I got to see Pixies, one of my all-time favorite bands, live and in person for the first time a few nights ago. For some reason I go through various emotions leading up to a show like this with a beloved band. First I’m excited to get tickets but then I start to psyche myself out a little leading up to the show. What if they phone it in? What if they only play new songs? What if they are just bad… will it ruin the band for me forever? This always ends up with me thinking, right before show time, “I’ve made a horrible mistake buying these tickets, I just know it.”
Well, at the end of the day there was nothing to worry about with this band. Pixies came out and cranked through a ton of classic songs (and a few new ones) and sounded great. They kicked off with early gem “Bone Machine” and skipped around their catalogue the rest of the night. “U-Mass,” which had been bouncing around my head all day, was the third song they played. It was very nice of them to get that one out of the way early for me. Interestingly, I don’t believe they played any songs from their album “Bossanova.” Have they disowned that album for some reason? Regardless, there was plenty of other great music to fill the night.
The band did not say one word the entire night to the crowd. They acknowledged applause with a wave or a nod but just kept their heads down (sometimes literally) and simply cranked out song after song. I thought the energy of the crowd flagged a little bit during a couple of their newer songs, but this may be from lack of familiarity. The likes of “Blue Eyed Hexe” and “Bagboy” sounded fine live and fit well into the set.
Of course Frank Black/Black Francis tends to be the center of attention and was in good form, but drummer David Lovering had his moment on “La La Love You,” including holding up his hand to delay the crowd applause while he got in one last unaccompanied round of the chorus. And I could not stop laughing when guitarist Joey Santiago had some fun during “Vamos.” During a lengthy guitar solo he played with the guitar parts more than he touched the actual strings, playing with switches and even unplugging the guitar and playing with the cord from the amp. It sounded great and every once in a while he would stop to make a “rock star pose,” arms aloft, eliciting applause from the crowd. Both he and the rest of the band seemed quite amused too.
Missing from this tour is long time Pixies bassist Kim Deal. While Mrs. Trapezoid was particularly disappointed about that, I thought new bass player Paz Lenchantin played and sang really well, not missing a beat if you will.
They ended the main part of the show with what is probably one of their more well-known songs, “Where Is My Mind?” While the music was really loud all night, they did one brief encore and for finale “Planet of Sound” it sounded (and felt) like they turned the amps up to and beyond eleven. My ears were blown out as I staggered out onto the street, as was my brain. I’ve never felt so happy being disoriented and having pretty much non-working ears, but that’s what a great band can do to you.
[Thanks to my friend Sabrina for the pics! More unedited photos at my Facebook page]