| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Triakel |
Posted - 11/17/2004 : 09:03:36
The original title of this article -- from the Nov. 11, 2004 St. Paul Pioneer Press (http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/entertainment/10158402.htm) -- was "The Pixes and Jammin' Just Ain't Slammin'," but an editor must have thought better and reposted the article with a different hed.
Reviewer reminds me of something The Replacements' Bob Stinson once told Jim Walsh (a former Minneapolis Star-Tribune music reviewer) at a local book store before Walsh was to attend the Minnesota Music Awards (an event populated partially by super-witty music journalist-types): "Say hello to all the weiners."
Smellin' some serious hot dog here ... 
Pixies find their way back from the jams
BY ROSS RAIHALA
Pop Music Critic
If there are any lingering bad feelings between the reunited Pixies, the band hid them remarkably well Wednesday night at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
Before anyone played a note, lead singer and guitarist Frank Black ambled around the stage, whispering and giggling with each of his fellow bandmates — bass player Kim Deal, guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering.
Not too long ago, the very idea of these four people sharing any stage together seemed unthinkable. After releasing four highly acclaimed and modestly selling albums in the late '80s and early '90s, Black broke up the Pixies in a huff.
He informed the band it was over via fax and took pot shots at Deal in the press.
But Black's solo career never really took off, and he spent the next dozen years getting crabbier and releasing a series of albums both good ("Show Me Your Tears") and bad ("The Cult of Ray"). Those who dared ask Black about a Pixies reunion were greeted with bewilderment or scorn.
But then the unthinkable happened. Maybe it was the onset of middle-age nostalgia, maybe it was four overdue mortgage payments. But the Pixies — Black and Deal, primarily — put their differences aside.
The 2004 version of the band made its debut at the Fine Line in April and has spent most of the time since playing to sold-out audiences around the world.
Wednesday's show began with Deal taking the lead vocals on "In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)," a cover of the "Eraserhead" theme the Pixies used as an early B-side.
The slowed-down "UK Surf" version of "Wave of Mutilation" and "Here Comes Your Man" — the closest the group had to a hit the first time around — followed.
One couldn't help but wonder if the Pixies were getting along too well. For the first half-hour or so, the band was all over the place and not in a good way.
The extended jams suggested the months on the road had given the Pixies a chance to experiment and play with their songs.
The thing is, the Pixies were never about jamming — they were about stop/start guitar dynamics and screaming and weird sex and aliens.
Thankfully, Black soon found his muse and started to lose his mind. As the Pixies tore through "Bone Machine," "U-Mass," "Subbacultcha," "Debaser" and an especially insane "Crackity Jones" everything in heaven, and St. Paul, was fine.
Ross Raihala can be reached at 651-228-5553 or rraihala@pioneerpress.com.
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| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Daisy Girl |
Posted - 11/18/2004 : 19:42:02
quote:
Originally posted by Zsolt G.
This constitutes a review? I don't mind negative reviews, but the show I saw 11/04 had NO "jamming". The songs were played totally straight. Maybe a tiny bit faster or slower, but it sounded exactly like the records, even the drum fills were note for note. My Disclive is proof. Dude must be trippin'.
Ditto Zsolt
jamming is what jam bands and jazz artists to... they just don't have a set song that they're they're going.
The Pixies always stuck to the originals...just varied it up a little.... which was very cool and fun to hear.
I guess it should suprise me that a music critic doesn't understand the true message of "jam" but it does. Is he the regular critic.... if so ... he needs to take Music101.
Ok i just asked my husband... who is Pixies neutral if the Pixes jammed. He said "NO." He said the closest they came to a jam was during Vamos... but that was a gutair solo... not a jam... I agree with him!
http://www.campervanbeethoven.com/gearstolen/ |
| porkbone1 |
Posted - 11/18/2004 : 19:34:12
I read this review and don't understand it. When you read the review it suggests that the first half hour of the show was extended jams, and then it picked up later:
quote:
The extended jams suggested the months on the road had given the Pixies a chance to experiment and play with their songs.
The thing is, the Pixies were never about jamming — they were about stop/start guitar dynamics and screaming and weird sex and aliens.
Thankfully, Black soon found his muse and started to lose his mind...
But I was at the show and there was no jamming. I don't even understand what he is talking about. The only "extended" anything was Vamos, which they have been playing "extended" since 1990. How could you describe a show with like 27 3-minute songs as "extended jams?"
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The joke has come upon me |
| Zsolt G. |
Posted - 11/18/2004 : 07:56:15
This constitutes a review? I don't mind negative reviews, but the show I saw 11/04 had NO "jamming". The songs were played totally straight. Maybe a tiny bit faster or slower, but it sounded exactly like the records, even the drum fills were note for note. My Disclive is proof. Dude must be trippin'. |
| Triakel |
Posted - 11/17/2004 : 16:48:54
Correction on Jim Walsh ... he is the former Pi Press music pundit, not Star Tribune. He writes for (Twin Cities'-based) City Pages now. Good guy. Actually knows music. More edgy and fun now that he's no longer at a mainstream rag. |
| Triakel |
Posted - 11/17/2004 : 16:46:34
The only jamming I saw at the second St. Paul show (the night following the above review) was Joey's solo on "Vamos." Recordings from other shows on the tour bear this out. One "jam" out of 35-plus songs per night durn near makes them them Phish, dunnit?
But I think the real story here is medleys. At many shows, the band starts with a fast number through the first verse, switches to a another song, then rejoins the second verse of the first song after three or so more songs.
As with the "jamming," the band do this roughly once a concert. Any reviewers out there? Don't miss your golden opportunity: "Massive medley menage mires music mix!"
Pththththp.
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| ElevatorLady |
Posted - 11/17/2004 : 15:28:43
No mention of Nirvana.
It's interesting though - Pixies jamming? Is that true? What do you guys who saw the recent shows think?
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When in doubt, sqare. |
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