The Hives brought in Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders to join them on stage during their recent concert in Athens. See the images below.
During their set at the Release Athens festival, held at the Greek capital’s Plateia Nerou on Tuesday (July 18), the Swedish indie icons invited the drummer to take the stage to perform “Rigor Mortis Radio”, the song theme from their next album.
“We have another of the best drummers in the world coming up strong!” said Pelle Almqvist, the leader of The Hives, as he introduced the drummer on stage. “From the Arctic Monkeys, Mr. Matt. We’ll be performing a very special version of our latest single, ‘Rigor Mortis Radio’.”
The Hives acted as the opening act for the Sheffield band during their European tour. Helders was previously excited about opening the band before hitting the road.
Speaking to NME, he said: “The Hives were definitely one of the bands we all listened to when we started our band. We’ve already played a few shows with them around the world and it’s always fun to see them. such a good feeling when you’re excited to see the band play in front of you.”
Almqvist responded to Helders’ comments, praising them as “the only good and popular band”.
“They told us that the first week or month they started the band, they saw The Hives and The Strokes and that’s what really got them started,” the frontman told NME.
“We toured South America with them about 10 years ago and we had a great time, so I’m very happy that they wanted us to come back. It’s a great tour, so much fun. I think the Arctic Monkeys are fucking great. ‘the only good band that’s popular, and that’s not easy.
In other news, The Hives recently spoke about the days of indie sleaze and how it was immortalized in the book and film Meet Me In The Bathroom.
“It’s funny that now it’s considered a ‘historic event’ and all that crap,” says Almqvist. “Meet Me In The Bathroom is basically a history book about shit I did as an adult. I think it was cool, and it was cool when it happened.
The band also talked about their resurrection with a new album 11 years after the last one. The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons” will be out on August 11.
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