V Festival (Chelmsford) 2003
Saturday 16th to Sunday 17th August 2003Hylands Park, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 8WQ, England MAP
£90 with camping, £75 without, day £42.50 - SOLD OUT. camper van £30 (with w/e ticket)
The buzz in the large crowd gathered to pay homage to Sweden's finest is high. And why not? They got the moves, the suits, the rock'n'roll sound bytes and the insta-catchy choons. It's everyone's favourite party band! Our best loved cartoon characters! Are they real? Does it matter?
Well yeah it sorta does actually and a few songs in save for the crazy kids at the front who are lovin' it smiles have turned to looks of distraction and thoughts have switched to conundrums like: "Shall I risk a burger from the dodgy stall over thattaway or play safe with a baguette or a salad?"
Anyway back to the band who are playing AKA Idiot and are seemingly unworried about the u-bend sound quality. Pele indulges in the expected inter song banter and where what once endeared ('hey everybody look, it's our favourite comedy Swede!') now grates.
The main pain with The Hives is that every gig is the same. The extent to which they are drilled and the degree of choreography involved removes the unexpected from the equation. Songs like 'Outsmarted' and 'Main Offender' are genuine pop nuggets but there is no longevity to these games.
As they leave the stage it comes to me, an epiphany "Reckon I'll get a Burrito instead."
review by: Alistair Hann
photos by: Luke Seagrave