I have pictures and some video of all these things, but not sure if it will all go here or elsewhere, not sure on file constraints and such.

**Evolution Festival**  
I saw The Hives at Evolution Festival earlier in the day (9/27). There was some tech stuff going on and their set started later, so I think we got a shorter set, but still great as always. It was what I would describe as a sort of ‘generic’ music festival crowd, like the fest lineup wasn’t based around a theme so a lot of people were there because ‘music festival’ and not really any specific bands. I think they won over some new fans for sure.

**The Leadup**  
A friend sent me a picture of a WC with the letter board advertising the new Hives album.  Odd, I thought.  Then somebody else told me they saw it on another WC. Then the radio station page popped up advertising the event ‘Knighting The Hives’. I had nothing planned Saturday night and didn’t care to stay for the fest headliner, so I figured I’d go and see what was up. If Hives show, very cool, if not, I get some sliders. The day of the fest, The Hives IG posted about the event, so had confirmation they’d probably be there.

**The Waiting Is The Hardest Part**  
I arrived at the WC parking lot in Fenton around 7:45PM. Event was slated to start at 9PM. I’m perennially early to things, but I also didn’t know what to expect, like a big crowd or something. For maybe an hour it was just me in the parking lot and a crew of WC workers and some radio people.

9ish more people started showing up. There were some kids skating. Some people from an aphrodisiac seltzer startup showed  and handed out free drinks with horny goat weed in it. Guess they wanted everyone horned up in the parking lot. One of my friends showed up and I was glad there was someone I knew to share this unique experience with.

**The Arrival**  
10ish or a bit before, The Hives arrived in all their glory. They were not escorted to a table behind a barrier, they rolled into the lot, got out and HPA and Arson walked straight up to the crowd and started shaking hands and introducing themselves to everyone. Vigilante, Dangerous, and Johan were a little more reserved, but still receptive to the fans.  
  
They all wandered the lot chatting, taking pictures with people, and generally just vibing the best you can in a fast food restaurant parking lot. I’ll note here, this was more than the meet-and-greets I’m used to where maybe you get to shake hands and get a pic, all the Hives legitimately stuck around and had some deeper conversations with anyone who was sticking around.

**The Knighting**  
The Hives were corralled and it was time for the knighting ceremony. Kinda reversed from what was advertised as The Hives being knighted, but HPA knighted the radio DJ and gave a short speech. I’ve got video of most of that might go here or elsewhere. (Honest here, I can’t remember the last time I listened to the radio and I was not familiar with these people, oh well, Hives!)

**The Reason For The Season**  
So how this odd thing came together was some coordination between White Castle, 105.7 The Point radio station, and the CHADS Coalition For Mental Health, a suicide prevention non-profit. So at this point, kinda figured the whole thing was over, but we were all invited into the restaurant with the Hives and they presented a giant, novelty check donation to the charity.

**Dinner with The Hives**  
So again, thought this was the end of the night, but The Hives were served sliders and fries and people started to filter out, The Hives were still striking up conversation with those left around. Seemed like they wanted to talk to us more than we wanted to talk to them at some points.

I was wearing a Dahmers shirt and they shared some fun stories about them, Arson talked to me about the comedy shows I run at The Heavy Anchor in St. Louis (Shameless self-promotion). Also found out the WC marketing guy was in a band that toured with The Ramones, The Toll from Columbus, OH, also produced some New Bomb Turks music. Showed off my Ramones tattoo.

**Wrapping Up**  
Arson and Dangerous “worked” the drive thru a bit (the takeaway for those in other countries), just handing out food. I didn’t get to see much of this, not sure if anyone ordering and getting food were like surprised by a Hive handing them their food or were told ‘The Hives are here’ and then they wondered who The Hives were.  
  
Around this time, they also got on the roof of the restaurant for more photos. They came back in, more conversation and hanging out. They went out for more pictures and at this time, I headed out, satisfied with the experience overall.  
  
What seemed like a really weird prank turned out to be a night I’ll never forget with one of my favorite bands.  
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I’m a standup comic based in St. Louis with a massive record collection who goes to punk rock shows a lot – so if you like any of that stuff, you can find me everywhere else under the same username. And my friend who met me there is a musician who goes by the name Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship. If you’re local to STL, I’m sure you’ve heard of him. He's playing Tower Grove Pride today 9/28, if you're in STL.  
  
  


True Story: I Hung Out With The Hives at A White Castle in Fenton, Missouri