I haven't heard The Donnas before, but I was impressed by how much rock n' roll noise they could make. I don't say this because they're girls, but because they just don't look it on stage. In fact I was pretty un-impressed by the showmanship of the lead singer. The guitar riffs overshadowed both her singing (which might have been the sound engineer's fault) and her energy. After so many years playing rock festivals you would think Brett would learn how to rile the crowd up, especially since Allison on the guitar does half the job for her. Despite the slack on the stage the music was loud, tight and rhythmic. Sure all the songs blended into one big riff-fest, but it wasn't necessarily the bad kind of monotony. I give them A- for trying.
The Hives were a 180 degree difference in terms of extracting crowd response, and they looked like they had their act together. The matching suits definitely help pull a band together (especially when there's 5 people on stage, on redundant instruments). I still don't know why they need 2 electric guitarists, especially since one of them shows more than he actually plays (Nicholaus).
I really liked that the sound was well produced and their songs had the perfect blend between Howlin Pelle's voice and the screaming guitars, something that sets their albums apart from some of the other scream-fest post-punk out there. The Hives demanded much love from their audience, but it was easy to give, especially when they finally got around to the singles towards the end of the show. Naturally they pushed their new Black and White album, so most songs came from there, rather than from Tyrannosaurus Hives, which I'm partial to. The show was being taped for a new video, which I think always gives a little bit more energy to the show. The Hives get a B+ from me, with points taken off for constant pep-rallying and self aggrandization.
Check out the rest of the photos and a couple of short clips.
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