You know the Thebby is struggling for ticket sales when you enter the concert hall and the black curtain is across the top set of seating. Despite the pretty small crowd there were 2 bands performing that gave as much energy and commitment to the shows as I have ever seen. First up starting almost right on 8pm was the Grates with lead singer Patience Hodgson doing her rather “excitable/maniac” dancing around the stage that makes a Grates show a great show. Lots of crowd favourites although with the early start the crowd didn’t really start filling in until the set was almost over. I was glad I caught the whole show. Patience even headed down into the crowd for some crowd surfing which is something she appears to be doing quite often on her current tour.
Main act on the bill was The Hives from Sweden. Entering the stage all dressed up in B&Ws with Tophats they soon had the crowd moving playing a selection of songs from the older albums as well as some new stuff that was well received. Overall a night of pure energy from both bands. It was just a shame that a lot of people missed seeing this show. Hopefully The Hives will return to Adelaide sometime and maybe a bigger crowd will turn up
