Arctic Monkeys' Matt Helders joins The Hives on stage in Athens

19 July 2023, 12:14 | Updated: 19 July 2023, 12:23

Arctic Monkeys' Matt Helders joins The Hives on stage in Athens
Arctic Monkeys' Matt Helders joined The Hives on stage in Greece. Picture: 1. Paul Bergen/Redferns/Getty 2. Harry Durrant/Getty Images

By Jenny Mensah

The Sheffield drummer joined the Swedish band on stage during their set at Release Athens Festival in the Greek capital.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Matt Helders joined The Hives on stage in Greece at Release Athens on Tuesday (18th July).

The Arctic Monkeys percussionist accompanied the band at the festival on a rendition of their single, Rigor Mortis Radio, from their forthcoming album The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons- set for release on 11th August this year.

Taking to Twitter the rockers shared footage of the moment, which was captioned: "We had the pleasure and privilege of being joined on the drums today by great friend and associate Matt Helders of Arctic Monkeys and Iggy Pop. Chris Dangerous and Matt Helders. Unbelievable firepower. Tomorrow we will re-rock the rest of Athens."

Watch the moment shared by the band below.

In the clip itself, Helders can be seen making his way through the backstage area as Hives frontman Pelle Almqvist tells the crowd: "We got another of the world’s best drummers coming in, coming in hot!”

The AM sticksman then steps up to a second drumkit on the stage, joining Hives drummer Christian Grahn in providing double the percussion and "unbelievable firepower" on their new track.

The Hives have been supporting Arctic Monkeys across their tour dates for The Car, opening for the High Green rockers across the UK and Europe and impressing fans with their raw energy and performance style.

Frontman Pelle in particular was given praise for his rock 'n' roll spirit when he split his head open on stage while opening for the band at Emirates Old Trafford and continued performing as he bled.

READ MORE: Arctic Monkeys' homecoming shows generated £4.1 million for Sheffield

Arctic Monkeys and The Hives both play a second date at Release Athens this Wednesday (19th July), with the Sheffield rockers playing their second headline date at the festival.

The Car tour then heads to North America for dates in Minneapolis, Chicago, Toronto and more.

Arctic Monkeys perform on UK tour

READ MORE: Damon Albarn dubs Arctic Monkeys "the last great guitar band"

More on Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner in 2023

Arctic Monkeys open with Cornerstone for the first time ever at Middlesbrough show: Full setlist

Alex Turner at Glastonbury Festival 2013 with Arctic Monkey's AM album artowork inset

Why Arctic Monkeys' AM is their most important album

Arctic Monkeys outside their show at Glasgow's Carling Academy, 27 January 2006

These Arctic Monkeys photos make us nostalgic for the 00s

Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner performs at Radio X HQ

Watch Arctic Monkeys' epic acoustic version of Do I Wanna Know?

Arctic Monkeys in the early days

What did Arctic Monkeys play at their first gig?

TRENDING ON RADIO X

Radio X has launched three new stations: Radio X 90s, Radio X 00s and Radio X Chilled

Get into even more Radio X music with three new stations!

Glastonbury Festival ticket sales tips and tricks

Glastonbury 2025 ticket sale guide: tips, tricks & how to buy tickets

Music has been a form of protest for hundreds of years

The 50 greatest protest songs

Some of the biggest rock albums of 1985:  Misplaced Childhood, Afterburner, Brothers In Arms and Love.

The 25 best Classic Rock albums of 1985

Heading out and about in 2025: Oasis, Linkin Park, Fontaines D.C. and Sam Fender

The biggest gigs and tours to come in 2025