| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| kathryn |
Posted - 06/16/2005 : 16:03:12
A thoroughly biased review of the Pixies 6/15/5 show
My husband's last words as I got ready to drive to Boston were: "Don't blast the music so loud that the Audi's speakers get blown." Yeah, yeah. I hadn't seen the Pixies play their hometown since Thanksgiving 1991 and I was psyched. On this unseasonably cold June night, Boston was typically Boston: red-clad Sox fans meandered toward Fenway; the Tobin Bridge was lit; a mist shrouded the Charles River.
I caught a cab from my relatives' house to the venue, Agganis Arena, Boston University's hockey rink. The driver asked where I was going, I answered "The Pixies show," and that sweet man took out a joint and handed it to me along with a lighter. I love that dirty water!
Scalpers were selling $37.50 face-value tickets for $20 and inside the place was only at 3/4 capacity, which strikes me as weird, having seen the band in the 80s and 90s fill to the rafters venues (albeit far smaller ones).
Good news about T-shirts! Naturally, they are different from the fall tour - they all say some variation of "Pixies North American Tour 2005" and they include styles for women, plus some feature a cute manta ray!
The hoodies are the same ones from the fall tour -- black with PIXIES on the front in white... niiiice! Also new, for guys, a red (!) T with white letters on the diagonal spelling "Pixies North America Tour 2005" and a black manta ray.
The two women's shirts rock! They are actual women's shirts: a flattering black baby doll cut; and a khaki sleeveless T. Nowhere to be seen: the "Pixies Sell Out" Ts from the fall.
The shirt vendors also handled the pixiesdiscs.com CDs. You give them 30 bucks, bing bang boom, they hand you a voucher with a code that you redeem on that site.
It's not as satisfying for immediate-gratification junkies such as myself, compared to DiscLive, which I had in my hand before leaving a 2004 show and listened to on the way home. But I'm glad I did pixiesdiscs.
The Pixies hit the stage at 9:15. Here's the setlist, which I partly scribbled on my arm with a borrowed pen:
Subbacultcha
Wave of Mutilation
Bone Machine
I Bleed
Monkey Gone to Heaven
No. 13 Baby
Allison
Cactus
Here Comes Your Man
La La Love You
Alec Eiffel
Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
Ed is Dead
Where is My Mind?
Planet of Sound
Mr. Grieves
In Heaven
Vamos
Stormy Weather
Sad Punk
Hey
Caribou
Gouge Away
Tame
Head On
Debaser
U-Mass
Encore -- Gigantic
During the first part of the show the band seemed kinda mellow, like they were going thru their paces. Then Charles started singing "Stormy Weather" and a change was palpable. Suddenly something shifted to an even more intense level.
The tree light fixtures from the last tour were replaced by 3 (or 4?) structures that were circular on top with squiggly lines coming down, kinda like balloons with swirlie strings. Hard to describe but effective - lots of nice visuals. The lights glowed purple during "Alec Eiffel," which was cool. You can see them in the photo of Kim below.
Other memories that stand out:
• After "La la love you" Dave pretended to fall backwards.
• The band emphasized the last notes of "Sad Punk," letting them linger beautifully, playing with the sound, twisting it just so.
• Predictably, the audience went nuts during U-Mass. Quite a few people wore U-Mass Ts.
• Joey's "Vamos" drumstick solo was considerably shorter than the several I saw and heard from the fall tour.
• Kim looked really sweet in this outfit:
No one was hawking shirts outside, which was weird -- but good for the band.
On the way back home, my boringly drug-free cabbie cut thru Allston, birthplace of Charles Thompson.
The next morning over breakfast (across the Bukowski Tavern and a bbq joint that urged "Eat bbq, die happy, love more") I read the Globe's review of the show. Entitled "Almost all work and no play for Pixies," it included some
accurate descriptions:
"Happily, by minute 60 and song 20, Black began to become unglued -- moving his body, screaming like it hurt -- and the audience responded in kind. Suddenly on fire, Black and band mates transformed 'Hey' into a sinister soul tune and 'Gouge Away' into a sonic sinkhole. The show's explosive final stretch almost made up for the tepid start."
and fair criticisms:
"the band grows more brisk and businesslike as the reunion tour stretches on"
and
"the set ... felt, at least during the first half, more like a pageant than a rock show"
Also, in the Boston Phoenix -- the Pixies will play acoustic (!) at the Newport Folk Festival on Aug. 6. I hope my car speakers are fixed by then, because on my way home I may have turned up "Doe" a tad loudish.
 I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| 19 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| kathryn |
Posted - 06/18/2005 : 18:38:44
quote:
Originally posted by fbc
i'm so in awe of the fact you saw both Black Francis and the Pixies back then
what a band to have witnessed, and you being right there smack bang in the middle of the buzz. in Black's home town too.
So Kathryn, the opening acts...
That's one of the plusses of being old, fbc.
The opening act was 50 Foot Wave. This was in the Boston Globe the next morning, after the Pixies' show review:
"Motherhood has hardly mellowed former Throwing Muse Kristen Hersh, a more vicious Pixies than any in the band that followed. Her trio 50 Foot Wave was astonishing quantities of raw noise."
I didn't see 50FW because I was in a bar knocking back a coupla drinks in preparation of
the Pixies.
Edit: I just realized you meant the opening acts back in the day... both Pere Ubu and Reverend Horton Heat, which made for a fun night.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| kathryn |
Posted - 06/18/2005 : 18:35:18
quote:
Originally posted by number 13
quote:
Originally posted by kathryn
fbc, pixiesdiscs should be shipping in about 10 days, when I will be giving the show
many a listen ... many a listen.
Disclive will ship the discs in 10 days? For every date?
This should answer any questions you have:
pixiesdiscs.com/faq.php
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| fbc |
Posted - 06/18/2005 : 14:56:32
i'm so in awe of the fact you saw both Black Francis and the Pixies back then
what a band to have witnessed, and you being right there smack bang in the middle of the buzz. in Black's home town too.
So Kathryn, the opening acts... |
| number 13 |
Posted - 06/18/2005 : 14:29:36
quote:
Originally posted by kathryn
fbc, pixiesdiscs should be shipping in about 10 days, when I will be giving the show
many a listen ... many a listen.
Disclive will ship the discs in 10 days? For every date? |
| kathryn |
Posted - 06/18/2005 : 04:02:49
fbc, pixiesdiscs should be shipping in about 10 days, when I will be giving the show
many a listen ... many a listen.
best pixies show i've been to...prolly 11something 91, avalon (boston), when they opened with caribou, which blew me the fuck away. just physically shook me. and don't get me started on the opening acts.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| offerw |
Posted - 06/18/2005 : 04:02:30
Super review Kathryn. Terrific of you to share some of the show with folk like me who won't be seeing Frank/ Pixies live soon. Be sure to report back on the acoustic show.
wilhelm |
| fbc |
Posted - 06/18/2005 : 02:20:58
i can't believe i haven't posted in here yet.
Wow! K! You got Alec Eiffel.
So how's it sounding ?
And what's the best Pixies gig you've ever been too? |
| Carolynanna |
Posted - 06/17/2005 : 11:53:29
Very nice Kay.
__________
Don't believe the hype. |
| OldManInaCoffeeCan |
Posted - 06/17/2005 : 06:22:16
Kathryn - Rock N Roll animal, uncaged and unleashed!
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| kathryn |
Posted - 06/17/2005 : 06:17:08
Double-edged sword, my ass. I'm dumping her with friends and going to the acoustic show
in Newport.
3 hours of sleep.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| OldManInaCoffeeCan |
Posted - 06/16/2005 : 21:13:44
So, your daughter's comments to you must have been a double edged sword, in that you were glad to be able to get some more sleep and be able to go out once every 3 years without her, but, when you woke up from your beauty rest you came to the realization that you're not as indispensable and irreplaceable as you had hoped.
Did I pretty much nail it with that summary of your feelings concerning your daughter's comments?
I bet it ain't easy being a mom, is it....I sure wouldn't trade with you, cause it sure is easy being a dad, no maternal instincts to interfere with my golf game and my honky-tonkin. OldMan's gonna do what OldMan wants to do, kids or no kids! (ha!)
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| tobafett |
Posted - 06/16/2005 : 19:47:59
great review, Ms. K...sounds like you had a super time!
(and kim smiled at me something like 10 times at the show I saw).
 |
| kathryn |
Posted - 06/16/2005 : 19:12:04
No need to say anything. Just remember that KIM SMILED AT YOU!!!! Yay!
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| Sir Rockabye |
Posted - 06/16/2005 : 19:06:55
Well, gee whiz, I don't know what to say now.
You run all kinds of red lights except the ones on the street.
When you run out of exits you can always count sheep. |
| kathryn |
Posted - 06/16/2005 : 17:43:08
Sir Rock, it wasn't like Kim smiled at me or anything, as she did to a certain young man
at the Hammerstein last year!
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| Sir Rockabye |
Posted - 06/16/2005 : 17:37:21
So so jealous.
I kill you, Kathryn.
You run all kinds of red lights except the ones on the street.
When you run out of exits you can always count sheep. |
| kathryn |
Posted - 06/16/2005 : 17:06:37
quote:
Originally posted by soyuber
Very nice review. :)
I thought this show was better than the 12/11 Hammerstein show, in fact. I liked the setlist, despite no Euphrates or Velouria.
I think your setlist is a bit out of order, because I know that they went right from In Heaven to the UK Surf version of Wave of Mutilation. La La Love you, U Mass, Alec Eiffel, and Sad Punk were the highlights in my opinion. I thought U Mass was better than ever.
PS: The shirts are pretty cool. I picked up a Radiator one and one of those cool Manta Ray ones. I liked the one with the bone machine guitar tab on the front, too. I kind of wish I got that one because it's the only one that has the tour dates on the back.
I wish we'd hung out before the show. It'd be great to meet an fb.netter before such a cool event, share some of the anticipatory thrill. I did fine on my own, had a good time at Paradise Lounge tossing back a couple of drinks. This is one of several reasons the setlist is out of order. I do agree with you about the highlights!
Didn't you think that the shirts were cooler than the fall tour's? I, too, bought some -- every one of the ladies' styles.
OldMan, my sweet child's response upon my return was a curt, "Mommy, you're interrupting. Please come back later." I was, like, fine, I'm running on 3 hours of sleep here, I'll be napping if anyone needs me. Which no one did.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| OldManInaCoffeeCan |
Posted - 06/16/2005 : 16:31:48
Kathryn, nice review, thanks for sharing! Got any more pics?
I bet the venue was a special treat for you. How was your seat and did you see anybody you knew or hook-up with anyone before the show?
Other than the live disc did you get one of those t-shirts?
Love the visual of you driving to Boston, windows cranked down, Pixies cranked up, and your hair blowing in the wind. And your response to Mr. Kathryn, "yeah, yeah", sounds like what I say a lot here at my house.
So, you got stoned on the way to the show, huh! Was anyone smoking dope inside the arena, or do kids these days not do that? A pint of Southern Comfort and a fist-full of joints used to be standard concert refreshments in our day. What the hell is wrong with this younger generation?
Glad you had a blast, and save another road trip for the nearest Honeycomb tour stop!
P.S., I bet your daughter really missed you, huh! |
| soyuber |
Posted - 06/16/2005 : 16:18:17
Very nice review. :)
I thought this show was better than the 12/11 Hammerstein show, in fact. I liked the setlist, despite no Euphrates or Velouria.
I think your setlist is a bit out of order, because I know that they went right from In Heaven to the UK Surf version of Wave of Mutilation. La La Love you, U Mass, Alec Eiffel, and Sad Punk were the highlights in my opinion. I thought U Mass was better than ever.
PS: The shirts are pretty cool. I picked up a Radiator one and one of those cool Manta Ray ones. I liked the one with the bone machine guitar tab on the front, too. I kind of wish I got that one because it's the only one that has the tour dates on the back. |
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