what a concert in the 1950s might have been like, when Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis were the wild men of music and teenagers went into fits of ecstasy over the then-new rock 'n' roll beats. The music isn't particularly complex, but the band's unbridled energy, their distinctive look and frontman Pelle Almqvist's charismatic craziness turn The Hives' shows into a smorgasbord of fun.

Setlist The Hives:

Come On

Take Back The Toys

Two Timing Touch

Walk Idiot Walk

Two Kinds Of Trouble

See Through Head

Main Offender

I Want More

Missing Link

Try It Again

Won't Be Long

Go Right Ahead

Tick Tick Boom

Patrolling Days

My Time Is Coming

Hate To Say I Told You So

- Anna Wirz