| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| guy_nolan |
Posted - 02/13/2004 : 05:57:18
http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1169&dept_id=17776&newsid=10963874&PAG=461&rfi=9
Pixies poised to shake up the California desert
THOMAS DIMOPOLOUS , The Saratogian 02/13/2004
They'rrrrrre baaaaack!
Like some punk-powered poltergeists of the pop generation, the Pixies are roaring back from the dead -- screaming guitars and all.
The group, which separated shortly after touring with U2 on the ZOO-TV Tour in 1992, will be performing a dozen dates in Western Canada, leading to their appearance at the massive Coachella Festival in California on May 1.
Forget about the groups of splintered pretenders -- from Flock of Seagulls to Squeeze -- that VH1 has been promoting on its 'Bands Reunited' TV series. The Pixies are the real deal, and their resurrection at the California festival on a stage that threatens to literally shake the earth beneath them. But more on that later.
The Pixies are presently 'holed up in a Southern California rehearsal space working together,' according to the band's record label, 4AD.
They first came together in 1986 when Boston-area college students Joey Santiago and Charles 'Black Francis' Thompson tuned up, dropped out and placed an ad for a bass player that read: 'Wanted -- bassist into Husker Du and Peter, Paul and Mary.' Bassist Kim Deal brought along drummer pal David Lovering, and the quartet was born.
They spent six years together in all, issuing the 'Come on Pilgrim' EP in 1987, followed by four full-length albums during their reign.
It was their 1989 release, a 15-track monster ironically titled 'Doolittle,' that did the most in searing the band's sound into the consciousness of fans and musicians alike.
U2 front man Bono announced the Pixies were one of the greatest things to ever come out of America. And while penning the tune 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' -- the song that defined the 1990s, songwriter Kurt Cobain reported 'basically, I was ripping off the Pixies.'
Reunions are nothing unusual these days, the almighty dollar bringing back retreads like Kiss and the Eagles to Fleetwood Mac and the Sex Pistols.
When asked recently about teaming up again with fellow crony, crooner Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon replied, 'It was time to say forgive and forget.' Uh-huh. The duo's forgiveness brought home more than $2.4 million forget-me-nots in the past week alone, according to Pollstar.
The Rock and Roll of Fame has brought back brief and dignified one-off reunions for its annual induction ceremonies. In 1993, Cream came back together one last time. More recent ceremonies have seen Talking Heads and The Police appearing together for one final farewell.
The Pixies, with four original members still capable of being important in the present-day music scene, are in a position to put together the most successful reunion since Lou Reed, John Cale and the other members of the Velvet Underground pulled off a comeback for a brief tour in the early 1990s.
Last year's Coachella Festival brought back the first appearance of Iggy and the Stooges in three decades, as the band dutifully pumped out old favorites 'I Wanna Be Your Dog,' 'No Fun' and '1970.'
The two-day festival, one of the biggest of the year in North America, also showcased the Beastie Boys, Blue Man Group, White Stripes, Sonic Youth and scores of other bands at the polo field-turned-festival site with more than 60,000 in attendance.
Coachella is a three-hour drive south of Los Angeles, with a population of slightly more than 20,000. The lineup for Coachella 2004 includes a slew of contemporary bands that will probably never be seen in the Spa City.
The Pixies, Radiohead, Kraftwerk, Wilco and Stereolab are among the groups scheduled to perform May 1.
Day two includes The Cure and the Flaming Lips. And rumors continue to circulate that singer Morrissey and some of his old band mates in The Smiths may be added to Sunday's bill. Other gossip mongers point to an appearance by OutKast. Regardless, more than 75 performers have been confirmed to appear on the festival's four stages.
Following the Coachella festival appearance, the Pixies will take off for a six-week European tour until early July. What happens after that is anyone's guess, although it would be a great experience for a generation of new fans to hear the foursome with the wailing guitars and the menacing verse, covering everything from UFO's to metaphysics: 'The creature in the sky/ Got sucked in a hole, now there's a whole in the sky/ and the ground's not cold, and if the ground's not cold everything is gonna burn/ We'll all take turns/ I'll get mine too: This monkey's gone to heaven ...'
Shake, rattle and roll
In keeping with the ominous theme, with similar timing of the West Coast festival's lineup came a warning from California-based seismologist Vladimir Keilis-Borok. He is a professor in residence in UCLA's Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and department of earth and space sciences.
'We have made a major breakthrough,' Keilis-Borok announced in a press release issued by UCLA. After 20 years of research in collaboration with an international team of scientists, Keilis-Borok is refuting long-held theories that predicting earthquakes is impossible. And he is backing that up with proof.
'It is not impossible,' says Keilis-Borok, whose research included working with experts in chaos theory and pattern recognition, geodynamics, seismology and statistical physics. And before you dismiss the scientist as one yoke short of being an egg-head, consider for a moment his team's track record.
In June 2003, they predicted an earthquake of magnitude 6.4 or higher to strike the Central California region within nine months. Six months later, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck San Simeon, Calif., centrally located between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Tremors were felt as far away as both cities, each one approximately 185 miles away from where it struck.
In July 2003, the team predicted an earthquake in Japan of magnitude 7 or higher to occur within five months. Two months later, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck Hokkaido.
Now what does all this have to do with the Pixies? Keilis-Borok and company have now gone on record as predicting an earthquake of at least 6.4 magnitude by Sept. 5, 2004 to strike a California region that includes areas of the Mojave Desert. Festival grounds are just west of Joshua tree, in a region located on the outskirts of the Mojave Desert. The Pixies are poised to really shake things up.
Are you ready to rumble?
Thinking about making the California trip? Coachella Festival tickets are $75 each day, $140 for a two-day pass. Tickets go on sale at 3 p.m. Saturday through Ticketmaster. Onsite camping spots are sold separately. For more information, visit: www.coachella.com.
Thomas Dimopoulos is a feature writer at The Saratogian. Scene & Heard appears every Friday in the Life section. Contact him at tdimopoulos@ saratogian.com.
ŠThe Saratogian 2004
For ten thousand years he slept, his mind feeding on the nightmares of the weak. Now he has awakened. As the night turned crimson, the fire-blade shattered and his power died. Then, the slaughter began... |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| floop |
Posted - 03/14/2004 : 16:30:46
on a less interesting note, Coachella is not 3 hours south of Los Angeles, but 2 hours, East. 3 hours south of Los Angeles is Tiajuana.
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| ShakeyShake |
Posted - 03/14/2004 : 14:53:33
quote:
Originally posted by guy_nolan
They spent six years together in all, issuing the 'Come on Pilgrim' EP in 1987, followed by four full-length albums during their reign.
It's an album not a frigging EP!!!
"I joined the Cult of this guy / 'cause they took my other picture away |
| freakin phreak |
Posted - 03/13/2004 : 12:40:24
haha i read that article, i live in saratoga springs! |
| anazgnos |
Posted - 02/13/2004 : 11:19:49
quote:
Originally posted by spoon
Is this not insane. The Pixies and then rumours of THE SMITHS playing. Man that would be thee show....
<having trouble breathing>
spoon
I think it'd probably be more of a "Morrisey and Marr" type happening. |
| spoon |
Posted - 02/13/2004 : 09:32:18
Is this not insane. The Pixies and then rumours of THE SMITHS playing. Man that would be thee show....
<having trouble breathing>
spoon |
| Thomas |
Posted - 02/13/2004 : 08:27:14
quote:
Originally posted by guy_nolan
THOMAS DIMOPOLOUS , The Saratogian 02/13/2004
Forget about the groups of splintered pretenders -- from Flock of Seagulls to Squeeze -- that VH1 has been promoting on its 'Bands Reunited' TV series. The Pixies are the real deal, and their resurrection at the California festival on a stage that threatens to literally shake the earth beneath them.
That made me 
"Our Love is Rice and Beans and Horses Lard" |
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