| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Thomas |
Posted - 12/13/2004 : 07:01:11
For those who get the Newsday paper it is in Part 2 page B5.
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/nyc-etledew4082227dec13,0,4763636.story
Pixies: enchanting after all these years
BY GLENN GAMBOA
STAFF WRITER
December 13, 2004
There they were, The Pixies - a band that, for nearly a generation of alt-rock fans, had become mythic and almost as elusive as their name suggests - standing on a stage fittingly built to look like a post-industrial forest.
Before embarking on their current sold-out tour, singer Charles Thompson (aka Black Francis), guitarist Joey Santiago, bassist Kim Deal and drummer David Lovering had not played together in 12 years. The Boston band called it quits in 1992, just as the alternative-to-mainstream rock they helped build was about to take over the world thanks to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," a song Kurt Cobain said was his attempt at "ripping off The Pixies."
It's hard to compete with legend, especially when the audience is filled with folks waiting to see if the myth is true, if you are as great as nostalgia-clouded minds remember. But as soon as The Pixies launched into "Lady in the Radiator Song (In Heaven)" with Deal's cooing promise, "In heaven, everything is fine," it became clear: The Pixies were going to outperform their legend. Ripping through 29 songs in 90 minutes, that's exactly what they did.
They started off slowly, with a restrained, downtempo version of "Wave of Mutilation" followed by a gorgeous cover of Neil Young's "Winterlong" that showed how well Thompson and Deal's voices still fit together. But like a rock-and-roll freight train, The Pixies started picking up speed with the raucous "Bone Machine" and an extra-prickly "Cactus," where the combination of Thompson's excitable vocals and Santiago's stylish, elegant guitar riffs started to build momentum.
By the time they reached the meat of the set - the scorching-but-sweet "Debaser," the anthemic "U-Mass," where Thompson ended each line with a little extra snarl, the swooning "Levitate Me" and the off-kilter pop "Gouge Away," where Deal's bass lines eloquently explain why bassists are necessary in rock bands - The Pixies had made it clear that this was no greatest-hits cash-in. They were still emotionally invested in these songs and it showed.
The powerful version of "Tame" offered the proof of their influence on Nirvana, especially after stand-out versions of "Broken Face" and "Isla de Encanta" nicely displayed their hardcore roots, taking Hüsker Dü's speed and shrieks and adding their own twists. "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was equally passionate, as Thompson laid out the spiritual world view - "man is 5," "the devil is 6" and "God is 7" - that hipsters have shrieked along with in countless dive bars around the world.
Pairing "Here Comes Your Man," one of the poppiest moments of the evening, where The Pixies seem to channel Hamburg-era Beatles, with "Nimrod's Son," one of their most experimental songs, with wailing, feedback-driven guitars, showed how they have managed to build their following throughout their years of dormancy - equal parts of comfort and challenge.
THE PIXIES. Alt-rock pioneers playfully conjure musical mayhem and finally get their due. With TV on the Radio. At Hammerstein Ballroom nightly through Dec. 18, except Friday. Seen Saturday.
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