Concerts Reviews
The Hives Turn the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver Into a Garage-Rock Circus
The Swedish rock ’n’ roll circus that is The Hives stormed into the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, BC on September 16, leaving no doubt that their reputation as one of the most electrifying live bands on the planet is still intact. What unfolded over the course of their 90-minute set was a full-contact spectacle, equal parts chaos and choreography, all wrapped in black suits that looked absurdly sharp for how sweaty things got.
First on the bill was Nashville’s Snooper, a punk band with a chaotic edge and plenty of energy. Their set was fast and noisy, perfect for waking up the crowd. With a mash-up of garage riffs, breakneck drumming, and a lead singer who couldn’t stop bouncing around the stage, they gave the room a jolt of raw adrenaline.
Shortly after 9pm, The Hives kicked off their set with “Enough Is Enough” before slamming straight into “Walk Idiot Walk” and “Rigor Mortis Radio.” The opening trio alone set the pace: relentless, fast, and loud. Frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist wasted no time scaling the barricade, leaning into the crowd like a rock preacher daring his congregation to scream louder. Spoiler: they did.
By the fourth song, “Paint a Picture,” the band pulled one of their signature tricks: freezing mid-song, standing motionless for what felt like a full minute before detonating back into the riff. It’s part theatre, part prank, and exactly the kind of chaos that keeps a Hives set from ever feeling routine.
The crowd lost it for “Main Offender,” one of their oldest and most enduring anthems. Almqvist, drenched in sweat but still impossibly charming, decided this was the moment to poke fun at Vancouver’s reputation. “You’re too Canadian, too polite,” he teased, before demanding more volume. Later in the night, with sweat dripping from his brow, he deadpanned: “I didn’t know Vancouver was in the tropics!” The joke landed, because honestly, the Commodore felt like a sauna.
That back-and-forth between Almqvist and the audience is the lifeblood of a Hives show. He doesn’t just sing at people, he works them, like a carnival barker crossed with a punk-rock dictator. He ordered people to clap louder, scream harder, even sit down on the floor during “Tick Tick Boom” and jump at his command. And the fans obeyed, grinning the whole time.
The setlist leaned heavily on classics, with “Born A Rebel,” “Stick Up,” “Bogus Operandi,” and the ever-explosive “Hate to Say I Told You So.” Each song was delivered with the kind of precision that makes you forget how chaotic it all looks. The guitars were jagged, the basslines growled, and drummer Chris Dangerous lived up to his name, driving everything with a beat that never let up.
But the chaos wasn’t just sonic. Guitarist Nicholaus Arson was a spectacle all his own, twitching across the stage like he was possessed, tossing guitar picks, and at one point smearing one across his face before flicking it into the crowd like some holy relic. If you caught it, congratulations. You’re now blessed.
And then there are the “ninjas.” Yes, actual black-clad stagehands who scurried across the stage, swapping guitars, untangling cords, and disappearing into the shadows like roadie assassins. Only The Hives would turn basic stage logistics into a theatrical bit.
The crowd was already drenched and breathless by the time the band hit “OCDOD,” “I’m Alive,” and “Countdown to Shutdown.” Each landed like a shot of adrenaline. By the time they reached “Come On,” the audience was basically singing the entire track themselves.
The main set closed, as it almost always does, with “Tick Tick Boom.” Almqvist drew every ounce of drama out of it, stretching the intro, taunting the crowd, then unleashing absolute bedlam when the riff hit. The Ballroom floor shook as hundreds of people jumped in unison.
Of course, that wasn’t the end. The encore brought “Legalize Living,” “Bigger Hole to Fill,” and finally “The Hives Forever,” a self-mythologizing closer that doubles as a mission statement. It’s bold to end a set by declaring your own permanence, but after witnessing the mayhem they conjured, it didn’t feel like bragging. It felt like prophecy.
What makes The Hives different from so many other bands still coasting on 20-year-old hits is that their live show hasn’t dulled with age. If anything, it’s sharper. They’ve figured out how to take the raw spirit of garage rock and turn it into pure theatre without losing its edge. Every freeze, every kick, every mic swing feels chaotic in the moment but lands with perfect timing.
And Almqvist himself remains one of rock’s great frontmen: funny, commanding, and just unhinged enough to make you believe anything could happen. When he ordered the Vancouver crowd to scream louder, they did. When he told them to sit, they sat. When he demanded chaos, they delivered. Few singers can control the audience that way without pyrotechnics or elaborate stage sets. The Hives do it with charisma, sweat, and sheer nerve.
By the time the final chords of “The Hives Forever” rang out, the Commodore Ballroom was a mess of bodies sticky from heat, and ears ringing. Which is exactly how a Hives show is supposed to end.
Long live The Hives. Forever, forever The Hives.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
Upcoming Tour Dates:
09/19 Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
09/20 San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
09/22 Del Mar, CA – The Sound
09/25 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
10/16 Oslo, Norway – Sentrume Scene
10/18 Copenhagen, Denmark – KB Hall
10/21 Berlin, Germany – Colombia Halle
10/24 Munich, Germany – Zenith
10/25 Leipzig, Germany – Haus Auensee
10/26 Vienna, Austria – Gasometer
10/28 Zurich, Switzerland – Xtra
10/29 Milan, Italy – Alcatraz
10/31 Barcelona, Spain – Sant Jordi Club
11/02 Madrid, Spain – Wizink
11/04 Lisbon, Portugal – Sagres Campo Pequeno
11/19 Brussels, Belgium – Forest National
11/20 Paris, France – Le Zenith
11/22 Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS
11/24 Cardiff, UK – Utilitia Arena
11/26 Glasgow, UK – Ovo Hydro
11/28 Manchester, UK – Aviva Studios
11/29 London, UK – Alexandra Palace
12/01 Cologne, Germany – Palladium
12/02 Frankfurt, Germany – Jahrhunderthalle
12/03 Hamburg, Germany – Sporthalle
12/06 Stockholm, Sweden – Avicii Arena
More info on their website.
THE HIVES
SNOOPER
All Photo Credit: Caroline Charruyer
Concerts Reviews
AC/DC Brings the Thunder to Vancouver with their ‘Power Up Tour’
There is a point where a band stops being simply a band and becomes part of the architecture of rock music. AC/DC crossed that line a long time ago.
At BC Place on August 13, the Australian hard-rock institution brought its Power Up Tour to Vancouver for a night built around the things AC/DC has spent more than five decades doing better than almost anyone: giant riffs, simple choruses, loud guitars and absolutely no interest in pretending it needs to be anything else.
The Pretty Reckless had the unenviable job of warming up a stadium full of people who had come primarily to see one band. Taylor Momsen and company handled it well. The band had already played BC Place with AC/DC the previous year, so the venue was familiar territory, and their dark, muscular rock gave the evening a harder modern edge before AC/DC took over.
Momsen remains a compelling frontwoman. She has the kind of voice that can go from a rough growl to something surprisingly controlled without losing its bite. The Pretty Reckless worked through songs including “Death by Rock and Roll,” “Follow Me Down,” “Make Me Wanna Die” and “Going to Hell,” making a solid case for their place on a tour where the headliner could easily swallow an opening act whole.
Then it was time for AC/DC. The opening notes of “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)” were enough to make the point. There was no elaborate buildup or some cinematic explanation of what was about to happen. Angus Young walked out in his schoolboy uniform, picked up his Gibson SG and started playing.
That’s the AC/DC trick. They make the obvious feel good. Young is 71 now, and Brian Johnson is 78. Those numbers are hard to ignore for about five minutes. Then Young starts moving. He still has the strange, almost cartoonish physicality that has made him such an effective performer. The duckwalk remains intact. So does the ability to disappear into a guitar solo and somehow make a stadium watch one small figure instead of the enormous production surrounding him.
Johnson has changed more noticeably. His voice carries more wear than it did decades ago, and some of the higher passages have lost a bit of their old bite. Yet there is something fitting about hearing that weathered voice attack these songs now. “Back in Black” doesn’t need to sound exactly like the 1980 recording. Neither does “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” Johnson sings them like someone who has lived with these songs for most of his adult life. The audience knows every word anyway.
“Thunderstruck” turned BC Place into a sea of raised arms. “Hells Bells” brought out the giant bell and all the expected theatrics. “Highway to Hell” needed almost no encouragement from the band; the crowd did most of the work. This is where AC/DC has an advantage over younger stadium acts. There is no learning curve ast hese songs have been sitting in people’s heads for decades.
The Power Up material, including “Demon Fire” and “Shot in the Dark,” fits into the set without disrupting its momentum. Still, the older songs are where the night really catches fire. “Shoot to Thrill,” “Sin City,” “High Voltage,” “Riff Raff” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” are simply too deeply embedded in the band’s history to compete with.
“Let There Be Rock” became Angus Young’s playground. His extended solo was indulgent and ridiculous, but that’s exactly what it needed to be. A shorter version might have been more sensible, but nobody came to AC/DC for sensible.
There is something almost refreshing about how little the band cares about reinvention. AC/DC has no new sound to unveil and no grand statement about where rock music is going next. It knows where it came from, knows what its audience wants and has decided that is enough.
By the time “T.N.T.” arrived, BC Place was already primed for the inevitable finale. Then came “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You),” with the cannons firing and the stadium turning into one enormous, deafening salute.
AC/DC isn’t trying to prove that it is still the future of rock. The band has become something more stubborn than that: a living reminder that a great riff doesn’t age nearly as quickly as the people playing it. Five decades in, Angus Young still wants you to turn it up. Vancouver was happy to oblige.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
Upcoming Power Up Tour Dates:
Thu Aug 27 Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Mon Aug 31 Houston, TX NRG Stadium
Fri Sep 04 South Bend, IN Notre Dame Stadium
Tue Sep 08 St. Louis, MO The Dome at America’s Center
Sat Sep 12 Montreal, QC Parc Jean-Drapeau
Wed Sep 16 Toronto, ON Rogers Stadium
Fri Sep 25 East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium
Tue Sep 29 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field
More information here.
AC/DC
THE PRETTY RECKLESS
All Photo Credit: Caroline Charruyer | @frogphotography
Concerts Reviews
IVE ‘Show What I Am’ Tour Lives Up to Its Name in Vancouver
A few months ago, I walked into Rogers Arena for my first K-pop concert. That show was TWICE’s This Is For Tour, and it was a bit of a crash course. I knew the group, knew some of the songs, but I was still trying to figure out what made a K-pop concert different from the rock and pop shows I had spent years photographing and reviewing.
Since then, I’ve done my homework. I’ve listened to more groups, learned more about the culture around K-pop, and started to understand why the relationship between a group and its fans is such a big part of the experience. So when IVE ended the North American leg of their Show What I Am Tour to Rogers Arena on August 9, I was much more prepared.
I still wasn’t an expert on IVE. I couldn’t have named every song going in, and I certainly wasn’t going to pretend I could match the DIVE fandom’s encyclopedic knowledge of the group. What I did have was curiosity, and by the end of the night, I had a much better idea of why IVE has become one of K-pop’s biggest fourth-generation girl groups.
IVE — An Yujin, Gaeul, Rei, Jang Wonyoung, Liz and Leeseo — has built its identity around confidence since debuting in 2021. The group’s catalogue includes some of K-pop’s biggest recent hits, including “LOVE DIVE,” “After LIKE,” “I AM,” “Kitsch” and “Baddie.” The Show What I Am Tour takes that idea of confidence and stretches it across a concert that deliberately gives each member room to stand on her own.
The show opens with a cinematic video sequence before the six members appear in black leather outfits, surrounded by dancers, lasers and sparks. “GOTCHA (Baddest Eros)” gets things moving before “XOXZ” and “Baddie” keep the momentum going. There is very little patience for a slow start here.
“ICE QUEEN” brings a more elegant edge, followed by “BLACKHOLE,” where the live band gives the song considerably more weight than its studio version. The band is one of the smartest choices in the production. The arrangements aren’t simply backing tracks played louder ; songs get extended instrumental sections, heavier percussion and moments where the musicians can actually breathe. It makes the show feel like a concert rather than a two-hour music video with a very large budget.
“TKO” brings the members down the runway for the first time, putting them much closer to the audience. “Holy Moly” follows, before “My Satisfaction” shifts the mood again with darker lighting, dancers and tight camera shots projected onto the arena screens (K-pop bands’ camera work really excels during live performance).
Then IVE breaks apart. The solo section is probably the strongest part of the show. Each member gets a chance to show a different side of herself, and the performances are different enough that the sequence never feels like six variations of the same idea. Wonyoung’s “8” is confident and controlled. Rei turns “In Your Heart” into a cute, playful Y2K-style performance. Liz’s “Unreal” strips things back and puts her vocals front and centre. Gaeul’s “Odd” is dreamy and understated before Leeseo completely changes the temperature with the hyperactive “Super ICY.” Yujin closes the sequence with “Force,” combining live vocals with demanding choreography before handing the stage over to the dancers.
For someone coming into the show without a deep knowledge of IVE, this was the section that made the group click for me. They are six distinct performers, not six interchangeable pieces of a larger machine.
The group eventually reunites for “♥beats,” changing into white outfits with angel wings and moving into a lighter part of the show. “WOW,” “Off The Record” and “FLU” lean heavily into fan interaction. There are waves, heart gestures, posing for cameras and plenty of moments where the members seem just as entertained by the audience as the audience is by them.
That connection is hard to miss. K-pop fans don’t just know the songs, they know the choreography, the members, the inside jokes and the tiny details. Watching thousands of people respond to the same cue at exactly the same time can feel slightly surreal when you’re still learning the language of the genre.
And then IVE brings out the big guns. “ATTITUDE,” “LOVE DIVE,” “REBEL HEART” and “I AM” arrive in quick succession, turning Rogers Arena into one enormous singalong. “I AM,” in particular, gets the kind of response you expect from a band playing its signature song.
“BANG BANG” follows, with the group teasing the crowd that it is the final song before an extended outro sends the members racing back across the stage.
Of course, it isn’t the final song. The first encore brings “Wild Bird” and a more relaxed version of IVE, with the members wearing tour merchandise and spending more time talking to the audience. Then comes another surprise: Wonyoung takes over a DJ booth for “Supernova Love,” the group’s collaboration with David Guetta. “Kitsch” follows, and then “After LIKE” closes the night with thousands of fans singing along.
I came into Rogers Arena knowing far less about IVE than the people sitting around me. I left with a much better understanding of the group, and more importantly, a better understanding of why K-pop concerts have become such a force.
The spectacle is impressive, but that isn’t what stuck with me. It was the personalities. Show What I Am works best when IVE stops trying to prove how big the production can be and simply lets the six members show what makes each of them different. The choreography is sharp, the live band adds real punch, and the production rarely sits still for long. But the biggest success is that the show gives fans plenty of reasons to feel like they are part of it.
A few months after my first K-pop concert, I’m still learning the names and catching up on the catalogue. I’m starting to get it, though. And IVE made a pretty convincing case for keeping up.
Upcoming IVE Show What I Am Tour dates:
Sept. 4 – Hong Kong – Asia World Arena
Sept. 5 – Hong Kong – Asia World Arena
Sept. 11 – Taipei, Taiwan – Taipei Arena
Sept. 12 – Taipei, Taiwan – Taipei Arena