| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Broken Face |
Posted - 12/14/2004 : 07:00:44
Hey all
Night #2 of my 4-night Pixies stand this week is over, sadly. {EDIT: Corrected Setlist Order}
1. Is She Weird?
2. Something Against You
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3. Bone Machine
4. Cactus
5. I Bleed
6. Caribou
7. #13 Baby
8. Broken Face
9. U Mass
10. Mr. Grieves
11. Dead
12. Hey
13. Velouria
14. Ed Is Dead
15. Gouge Away
16. Wave of Mutilation (Doolitle)
17. Monkey Gone To Heaven
18. Crackity Jones
19. Isla de Encanta
20. Tame
21. In Heaven (Kim vocals)
22. Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf)
23. Here Comes Your Man
24. Holiday Song
25. Nimrod's Son
26. Vamos
27. Where Is My Mind
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28. Debaser
29. Gigantic
Now my notes:
After some really out of sync drumming on "Is She Weird" and "Something Against You," along with a lot of "huh?" looks, Charles stormed off the stage, apparently pissed off at the monitors guy. You could tell that the band could not hear each other at all for those first two songs, and Charles seemed frustrated. At first i thought that the storming off the stage was a joke, but when he didn't come back for 2,3 minutes and the rest of the band followed, it appeared to be a legit monitors issue. They came back out and some guy was chanting "One More Song" and Kim said, "Ok, we'll do one more!"
Before they left with Charles, Kim, Joey and David were sitting there waiting, and Kim did a little talking to the crowd. "So we're here for like a month" she said refering to their weeklong stand at the Hammerstein. I began yelling for her to play "The She" in the meantime, but she either didn't hear me or didn't appreciate it. Hey, i figured if nothing else was going on, she could fulfill my fantasy of hearing it live.
I was on the floor last night, about 20 feet back. The sound was SO much better on the floor and it was great to be that close. Charles was wearing an Austin City Limits t-shirt, David a black shirt/red tie/white pants/white baseball cap combo, Kim her Rush t-shirt she loves so much and Joey a black buttoned down shirt.
The beginning/middle of the set was BRUTAL - they did not stop once and just kept plowing through the heavier songs. Charles didn't switch to an acoustic until "In Heaven" in the tail end of the set.
Besides the monitors thing, the band seemed in a good mood and really appeared to be having fun.
I spotted David Byrne both outside in line and enjoying the show from the VIP section.
No matter how many times i hear it live, the Kim/Charles harmony on "Bone Machine" gives me chills.
I had to miss about half of Mission of Burma's set b/c i was waiting for my friend who was taking my extra ticket, but the half i heard was stellar. So good to have them back making music.
I forgot to note last night that Joey's black Les Paul Custom has a Bigsby tailpiece/tremolo bar. Charles was playing his standard white Tele and an acoustic that i couldn't read the make of. I think it was his trust Takamine, but i could be totally wrong. Kim was using a red Fender P-bass exclusively. I know nothing of David's drumset 'cept it has a Pixies bass drum head (the P logo), a snare, bass, floor tom, one rack tom, a splash symbol on top of the hihat stand, a mounted tambourine, a ride cymbol and at least one crash.
Apparently no one hates the NYC smoking ban more than Kim, who smoked at least 3 or 4 cigarettes on stage. When it came time to sing, she would walk over to the mic and let the cig fall out of her mouth - perhaps into a cup or something, i could not see from my vantage point.
Last night, i got to notice a lot of things i missed the first night b/c i was overwhelmed by seeing the Pixies. The light show was one of the things i appreciated more this time around, especially for "Tame." Whenever the chorus would hit the stage went hellish looking, lots of reds and oranges. Also, the mobile lights on the trees would rise up with red lights whenever Charles would scream "TAME" which added to the effect quite a bit.
I also noticed that Charles plays Velouria with a capo, which is how i always played it, and was called a "pussy" by a guy for it once. Fuck you pal!
As the last notes of "Gigantic" were being played, the band did their "Good night Charles," "Good night Joey" deal where each member says good night to the others. It was cute.
All in all it was fantastic and i can't wait until Thursday!
-B-B-B-Brian
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| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| dayanara |
Posted - 12/16/2004 : 12:39:00
From David Byrne's blog:
quote:
December 13
Went to the Pixies show at Hammerstein Ballroom. They've sold out the place for at least 5 nights. Amazing. They sounded...well, beautiful. Not the expected word for the volume, intensity and clamor on stage, but the songs were lovely, mysterious and carefully worked out.
Afterwards Charles claimed there were problems, that it wasn't their best show, that he threw a shit fit (he disappeared from the stage early on). But I thought it sounded great. The NY audience was their common reserved self- at least Charles brother said everywhere else- "even Montreal!", he said, amazed- the audiences had generally been a lot more energetic.
Charles had on some black eyeliner which I couldn't see from my seat. (Michael Stipe does this too, is this something I should know about?) From the audience I thought it made him look like an Aztec or Mayan God, calmly but loudly issuing baffling cosmic pronouncements mixed with pain and rage.
[bunch of pictures of Aztec/Mayan art]
I also wondered, being a Boston area band, if this is Protestant band in spirit. Emotion is kept in check- rage and pain appear suddenly, like periodic explosions. The band eschews stage costumes, patter, dance and any pandering to the crowd- this is part of their staying power I suspect- it makes it all more timeless - but it's also part of that Protestant reserve. I wonder if THAT'S what the show is about. If it's a ceremony in celebration of that -and of the tensions and conflicts that come with it.
No alcohol backstage...and probably no drugs either. This is a very clean band, maybe a little excessively clean- but given their history it might be a wise move.
That is just too cool. Shit fit, heh.
If you really want to know, look in the Frank |
| Atheist4Catholics |
Posted - 12/16/2004 : 12:29:21
I love that David Byrne is so low key like that.
I once saw him at a Masada show at Tonic in NYC. He was leaving the first show and I was waiting to see the second. He chatted with some stranger, then unlocked his bike from a parking meter in front of the club and rode down the street. How cool is that?
For more information on rock, visit www.timfranklin.net |
| slaveish |
Posted - 12/15/2004 : 14:24:45
I was in college when MOB were happening too. I'm not saying they're a bad band- it's just that their energy was so low, it was kind of a buzz kill. Some of the crowd was into them- the people that knew them, and the other half was asleep. |
| kathryn |
Posted - 12/15/2004 : 11:59:55
quote:
Opening band... you're complaining about Mission of Burma? Dude... we got the @!#$ing DATSUNS. Shut your fool mouth.
I agree. Or maybe I'm just dating myself, having been in college when MOB were happening.
 I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
| ChessPieceFace |
Posted - 12/15/2004 : 06:32:42
quote:
Originally posted by slaveish
Standing in the security line and picking the slowest one- the woman who confiscated all water bottles and batteries. If you had been in one of the other lines, no problem!
...
Onto the show, mission of burma put me to sleep. I was thinking that they're probably the kind of band you'd like if you were into them in College. They're not bad, but I was never into them, and it was hard to be excited when all I was waiting for was the Pixies. I was thinking that rather than have two Boston- area late 80's/ early 90's college-type bands play together, it would have been cool to have something completely different than the Pixies, but equally good. Like something of a totally different genre. It just should have been upbeat, no matter what it was. But MOB were probably friends of the Pixies or whatnot so they supported the local talent.
I had a tiny water bottle in my pocket. The guy patting people down felt it, and said, "you gotta chuck that bottle before you go in." Then he turned around to the next person. So, I walked in with it anyway.
Opening band... you're complaining about Mission of Burma? Dude... we got the @!#$ing DATSUNS. Shut your fool mouth. |
| Broken Face |
Posted - 12/15/2004 : 04:37:58
capo 1
-B-B-B-Brian
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| Ziggy |
Posted - 12/15/2004 : 03:39:15
Whuch fret dya put the capo in, Brian? Sorry to drag this off topic! |
| slaveish |
Posted - 12/14/2004 : 12:32:40
some notes;)
In Heaven was right after Tame. Tame was the best song of the night, imo. Charles was screaming his head off! I remember Kim being kind of flabbergasted after it ended, saying "now we're going to do the eraserhead song." and I thought she was joking. But sure enough she did it in that little girly voice. And I thought for sure they were going to blast into the loud part of that song, but they didn't.
I don't even know what to make of the show! I think I'm still in shock! Nine months of waiting and leaving L.A. where there were a plethora of shows, including the secret glass house performance. But going out in nyc is always fun, no matter what it is. Taking the subway over from provincial Queens and stepping out into midtown amongst the enourmsouly tall buildings, in the bracing cold (finally!) Then getting close to the venue on 34th and being greeted by scalpers, then a surge of humanity- people of all ages- but mostly hipsters I would say. Standing in the security line and picking the slowest one- the woman who confiscated all water bottles and batteries. If you had been in one of the other lines, no problem! I went by myself because in the many months since ordering the tickets, my roommate and I have had a falling out. he didn't even end up going- what an ass.
Onto the show, mission of burma put me to sleep. I was thinking that they're probably the kind of band you'd like if you were into them in College. They're not bad, but I was never into them, and it was hard to be excited when all I was waiting for was the Pixies. I was thinking that rather than have two Boston- area late 80's/ early 90's college-type bands play together, it would have been cool to have something completely different than the Pixies, but equally good. Like something of a totally different genre. It just should have been upbeat, no matter what it was. But MOB were probably friends of the Pixies or whatnot so they supported the local talent.
Geez, all this rambling, and I still don't know what to say about the show. I can't say it was the best show I've seen, but I can still say the Pixies are my favorite band. I guess I agree with the many posts that have said that they tend to play one song after another and the joey guitar stick trick and Kim is adorable etc. I do wish they had played some different songs- imo their best songs- stuff from trompe and bossanova. When people commented on this in many, many previous threads I thought they were just whining. But it really would have spiced up the show. The show was a combination of their really loud, jumpy, screamy songs, and their "hits." many in the crowd only knew the "hits." There were lots of really young girls- the girlfriends- and the people that just went cause it was the hip thing to do. I was thinking that if you went for that reason, you probably wouldn't be into them after seeing them live. It's still pretty challenging music for the average person.
so all in all a fun night, and now I'd like to see FB acoustic in some small venue- maybe I can time a future visit to L.A. with a McCabe's performance.
ciao.
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| n/a |
Posted - 12/14/2004 : 10:54:01
You lucky one! Thanks for the review, I wish I could see them again...I´m a jealous girl right now!
i've never done good things
i've never done bad things
i never did anything out of the blue
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| kathryn |
Posted - 12/14/2004 : 10:38:55
Thanks again for posting, Broken Face Brian! The lights are amazingly complimentary to the band, aren't they? Have fun Thursday night and please do report back.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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