The Hives at History Toronto: Still the Best Live Band Doing It

Monday night at History wasn’t the sold-out show Sunday was, but you wouldn’t have known it standing on the floor. The room was packed, the crowd was loud, and if anything, the energy felt looser and more chaotic than the night before — which, for a show like this, is exactly what you want.

The Chats opened, and they came out swinging. The Australian trio plays like they’re running out of time — short songs, no gaps, no talking between tracks unless absolutely necessary. Monday’s crowd was wilder than Sunday’s right from the start. The crowd surfing was roughly double, and by the time they got a few songs in, there was a proper mosh pit going.

The set was exactly what you’d want from them — “Smoko,” “Pub Feed,” “Ticket Inspector,” “6L GTR” — songs that feel purpose-built for a room full of people who’ve already had a couple drinks and don’t need much convincing. But the highlight came during “Heaps New York,” a Gymshorts cover, when Sarah Greenwell was brought out as a special guest to sing it with them. Greenwell is connected to The Chats — she also handles merch for the band on the road — so she’s very much part of the crew, not someone pulled from the crowd. She was properly introduced, walked out onstage, and the moment landed exactly the way a good guest appearance should.

One small, funny touch: The Chats had their name spelled out onstage with balloons tethered between two mic stands. Nothing elaborate — just a handful of balloons and a bit of string. It got a laugh.

Then The Hives came on, and the scale shifted completely.

Behind the band, five massive white spherical balloons — each one easily four or five feet across — hung from the rig, one letter per balloon, spelling out HIVES in oversized black type. Same idea as The Chats, executed at a completely different budget level. Whether that was intentional coordination or just a coincidence, it was hard not to grin at.

The band’s road crew had been part of the show long before that, though. Before The Hives took the stage, the crew was moving gear and doing final checks in full all-black outfits — part ninja, part stage hand, part running joke that Hives fans have been in on for years. Pelle Almqvist has been introducing them as elite operatives for as long as anyone can remember, and it never gets less funny.

When the band finally hit, they opened with “Enough Is Enough” and didn’t stop moving. Almqvist is one of those frontmen who makes a sold-out arena feel like a small club, mostly because he refuses to stay on the stage. He was in the crowd during “Bogus Operandi” and “O.C.D.O.D.,” walking the barricade, climbing over into the VIP section at one point — the kind of thing that sounds exhausting to watch but is actually electric in person. He was twirling the mic, working the room between songs, making jokes, and somehow doing all of it without the show ever losing momentum.

Songs from last year’s The Hives Forever Forever the Hives held their own alongside the older material. “Paint a Picture,” “O.C.D.O.D.,” and “Legalize Living” didn’t feel like the band stopping to promote a new record — they just fit. “Hate to Say I Told You So” got one of the biggest crowd reactions of the night, and “Tick Tick Boom,” with the full band introduction bit in the middle, was the kind of moment that reminds you why people keep coming back to see this band over and over.

The encore — “Legalize Living,” “Smoke & Mirrors,” and the title track — closed it out the right way. No cool-down, no winding up, just the same pace they’d been playing at for the previous hour.

Toronto has always had a soft spot for The Hives, and two nights at History made that pretty clear. The crowd showed up both nights and gave back everything the band put out. That’s a good trade.

Special thanks to Mahlet Sintayehu at Live Nation for providing press accreditation for this show.

The Hives

The Chats

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Drew Osborne

I’m Drew, the founder and editor of Front of the Stage. I have a strong love for music and photography, which started at a very young age. There’s just something I love about experiencing live music and capturing memories that will last a lifetime, and that’s how Front of the Stage came to be.