Eagles of Death Metal

Last Thursday night — September 25, 2008 — Eagles of Death Metal and The Hives got the temple walls of LA’s Mayan Theatre shakin’ with their rock ‘n’ roll mayhem.

When Eagles of Death Metal hit the stage, lead singer Jesse “The Devil” Hughes exploded into their first song, “Don’t Speak (I Came To Make A Bang).”  And bang they did — with red-hot guitars from Darlin’ Dave Catching and Brian “Big Hands” O’Conner, plus hip-swingin’, hell-raisin’ beats from two drummers — Joey “The Sexy Mexi” Castillo and über-foxy Queens of the Stone Age front man Josh “Baby Duck” Homme.

The boys kept up a solid gold set with “Bad Dream Mama,” “I Like to Move in the Night,” “Speaking in Tongues,” and the single “Wannabe in LA” from their upcoming album Heart On, due out October 21st. Jesse mesmerized us with his devil-boogie magic and surly ‘stache.  (Is it just me, or does he look a little like Floyd from The Muppet Show?) Always quite the sweet-talker, he gave a shout-out to the ladies in the crowd.  Then he announced that it was his birthday the day before, and the band was celebrating with a post-show fiesta at the Velvet Margarita Cantina in Hollywood.  I must admit, I was extremely tempted to crash this bash.  How fun would it be to toss back a few tequila shots with these guys?  But I was curious to see what those debonair Swedes, The Hives, had up their sleeves.  And let me tell you, I’m glad I stayed, ’cause it was all-out rock ‘n’ roll brilliance.

Emulating unified ‘60s Brit band style, The Hives burst onto the stage in clean-cut, matching white suits with prep school crests on the coat pockets and black and white striped ties.  They shook up the crowd with a string of new and old favorites, including “Main Offender,” “Die, Alright!,” “Try It Again,” “Hate To Say I Told You So,” and “Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones.”  It was enough to turn even the most casual head-bobber into a full-fledged dance-aholic.  Lead singer “Howlin” Pelle Almqvist channeled Mick Jagger with his hand-on-hip swagger across the stage. After the first three songs, I decided that drummer Chris Dangerous could also be called Chris Dextrous. He alternately pounded the skins and spiraled his sticks in the air without missing a beat.

The Hives

All throughout the show, Pelle roused the crowd like a rock ‘n’ roll evangelist:  “Ladies and gentleman, we have us a brand new song and we would like to play it for you.  Do you understand me?”  By the sound of the cheering crowd, they did indeed.

Matching jackets and ties came off, sleeves were rolled up…The Hives were down to serious “we’re-not-gonna-stop-‘til-you-surrender-to-the-rock” business. The longer they played, the sweatier they got until nearly all were soaked through their white, button-down shirts.  Once Pelle’s hair was drenched in sweat, he was the spitting image of Jim Carrey.  I half-expected him to blurt out, “Somebody stop me!”

Every song was blazing out of control and there was no letting us down easy, so these gents took it all the way home.  Even near the close of the show, the fans leaning on the back bar set their vodka tonics down for a “Diabolic Scheme” dance-break.

With The Eagles of Death Metal delivering Death By Sexy and The Hives keeping us “too messed up to even settle down,” this was one dance party that had the congregation shouting “Hallelujah!” for rock ‘n’ roll.