| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| gunner |
Posted - 04/15/2004 : 05:51:46
Pixies produce some punk history
Thu Apr 15 2004
By Bartley Kives
NOBODY remembers the name of the second guy to climb Mount Everest, but I'm sure he had a hell of a time. Such is the fate of Winnipeg, the second city to witness a reunion by the Pixies, the beloved Boston band that went back on the road this week after almost 12 years in self-imposed exile.
On Tuesday, the pioneering alternative-rock band reunited in front of 350 people crammed inside a tiny Minneapolis club. Last night, the stakes got higher: All 1,600 seats at the Burton Cummings Theatre, which sold out in less than four minutes back in February, were packed with people expecting nothing less than the second coming of a legendary group that wasn't fully appreciated during its original existence, at least in North America.
No concert could possibly live up to such high expectations, except maybe if Elvis came back from the dead to jam with Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain. But for long-suffering Pixies fans -- whose numbers have multiplied like zebra mussels since the band's official break-up on New Year's Day, 1993 -- a show featuring singer-guitarist Black Francis, bassist Kim Deal, guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering comes a close second.
After a half-hour opening set by Winnipeg math-rock quartet Ham, the Pixies took the stage promptly at 9 p.m. and launched into their wispy cover of Neil Young's Winterlong.
A nod to Winnipeg rock history? Who knows. It was exciting enough to see the hulk of hyperactive humanity known as Black Francis -- or Frank Black, as he's come to be known since 1993 -- sing harmonies with Deal, whose voice remains as coyly kittenish as ever.
Truth be told, the Pixies were never renowned as an accomplished live act during their original run. But last night, they were an extremely efficient, dynamic-plundering machine throughout a jackhammer-paced 75-minute set that boasted 24 songs, two encores and extremely little B.S. "Have we ever played Winnipeg before?" asked Deal, surveying a crowd that quickly answered with a resounding "Noooooo!"
Locked to her bass, Deal looked restrained until the encore performances of Gigantic and Into The White, her finest opportunities to shine on lead vocals.
Guitarist Santiago was concentrating even harder, ensuring his chiming surf guitar locked into Black's chugging rhythms in stunners like Vamos, Cactus, Gouge Away and the utterly brilliant Debaser, arguably the finest moment of a very fine night.
It was Black and Lovering who really let loose, the frontman screaming away like a linebacker-playing banshee on Tame and the drummer by speeding up the rhythm to a finger-bleeding tempo during the final few songs of the regular set.
Predictably, most of the material was culled from the Pixies' first three, most critically celebrated albums, Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, with barely a nod to Bossanova and Trompe le Monde. That went over just fine with the sold-out crowd, who were grinning like kids on Christmas morning during Nimrod's Son, Holiday Song and Bone Machine.
Two other moments are going to rank among the finest ever at the Burton Cummings Theatre: the Pixies' slow, mellow surf-guitar version of Wave Of Mutilation, played as a medley with the Eraserhead-soundtrack chestnut In Heaven; and the encore version of Where Is My Mind, which was just used three days ago to jump-start the programming of a wayward NASA Mars rover. A cynic might say last night's concert was nothing more than a nostalgia revue for the post-punk college-rock crowd. That charge might be correct, but seeing one of the most influential bands in rock history reunite to display their bipolar, thrash-pop genius still ranks as an evening to remember for an eternity.
That being said, Frank Black didn't appear to be sentimental at all about Big Reunion Show No. 2.
"Thanks for coming to our show. We're the Pixies," he said before the final encore, La La Love You. "We'll see you next time."
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
http://ca.geocities.com/kpgordon17/ |
| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Carolynanna |
Posted - 04/16/2004 : 09:00:19
Ack!
Quit it, I can hardly wait as it is! :) |
| speedy_m |
Posted - 04/16/2004 : 08:47:42
There was some nervousnous, no question, but these guys were TIGHT. Joey is amazing. The stuff he does is so... essential. He's amazing. Dave is just an awesome drummer. He never gets enough credit. He always plays the perfect fill. For those still to see the show, watch his hands during the breakdowns in Debaser. Amazing. Kim's voice is angelic and Frank, well, come on. And it's the Pixies up there. It's not Frank Black with a Kim Deal from the Breeders, and so on. It's the Pixies. And they rocked. They absolutely kicked ass. And it looked like they had fun. Kim forgot the words to the second verse in Into the White, and the crowd helped her out, and Frank screwed up the words to Wave of Mutilation, and Kim shared in the laughs with the crowd. These shows are amazing, and to anyone who doesn't get to see them, I really, really feel bad for you. |
| brickisred |
Posted - 04/15/2004 : 09:58:52
I have never seen so opposite opinions on the proficiency of a band on stage as for the Pixies.
In the French press, it has always been "common wisdom" that the Pixies were a bad live act.
On the other hand, the English press considered them as exceptional performers, at least until the Trompe Le Monde era.
"THE PIXIES ARE THE BEST BAND ON THE PLANET. Discuss. OR is there anything to discuss? For 10 weeks now I've known the truth. Ever since The Pixies climbed on stage, late at night, on the last day of Reading Festival and shook the ground beneath the feet of 30,000 awe- struck souls with a display of pure rock brutality, I've realised their status. They tore the roof off the sky, and staged a simultaneous earthquake. Just for good measure. The Pixies were one sexy gospel. Nobody else even approached them."
(Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 1990)
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| hibster |
Posted - 04/15/2004 : 07:40:24
"the Pixies were never renowned as an accomplished live act during their original run"??
are they for real - they did some excellent live shows - amongst my favourite gigs of all time & got better each time I saw them.
They seemed pretty tight supporting the Throwing Muses in 89 were better again on the doolittle tour, & by the time the bossanova tour came around the songs had evolved incredibly.
its a great review - this could have been a disaster after all - but can't let that got undisputed
this is why events unerve me |
| makers888 |
Posted - 04/15/2004 : 06:11:20
Very nice review. I like it. I mean, it has to be better than the review the Pioneer Press shmos wrote..
"This is for the shits for the birds. This is for the birds." |
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