Photo Gallery: The Hives at The Salt Shed • Chicago
The Hives
March 26, 2026
The Salt Shed
Chicago, IL
Recap and photos by Curt Baran
Since their inception back in the early ’90s, Sweden’s The Hives have consistently proven to be one of the most dependable live acts in the Rock pantheon. To the unsuspecting, their matching suits (which included illuminated hemlines this time around) might suggest an evening of polite, unobtrusive music. But most of those in attendance at Chicago’s Salt Shed on Wednesday night knew precisely what was headed their way. From the moment they plugged in, The Hives unleashed a torrent of their punk-rock soundtrack, mixing pop sensibilities with undeniably hooky songwriting that usually blasts by in under three-minute chunks. As always, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist served as the quintessential front man, using every musical skid stop and start to sell leg kicks, microphone acrobatics, and fourth wall shattering plunges into the rabid acolytes occupying the front barricade. It’s part showmanship shtick and exaggerated egoism that, given a different human vessel, might fall flat, but Almqvist always manages to sell instinctively. But when his band mates blast through sugary sweet anthems like “Walk Idiot Walk,” “Hate To Say I Told You So,” “Bogus Operandi,” and “Main Offender,” the vibe may be tongue in cheek, but the sincerity is unmatched.
It’s the joke that everyone is in on, but everyone remains fully invested. The cliched rock poses and the over-the-top histrionics somehow never fall flat. Over the course of an eighteen-song set, both band and audience allowed themselves to believe that they were witnessing greatness, the irony being that is precisely what was delivered.
Read our 2023 cover story with The Hives
Category: Featured, IE Photo Gallery
