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pixies_partner
- FB Fan -
1 Posts |
 Posted - 02/18/2007 : 14:45:28
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| Disgraceful performance of ticketmaster in melbourne! even though i am a member, i never got an email about any presale so we queued up early this morning to get researved seats only be told that they had sold *every* reserved seat in presale! what chance did most fans have?! especially when we called ticketmaster on sunday and they reassured us the opposite, that they had plenty of reserved seats left. what BS! my g/f is in tears over it and there is no way to give the organisers a kick in goolies over such terrible lack of respect to the fans |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2007 : 15:39:30
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Howdy, partner! Ticketmaster have of course been criticised in the past.Lot of controversy over the organisation of V Fest at the moment, too!
http://www.tranzfusion.com/Articles/shownews.asp?newsid=6260
V Festival Adds Adelaide to Mini V Festival Schedule
NewZfusion Date Added: Monday, 19 February 2007
Virgin Mobile presents Best of V Festival, giving the
Southerners, who may have thought they were
missing out on one of the best festival lineups in
recent years, a chance to see the likes of the
Pixies, Pet Shop Boys, Groove Armada, and Gnarls
Barkley. And then some.
The action takes place in Melbourne at the Myer
Music Bowl, set in the idyllic Kings Domain
Gardens, with Memorial Drive the spot for the
Adelaide shows.
The organizers have very cheekily split the shows
over two nights meaning you can take your pick of
either show or better yet get to both nights and not
miss a beat.
Tickets hit the usual outlets Monday, February 19
Adelaide – Memorial Drive
TUE APRIL 3 - Pixies, Jarvis Cocker & Phoenix, with special guests
WED APRIL 4 - Pet Shop Boys, Groove Armada, Gnarls Barkley & The Rapture
Melbourne – Sidney Myer Music Bowl
TUE APRIL 3 - Pet Shop Boys, Groove Armada, Gnarls Barkley & The Rapture
WED APRIL 4 - Pixies, Jarvis Cocker & Phoenix, with special guests
http://www.abc.net.au/news/arts/articulate/200702/s1850755.htm
Your Say: V Festival gyp?
By the Articulate team. Posted: Monday, February 19 2007 .
Articulate readers are none too happy
about plans to bring half the number
of V Festival acts to Melbourne and
Adelaide for twice the price.
Some readers might be thrilled that
the Pet Shop Boys, Pixies, Gnarls
Barkley, Jarvis Cocker, The Rapture,
Groove Armada and Phoenix will be
playing in the cities over two nights,
but the news of the prices has
prompted an influx of invective into our
inbox.
Lachlan from Fitzroy in Melbourne
says he feels gypped.
"Not only did we have to wait
interminably for the obviously inevitable announcement (the Pixies
come all the way to Australia, and not play Melbourne?) but now it
costs us twice as much! [V Festival organiser Michael] Coppell is
damn right Melbourne is a festival graveyard - he's the undertaker
and gravedigger rolled into one!"
Kynan from South Melbourne reckons Melbourne and Adelaide music fans
should take a stand.
"If this upstart promoter wishes to his shabby treatment of Melbourne,
then let it be at his own peril. Altough not the easiest market, given
the immense amount of entertainment options here, Melburnians
should respond by hitting him where it hurts - in his pockets."
Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys.
http://www.411mania.com/music/columns/51038/Sex,-News,-&-Violins-02.21.07.htm
Sex, News, & Violins 02.21.07
Posted by Jamie Buttineau on 02.21.2007
The Pixies down under, Yo La Tengo come home, Hot Chip come to North America and The Thermals tour some more. All this and
Britney Spears' shiny shiny head. Seriously if I was high right now I could stare at that thing for hours. So very shiny.
If The Pixies Do It, Then It's News
That's my motto.
Just a smidgen of Pixies news, the band has not started working on a new album in any significant way. I'm kind of hoping they don't
because the whole making a new album after reuniting thing rarely goes well. I'm afraid it'll tarnish their legacy as one of the greatest indie
bands of all time, if not THE greatest indie band of all time. But I guess we'll see.
In the meantime, there are two tribute albums being released for The Pixies. The first is called Dig For Fire: A Tribute To The Pixies and will
feature contributions by fellow reunited indie rock legends Dinosaur Jr., They Might Be Giants, Ok Go, The Rosebuds and possibly Mogwai.
The second tribute album is called Gigantic: A Tribute To Kim Deals and is dedicated entirely to songs written by Kim Deal, which I'm sure
Frank Black must just looooooooove.
And if you happen to be in Australia you can catch The Pixies in one of four, count ‘em, four dates.
Come on pilgrims, blokes and sheilas:
03-31 Sydney, Australia - Centennial Park (V Festival)
04-01 Gold Coast, Australia - Avica Resort (V Festival)
04-05 Perth, Australia - Claremont Showgrounds (Blackjack Festival)
04-07 Glenorchy, Australia - Royal Hobart Showgrounds (Southern Roots Festival) |
Edited by - Carl on 02/22/2007 08:01:13 |
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raasclaat
- FB Fan -
Australia
62 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2007 : 18:13:54
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need to sell my Gold Coast tickets now. Finally Perth
Now lets hope frank does a solo show |
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El Scotto
- FB Fan -
Australia
9 Posts |
Posted - 02/22/2007 : 02:46:58
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Gotta add to the disrespecting posts for ticketmaster. Despite reluctant registration, no notification of the so-called "password" required to access the presale where all seats went before the general public got a go. A disgusting marketing ploy from ticketmaster that was designed to boost their email address register, but instead penalised the very fans that have been waiting the best part of 20 years so see this band. I feel sick in the stomach...
I play some pachinko, I play pachisi... |
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Ziggy
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
2461 Posts |
Posted - 02/22/2007 : 17:08:23
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| Grrr, that article stirring up more 'Frank hates Kim' hatred is annoying. |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2007 : 04:30:36
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Yeah, it's a stupid comment.
http://www.tranzfusion.com/events/viewevent.asp?eventid=6106
V Festival Melbourne - Part 2 - Melbourne
Date Wednesday, 4 April 2007
Cost $100-$130 +BF Buy Online Now!
Venue Sidney Myer Music Bowl
City Melbourne
Promoter Virgin Group and Michael Coppel
In one of the most anticipated announcements of
the year, the Virgin Group and Michael Coppel
announce two amazing nights of live music
featuring the cream of the V Festival line-up,
presented by Virgin Mobile.
TUE APRIL 4: Pixies,Jarvis Cocker,Phoenix
Forget the rumours - the PIXIES ARE COMING!
Some thought it would never happen, but one of the most critically acclaimed bands of
our time, the PIXIES will indeed be gracing our southern cities with their presence,
supported by the infamous JARVIS COCKER and French pop romantics PHOENIX.
As with the V Festival dates interstate, V Festival Australia maintains its commitment to
charitable causes and will again commit $1 from the purchase of every ticket to be
donated to Virgin Unite, the charitable arm of the Virgin Group.
More V info:
http://www.samesame.com.au/whatson/event/474/The_Best_of_V |
Edited by - Carl on 02/23/2007 06:51:28 |
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madtempest
- FB Fan -
USA
225 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2007 : 06:52:03
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/rant on
In the past, with just about every show I could, I worked with ticketmaster, promoters, agents, management, publicists, etc, to find out all the info on when shows would go on sale, all the presale info, etc. Hell, in 2004/2005 I actually ran all the presale 'fanclub' stuff for them. But this time around, I feel in the dark... I am getting next to no advance notice on these things. I don't get it. It kills me that the people organizing all the Australian Pixies shows arent taking advantage of what I can help them with... I mean, Christ, do they not want to sell tickets?
/rant off
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Daisy Girl
~ Abstract Brain ~
Belize
5305 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2007 : 19:57:31
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| they don't know what they're missing m.t. we love you. |
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droog74
- FB Fan -
Australia
2 Posts |
Posted - 02/26/2007 : 23:39:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Brackish Heart
Well its official they are coming to Australia:
V Festival - Sydney Saturday March 31 2007
V Festival - Gold Coast Sunday April 1 2007
www.vfestival.com.au
Tickets are on sale next Monday the 4th of December.
The other bands I assess as rubbish, except maybe Pet Shop Boys who will be good for a view. Though I anticipate that there will be a lot more to come.
I will most likely buy tickets for both venues than re-assess when solo shows come up. If the festival is not in Melbourne i would think Melbourne and Sydney solo shows would have to be certain.
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droog74
- FB Fan -
Australia
2 Posts |
Posted - 02/26/2007 : 23:46:20
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Brackish Heart i agree totally and i'm dying to find out where there solo gigs will be. I can't imagine that their first trip to australia would not include some solo gigs. i'll keep searching because all i want to see is the Pixies, and residing in cairns at the moment I don't care where these gigs will be, i'm travelling there. any info from anyone would be greatly appreciated. cheers Droog quote:
Originally posted by droog74
quote:
Originally posted by Brackish Heart
Well its official they are coming to Australia:
V Festival - Sydney Saturday March 31 2007
V Festival - Gold Coast Sunday April 1 2007
www.vfestival.com.au
Tickets are on sale next Monday the 4th of December.
The other bands I assess as rubbish, except maybe Pet Shop Boys who will be good for a view. Though I anticipate that there will be a lot more to come.
I will most likely buy tickets for both venues than re-assess when solo shows come up. If the festival is not in Melbourne i would think Melbourne and Sydney solo shows would have to be certain.
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2007 : 10:36:32
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http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/sticky-carpet/2007/03/01/1172338765795.html?page=2
Dolls in the house
Sticky thought V Festival promoters were a bit
optimistic in expecting 13,000 Pixies fans to
come out of the woodwork and fill the Sidney
Myer Music Bowl in April.
But now they've made it a must-see gig by adding the legendary New York Dolls to the bill.
The Dolls will play alongside the Pixies, Jarvis Cocker and Phoenix at the bowl on April 4, and
play their own show at the Hi Fi Bar on Monday, March 26.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/dolls-for-april-tour/2007/03/02/1172338882580.html
PUNK pioneers the New York Dolls will tour
Australia for the first time next month. The
band plays the Best of V Festival at the Sidney
Myer Music Bowl with the Pixies, Phoenix and
Jarvis on Wednesday April 4, as well as their
own show at the city's Hi Fi Bar, on Monday
March 26.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21330397-31624,00.html
Punk rock legends to play here
March 06, 2007 01:15am
AMERICAN punk rock legends the New York Dolls is the latest
band to be added to the lineup for Adelaide's Best of V Festival
in April.
The April 4 concert at Memorial Drive will be the first time
Adelaide will get to see the Dolls and headliners the Pixies -
both bands have long been influences on the American rock
scene. Last year the Dolls released its first studio album in 32
years - the energised One Day It Will Please Us to Remember
Even This.
Also Adelaide bound is blues-rock duo the Black Keys playing
the Governor Hindmarsh on May 16 - tickets on sale Friday at
VenueTix.
http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,23663,21333759-7484,00.html
Beck in the groove
By Sam Cleveland
March 06, 2007 12:09pm
YESTERDAY the package could hardly look tastier, today US
quirk - fusionist Beck gets added to the bill. Is it just us, or are
these V Festival stagings in Sydney and the Gold Coast
shaping us all-timers?
Beck joins The Pixies, Jarvis Cocker, Gnarls Barkley, The Pet
Shop Boys and Soulwax for the March 31 and April 1 shindigs,
with US punk pioneers the New York Dolls, French lilters
Nouvelle Vague and Sydney rock act The Valentinos also
confirmed in today’s final lineup announcement.
Holy smokes! Anyone with even a vaguely evolved taste in music
should be leaning forwards in their chairs at this stage, but lean
a few degrees back if you’re in Melbourne: Beck won’t be playing
the V Festival sideshows down there.
We’re reeling, then news comes down the pipe that dance
darlings Groove Armada will bring their full eight-piece band
down for their V Festival dates, which they'll use to launch their
fifth album, Soundboy Rock, in Australia.
Anyone need more reassurance? Well word has been filtering
our way that the Virgin events, which have been going for more
than a decade in the UK, are run like clockwork, with enough
toilets, bins and bars to ensure a smooth day for punters.
And Groove Armada are really happy with the new record. Really
happy.
"It's the best one we've done, that's for sure," deadpans Andy
Cato, one of the two brains behind the act.
"I don't really know how to sum it up just yet. We just finished it
two days ago and you're the first person to ask me what it's like.
"There's some really big Saturday night club stuff on there and
the whole thing is more song-based - there's only one
instrumental track," he says.
Preview tunes released on the Groove Armada website have
had fans drooling for the full disc.
Cato comes across in person as a pretty stiff personality,
certainly not someone prone to exaggeration. So when he says
Australia is the group's "favourite" place to play, it's sounds a
million miles from a muso’s usual 'we love you guys' mantra.
"We've done three proper tours down there and it's definitely our
favourite place to play. The response from the crowds is the
thing. It's like they're giving this extra 10 per cent, maybe
because they're chuffed you came all that way to play," he says.
So, we've got the smoking hot dance act responsible for the
everywhere hits Superstylin', I See You Baby and If Everybody
Looked the Same champing at the bit to show off the new gear
to their favourite crowds - ticks in every box so far.
Cato also confirms he and Tom Findlay, the other half of the act,
will be DJing at the official V Festival after parties.
And here's more fuel to the fire: label indifference kept Groove
Armada's two previous long players, Goodbye Country (Hello
Nightclub) and Lovebox, from reaching their full commercial
potential.
"We're with Sony now, so it's a whole different story, but our old
label basically didn't give a s***," says Cato.
Watched any Rocky films lately? That's exactly the sort of
adversity that fuels champions, so look for Groove Armada to
come off the ropes and push the new record (remember, it's
their best "for sure") with a killer live show.
"And we've got a responsibility to the people who work all week
and pay for a ticket expecting to have one of the best days of the
year. We've been punters - we've been on both sides of the
fence - so we know what it's like to be disappointed and what it's
like to see something done proper," says Cato.
Groove Armada's motivation and work ethic seem to check out,
so all that's left is to get their side of the story - it looks like we'll
all be having a good time, so what's in it for them?
"Standing off-stage five minutes before you're about to go on -
those moments are what it's all about. It's an unmatchable
feeling. That's the end game," says Cato.
"We're happy to spend 20 hours a day working on a record to get
there."
Groove Armada have played six past V Festivals in the UK,
where they're run over two days at two different sites.
"They have the two lineups play each site and then switch them
for the following day. There's this really nice moment at about
two or 3am on the Sunday when the tour buses full of bands
pass each other on the motorway.
"Sometimes they pull them over in a garage and we all stand
around catching up with some old friends," says Cato.
* Groove Armada play the V Festival at Centennial Park in
Sydney on March 31 an at Avica Resort on the Gold Coast on
April 1 with The Pixies, Beck, Jarvis Cocker, Gnarls Barkley,
The Pet Shop Boys, New York Dolls, Soulwax and more.
Tickets are $124.40.
http://undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=1691
Beck Helps Complete V Festival Line-
Up
by Daniel Zugna - March 6 2007
photo by Ros O'Gorman
Australia's inaugural V Festival has finalised its line-up,
with Beck playing two dates exclusively at the
festival.
It will be Beck's first shows in Australia in nearly four
years. Promoters announced that he will not be
playing any sideshows during his Australian visit. His
latest stage show features marionettes and rapping
grizzly bears.
And as reported last week on Undercover, New York
Dolls will be playing their first ever Australian shows at
the event, which takes place in Sydney on March 31
and Gold Coast on April 1.
Also announced are French musical collective Nouvelle
Vague, London five-piece New Young Pony Club, and
local acts The Valentinos and The Ghosts.
V Festival – Finalised Dates and Line-Up:
Saturday March 31t – Centennial Park, Sydney
Sunday April 1st – Avica Resort, Gold Coast
Pixies
Pet Shop Boys
2 Many DJs
Gildas & Masaya (Kitsuné DJs)
Beck
Groove Armada
Soulwax Nite Versions
Rub-n-Tug
Jarvis Cocker
Gnarls Barkley
New Young Pony Club
Andee Frost
Phoenix
The Rapture
Bumblebeez
Bang Gang DeeJays
New York Dolls
NouvelleVague
The Valentinos
SoftLightes
Temper Trap
The Ghosts
Mercy Arms
Garage To V Winner
Beck
http://www.netmusiccountdown.com/inc/news_article.php?id=12219
Beck, Cocker, Dolls and More Join V Festival Bill
Lineup expands as music fest gets closer to kick-off
By Laura Katz
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Thursday
Mar.8.2007 /netmusiccountdown.com/ -- The all-star line-up for
the upcoming Australian V festival just keeps getting bigger and
better.
Beck, Jarvis Cocker, New York Dolls and New Young Pony Club will join
Gnarls Barkley, The Pixies, The Rapture, Groove Armada, Soulwax and the
Pet Shop Boys at the newly-expanded musical extravaganza.
The festival will kick off March 31st in Sydney, which will then hop around
Oz through April 4th.
Copyright ©2007, Net Music Countdown ®. All Rights Reserved.
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Edited by - Carl on 03/08/2007 19:28:42 |
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Don Eduardo
= Cult of Ray =
Australia
403 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2007 : 20:00:36
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Sideshows! Melb - Palace, Wed Mar 28, and Syd - Big Top Luna Park, Fri Mar 30
Tickets on sale fri 23rd |
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Waiting for Godot
- FB Fan -
Australia
21 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2007 : 15:38:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Don Eduardo
Sideshows! Melb - Palace, Wed Mar 28, and Syd - Big Top Luna Park, Fri Mar 30
Tickets on sale fri 23rd
Yeah!
$75 - ticketmaster.com.au
See you at the Big Top.
Soaked my boots and my attributes, began to diminish |
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danwalding
- FB Fan -
Australia
33 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2007 : 23:06:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Waiting for Godot
quote:
Originally posted by Don Eduardo
Sideshows! Melb - Palace, Wed Mar 28, and Syd - Big Top Luna Park, Fri Mar 30
Tickets on sale fri 23rd
Yeah!
$75 - ticketmaster.com.au
See you at the Big Top.
Soaked my boots and my attributes, began to diminish
NEWS FLASH
Presale tix on 21 March at 9am (www.ticketmaster.com.au)
A guy on the other web site (pixiesmusic - hope it is OK to mention) *may* have the password for these presale tix by 7am mel/syd time.
Consider yourselves warned!
Grew up to be a Debaser |
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pirate
- FB Fan -
Australia
7 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2007 : 13:51:46
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I'm 17.
just great... |
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valkyr
- FB Fan -
9 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2007 : 23:32:10
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I feel you're pain...I'm only 16.
The same thing happened to me when the Zutons came. And I don't even have very good tickets to the Best of V Festival.
This sucks...I almost wish they weren't coming so I didn't have to put up with this shit. I'll be seeing a shorter show with a crap view...brilliant. |
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Ziggy
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
2461 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2007 : 04:34:18
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| Still, the festival sets will still be over an hour long, at least. I think when they headlined V over here their set was an hour and a quarter, which isn't bad at all. |
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Debaserbaby
- FB Fan -
Australia
11 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2007 : 00:27:17
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Hi....tried to get a ticket to palace gig in Melb this morning but sold out in 1 min!!
Anyone got a spare pleeeaaasssse??? |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2007 : 18:26:20
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http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=365143
Newcastle band joins Pixies at V
17th March 2007, 8:53 WST
Little known Australian pop rock band, The Seabellies, have won the inaugural Garage to V
competition, securing the opening playing slot at Australia's first ever V Festival.
The Newcastle band claimed victory over more than 433 bands nationwide for the prize,
which also includes $10,000 worth of recording time.
The six piece group battled it out against state finalists The Government from Perth, The
Butcher Birds from Brisbane and Melbourne's Ouch! My Face! at the grand final, held in
Sydney on Thursday night.
They will join international acts including the Pet Shop Boys, the Pixies and Beck at the V
Festival - part of an international expansion of the world renowned music festival created by
Virgin group founder Richard Branson - later this month.
"We are stoked ... we've had no sleep and just partied hard after winning ... we were
shocked we won," said 26-year-old lead singer Trent Grenell.
While the band was formed in mid-2005, the line-up as it stands today only began playing
together a year ago.
Grenell says the group of friends decided to create The Seabellies to unite their passion for
music and to create unique Scandinavian-influenced melodies, combined with ethereal
electronic sounds, strings and soaring guitars.
While they are unknown to many, the band has supported some of Australia's highest-profile
rock bands including Augie March, Something For Kate and Evermore in their hometown.
The Seabellies were due to support Augie March on their current national tour, but declined
the opportunity to participate instead in the Garage to V final.
"It's a shame we had to pull out of supporting Augie in Newcastle on this tour, but that
decision has paid off," Grenell said.
Grenell says the band was feeling the pressure of taking to centre stage for the V Festival,
however intended to lap up the energetic atmosphere.
"I am sure we will be nervous closer to playing time," Grenell admitted.
"We have been playing a lot and touring for the last year with some bigger acts, so our
confidence is getting better. We can't wait."
The V Festival will be held in Sydney on March 31 and the Gold Coast on April 1.
AAP
http://undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=1749
Pixies Announce Australian Warm-Up
Shows
by Daniel Zugna - March 19 2007
The Pixies have announced two club shows in
Australia in the lead-up to their V Festival
performances.
The seminal alternative four-piece play at Melbourne's
Palace venue on Wednesday March 28, and the Big
Top at Sydney's Luna Park on Friday March 30.
The shows will give fans a long-awaited chance to see
the band in a relatively intimate setting – they had
already been announced to headline the inaugural V
Festivals in Sydney and the Gold Coast, as well as the
Best of V Festival arena shows the following week.
Tickets go on sale this Friday March 23 through
Ticketmaster and the respective venues.
Pixies
http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/4733.html
Pixies Announce Aussie Shows
Artist: Pixies
Pixies have announced details of two warm-up shows.
The band are due to play the Australian V Festival events later this
month and next, and will prepare with shows in Sydney and
Melbourne.
They will appear at:
MARCH
28 Melbourne Palace
30 Sydney Luna Park
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/news/aust/8339/
Pixies sideshows announced!
Reported by: cecbuzz - Monday, Mar 19, 2007. 12:59
You wanted a Pixies sideshow - well now you've got one - two actually... In the lead up to their appearance at
the inaugural V Festival in Sydney and the Gold Coast the Pixies will play a couple of warm-up gigs
It's been a long journey for the band from bean town to here - but after a more than a decade of promises, the
Pixies will finally land in Australia for their first tour this March which is more than enough reason to start
running around the room waving your hands in the air.
Black Francis, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal and David Lovering will serve up their blend of punk, indie guitar rock,
classic pop
and surf rock riffs, to delighted punters.
Tickets on sale Friday March 23 through fasterlouder.com.au
Stay tuned for further details.
Michael Coppel and V Festival present
The Pixies
March 28 - The Palace, Melbourne
March 30 - Big Top, Luna Park, Sydney
http://www.accessallareas.net.au/data/EEZukyuyAuiMVLDHzN.php
The Pixies announce Sydney and Melbourne shows!
Posted on March 20 2007
In the lead up to their festival appearances headlining the inaugural Australian V
Festivals in Sydney and on the Gold Coast, Pixies have announced that they will
play two warm up shows.
The band will play the Palace in Melbourne on Wednesday March 28 and
Sydney's Big Top at Luna Park on Friday March 30.
The Pixies’ initial six years of existence blew a breath of fresh air into the world
of music. From the backwoods of
Boston to headlining festivals worldwide, Black Francis, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal
and David Lovering combined
blistering guitar work with a unique approach to songwriting, to became one of
the most critically acclaimed bands of our time. Melding punk, indie guitar rock,
classic pop, surf rock and riffs, the band created a sound that no one had ever
heard before.
With classic anthems like "Here Comes Your", "Gigantic", "Debaser", "Wave of
Mutilation" and "Monkey Gone To Heaven”, the band became the pioneers of
alternative music as we know it today. After releasing the bands fifth and final
studio record (to date) “Trompe Le Monde”, the band's grueling schedule, plus
constant touring saw the Pixies break up in ’93. After an 11-year hiatus, Pixies
hysteria reignited across the globe when the band reformed for some live dates
in 2004, including festival headline slots at Coachella, Reading and Leeds.
The reaction from fans and critics alike has been overwhelming, with the
chemistry between the four musicians
arguably better than ever. There have been unconfirmed rumours of a new
album but for now come and see the magic of the Pixies, live in these very
special shows.
Tickets for the shows go on sale on Friday March 23 through Ticketmaster.
Blog thingy:
http://www.a-reminder.org/music/?p=542
http://www.news.com.au/sundayheraldsun/story/0,,21418632-2902,00.html
Pixies to take to stage
March 21, 2007 12:00am
FANS of the Pixies who waited for the band to play its first gig
in Melbourne will now be able to see them a second time.
The US indie darlings have just announced a concert at the
Palace in St Kilda on March 28.
Tickets go on sale from Ticketmaster from Friday.
The Pixies are touring Australia as part of the V Festival, which
includes a show at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on April 4.
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/news/aust/8402/
Pixies sideshows sold out!
Reported by: cecbuzz - Friday, Mar 23, 2007. 11:11
No surprise here... we have been waiting a lifetime, afterall...
The Pixies only Austalian sideshows have sold out in record time. According to the folk at Michael Coppel, tix to
the sideshows went out the door in a blistering 5 minutes...
Any folk still hoping to catch the Pixies performing can still buy tix to the V Festival and the Best of V.
V Festival
Sydney – Centennial Park, Saturday March 31
Also featuring Pet Shop Boys, Beck, Jarvis Cocker, Gnarls Barkley, Groove Armada, Soulwax, Phoenix, The
Rapture, New York
Dolls & many more
Best of V Festival
Melbourne – Myer Music Bowl, Wednesday April 4th
Also featuring Jarvis Cocker, New York Dolls & Phoenix
http://www.accessallareas.net.au/data/EEZuyEFkypDTcIlBkJ.php
The Pixies sold out!
Posted on March 24 2007
The hottest tickets in town sold out in under 5 minutes this morning!
Pixies long-awaited debut shows in Melbourne and Sydney are now entirely sold
out.
Touring Australia for the first time in their long history, Pixies change their set
list with every show, keeping their shows fresh and dynamic.
The only opportunity remaining to savour the rare treat of the highly revered
Pixies live in concert is at the V Festival: V Festival - Sydney – Centennial Park,
next Saturday March 31st which is also featuring Pet Shop Boys, Beck, Jarvis
Cocker, Gnarls Barkley, Groove Armada, Soulwax,
Phoenix, The Rapture, New York Dolls and many more.
Best of V Festival - Melbourne – Myer Music Bowl, Wednesday April 4th: Also
featuring Jarvis Cocker, New York Dolls and Phoenix
V Festival tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21458656-31624,00.html
V is for new venue
March 28, 2007 02:15am
A CHANGE of venue for next week's Best of the V Festival will
give Adelaide fans a chance to see iconic U.S. rockers the
Pixies in the intimate surrounds of the Thebarton Theatre.
Originally scheduled for two nights at Memorial Drive next
Tuesday and Wednesday, the Best of the V Festival, will now be
held at Thebarton on Tuesday, where the Pixies will be joined by
Jarvis Cocker, New York Dolls and Phoenix.
On Wednesday, the Pet Shop Boys, Groove Armada, Gnarls
Barkley, right, and the Rapture will perform at the Entertainment
Centre.
Both venues will be general admission and tickets for Tuesday
night can be booked through VenueTix, while Wednesday
night's show is on sale through Ticketek.
http://www.xpressmag.com.au/archives/2007/03/blackjack_2007_1.php
BLACKJACK 2007: AWAY WITH THE PIXIES
The Pixies headline Blackjack 2007, happening at Claremont Showgrounds next Thursday,
April 5. BOB GORDON canvassed rock stars, readers, writers and Frank Black himself for their
thoughts on the magic of this alterna-iconic band.
Blackjack 2007 is surely a yummy knit of delectable bands and musical styles. The jewel in
the crown of the lineup – at least in historical terms – is the Pixies. The Boston quartet, who
broke up acrimoniously in 1993, reformed in 2004 and have been an in-demand performing
entity ever since.
Their albums – Come On Pilgrim (1987), Surfer Rosa (1988), Doolittle (1989), Bossanova
(1990) and Trompe le Monde (1991) – never cracked the mainstream but were a huge
influence on alternative culture. Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain never stopped extolling their virtues
throughout his band’s existence and the Pixies’ brand of sharp-edged pop has certainly shone
through in the music of many Perth indie bands since the late 1980s, as has Frank Black’s
ongoing solo work and that of bassist Kim Deal in The Breeders and The Amps.
Since the band’s reunion in 2004, talk has often centred on a brand new Pixies album, mostly
from outside the band. Frank Black has released several albums both commercially as well as
on iTunes in that time and when asked by X-Press Magazine in July, 2006, if embracing the
past has an effect on songwriting that invests in the future, he was circumspect.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I don’t know which comes first, the band or the record, but they
both kind of serve each other. You start a band, you write some songs, you make a record
and it does what it does, then you move onto the next. Sometimes, as in the case of the Pixies
thing, the band was reunited to go and play concerts.
“I don’t know if that affects what I do on another record, you know what I mean? It’s all part
of the same thing and what that thing is, is… what is it? Being in the music business, I guess.
Being a musician.”
While the Pixies are heralded as indie/alternative legends, Black prides himself on a certain
amount of schizophrenia in his music. If The Pixies decide to release another album, it would
seem that we can at least count on that factor being ever-present.
“The nature of my records, historically too, if you look at them track-by-track, there’s not one
particular genre, or mood, or voice,” he stated.
“People talk like, ‘Oh, The Pixies! Doolittle! Surfer Rosa!’ But if you listen to those records,
there’s not one particular flavour that shines through. And that’s the nature of me. It’s kind of
who I am. I’m kind of all over the place.”
PIXIES AND MEMORIES…
For me, the Pixies are riddled with childhood fantasies. My whole teenage life was guided by
the teachings of Sir Frank Black. He inspired and pushed air into my lungs and forced me to
open my eyes wide. The Pixies make everything okay.
_ KATY STEELE
Vocals/guitar, Little Birdy
Whilst I can’t remember the last time I actually listened to a Pixies album, hearing any of the
band’s songs now reminds me of a fantastic era of music. Along with Sonic Youth, The Pixies
represent the sound and style that seemingly paved the way for the Seattle bands that later
exploded in the grunge era, a movement that saw alternative music crossover to the
mainstream. The Pixies’ influence has been felt in bands ever since, a testament to the band’s
timeless impact. My personal favourite album at the time was easily Doolittle.
_ LUKE RINALDI
Manager, Red Jezebel/Capital City
I remember hearing Monkey Gone To Heaven emanating from my sister’s bedroom; I didn’t
really understand this man screaming, “And if the devil is six, then God is seven!” but I liked it
- it was like nothing Id really heard before – I was hooked.
It’s hard to define what’s so brilliantly captivating about the Pixies music - on one hand it’s
dirty, loud and abrasive, but on the other it’s pristine pop. The Pixies were the best, most
important rock band of the ’80s, apart from maybe The Stone Roses. Their guitar sound and
soft verse, loud, psycho chorus sense of dynamics heavily influenced bands from Weezer, Blur
and Nirvana, to QOTSA, Modest Mouse and Interpol. They are the granddaddies of grunge -
Cobain was quoted saying he was “basically trying to rip off the Pixies”.
_ ALFRED GORMAN
Reviewer, X-Press Magazine
Doolittle was the first proper album I really got into. A girl I had a crush on in my human
biology class gave me a casette copy. I remember playing it to death. Here Comes Your Man
just made me feel so good and whenever I drop it into a set it lifts the mood of everyone in
the venue.
Such a well rounded band, each member is a very accomplished musician yet they maintain
their own unique style all coming together to create that classic Pixies sound that has cast
such a huge shadow over contemporary music since. Nirvana, Placebo, McLusky...everyone is
influenced by them.
_ ANTON MAZ
Death Disco
The Pixies came to my attention in 1989 when then work colleague Mal Secourable (The Fate,
The Beekeepers) invited me around for one of his homebrews. Malcolm played me many
bands I had not previously encountered but the Pixies were the one that sticks in my mind to
this day. Immediately I became a massive fan which I must say has been severely diminished
by the band being totally overplayed at The Firm, both Lofts, Planet, Amplifier…
“Still it will be interesting to see what these old buggers can do at Blackjack– Gouge Away!
_ DAVE CUTBUSH
Local Music Producer & Music Director, RTR FM
During the late ’80s the Pixies were creating the kind of urgent and anxious rock that was
rooted in punk but with bountiful melody to boot. The lovable sounds of Kim Deal and Black
Francis were the flawed voices behind the refreshing angst ridden delights. Surfer Rosa may
have been the catalyst to many a night of under-aged shenanigans, but it was Doolittle that
raised the bar, and was the soundtrack to striking up of endless university friendships.
As such, Doolittle will always remain a desert island disc. With the Boston quartet being
oblivious to fashion and paving the way for the success of such bands as Guided By Voices,
every music fan should be eternally grateful. Over recent times other bands may have taken
precedence so the Pixies may not get the kind of attention on the home stereo that they used
to, but when they do its always a pleasure to catch up with such dear old friends.
_CHRIS HAVERCROFT
Reviewer, X-Press Magazine
My introduction to the world of the Pixies came from the girl who lived across the road from
me as a wee tacker. She used to strut around in a Fugazi t-shirt and dye her hair purple. As a
naive boy I assumed she was the bride of Satan, but upon getting to know her better I found
she had an impeccable taste in music to which I was drawn in like a leper to the saviour.
She leant me a copy of Doolittle which to this day I still have. It made me want to write songs
like Mr Black; to have a name as cool as Joey Santiago; to dye my hair purple (which I
eventually did). She later moved away and left me in possession of both Doolittle and Trompe
Le Monde, (as well as Fugazi’s Repeater). I should really track her down and return them one
day...
_ PAUL WOOD
Vocals/guitar, Red Jezebel
Back in the ’80s they meant everything! I normally find bands reuniting a little sad to be
honest. But having missed out on the Nirvana-boom of the early 90s that they were
responsible for creating but couldn’t hang around to enjoy, if ever a reunion was merited this
is it! For a teenager growing up in the ’80s the Pixies were to me what the Velvet
Underground must have been to the ’60s generation. In the late ‘80s they were almost as
important as what punk was to the late ’70s. They wiped the slate clean - so much so you
could almost say they were responsible for alternative going mainstream and killing off
stadium rockers like Bon Jovi. Whatever the case, one thing you can say about them is that
they were responsible for a million bands forming around the world - including my band
(Bucket) at the time.
_ ANDREW POWELL
Vocals/guitar, The Jayco Brothers
For me, being introduced to the Pixies was on a Sunday afternoon.
It was a drive with friends, you know, the ‘Sunday drive’. And driving along, I was deep in
thought, when The Pixies were introduced to me. Being one of those people that can repeat a
song 500 times (in a row), I requested the song (Monkey Gone To Heaven) be repeated and
would have quite happily listened to Pixies all afternoon.
Only when I realised that Kim Deal was one of the members of the band, it all made sense.
The Breeders had been on high rotation at my house for years. Oh... I get it!
_ JENNA HARDIE
Vocals/guitar, The Government
Posted on March 28, 2007 04:26 PM
http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/away-with-the-pixies/2007/03/29/1174761614477.html?page=fullpage
Pixies magic
The Pixies play The Best of V Festival at the Myer Music Bowl on April 4.
Photo: Chapman Baehler
March 30, 2007
Everyone wanted to copy '80s indie rock
band the Pixies. Chris Johnston explains
why.
It's short, only a minute-and-a-half long, but
so disturbing and explosive that it's the kind of
song that lives on way after it fades away.
The brevity of it is the thing: it's there, it does
weird things, it probes the ultimate taboo, then
it's gone. Four songs into the first Pixies' album
and already the world was turned upside down.
Broken Face starts with singer Black Francis
voicing a kind of insanity. He's a large, chubby
man in utilitarian flannel shirt and work boots.
A portly lumberjack, someone once said. He
sounds mad, demented. There's a funky little
hi-hat shuffle going on too but he's singing in odd falsetto like a murderous doll: "I've got a
broken face/uh-huh, uh-huh/I've got a broken face."
And then it comes. Violent punk rock guitars, only two or three chords at the most, shards of
them, dry as dust. They stop and they start, from a whisper to a shout in a split-second. The
dynamics of such a little song are interminably wide. It's over before it begins but by the time
it's over we know the character around which it is built is not only broken physically and
mentally - no lips, no tongue, no ability to speak, only spittle where words should be - but he
(for it is a young boy, we learn) is inbred, is encircled and kind of entombed by incest, a "boy
who had two children with his sisters/they were his daughters/they were his favourite lovers".
It's only an indie-rock song. It was only that, and it still is. But it seemed to be channelled
from some kind of repository of odd-ness, of things which must not be spoken. Turns out
Francis and the Pixies would mine this well again and again.
Broken Face was the first Pixies' song I heard, on Surfer Rosa, that debut album. They'd
released an EP before this, Come On Pilgrim, and, as it turned out, there was a demo thing
going around called The Purple Tape. I think a lot of people who came in with Surfer Rosa - it
was 1988, punk dead but just about ready to kick again a generation on, in different clothes
and different hair with coverage of different horrors - ended up obsessing about the Pixies,
going back, becoming completists, needing everything, picking over words and phrases and B-
sides and the whole strange intention of it all.
In fact it was said later by one of their producers that they were a little like the Velvet
Underground in that those who heard the early stuff were so taken that they went out
immediately and formed bands, such was the power of their influence.
It was different. It was like a sudden, noxious infection. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana said all this
loudest when his band were changing the world. He just wanted to write Pixies' songs, he said.
Like Smells Like Teen Spirit, his anthem. The one where it was all quiet then all loud, a
beautiful, angry song describing new unknowns. That was him, he said, copying the Pixies.
Same deal with Thom Yorke, Radiohead, and Creep. Copying the Pixies.
They formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts, and lasted until 1993 when there was an ugly
bust-up. They reformed in 2004 and are still, sporadically, reformed.
Reformations can be vexed because of nagging doubts about motivation and performance but,
still, it's the original lineup of the Pixies and the odd chemistry between the four members that
was always a key factor in their appeal.
There's a fair bit of rock mythology entangled in their formation. Guitarist Joey Santiago and
singer/songwriter Francis, whose real name is Charles Thompson, were students together.
They wanted to form a band; they put a classified advertisement in a local paper seeking a
bass player who had to be female and had to like Peter, Paul and Mary and Husker Du. Peter,
Paul and Mary being the sugary New York folk trio of the '60s who did Lemon Tree, Leaving On
A Jet Plane and Puff The Magic Dragon. They were a kind of Manhattan version of the Seekers.
Husker Du, the other bookend to a nascent Pixies, were somewhat different. They were the
abrasive post-punk trio led by Bob Mould who, with Fugazi, the Minutemen and Black Flag,
pioneered the whole American '80s hardcore scene, which in many ways was the original emo.
From that revealing classified advertisement we can conclude that the Pixies, in the beginning,
wanted to be frivolous and innocent, and acoustic, on one level, singing in intimate harmony
about cartoonish topics, and intense, loud and highly emotional on another level, taking cues
from the rigorously independent American underground scene that would never suffer even the
merest whiff of a sell-out and that needed, more than anything, for a band to present itself as
"real".
Amazingly, someone answered the ad, although she didn't have a bass guitar and couldn't play
one even if she did. Kim Deal, however, said her sister Kelley, who would later form the
Breeders, had one. Francis sent her away to get it, tried simultaneously to recruit the more
experienced Kelley on drums. She refused. They went for David Lovering instead of Kelley, a
friend of the Deal sisters from Ohio.
Things happened quickly. They named themselves from a word in a dictionary - Pixies, little
monsters, fairies, products of the imagination - played a few shows, got noticed and got
signed by uber-cool London label 4AD, who at the time were beloved by the NME and releasing
bands such as Pale Saints, AR Kane, the Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil and Tanya Donnelly's
like-minded Throwing Muses.
In time, the likes of that strange, incest song from Surfer Rosa, Broken Face, would become
more definitive, and more infamous, but the indications were there right from the start that
this was a band unafraid to do and say some extremely unusual things; the Pixies' first EP
Come On Pilgrim had two things on it, Holiday Song and Nimrod's Son, which went down the
same forbidden pathways, broaching the topic of incest.
Sisters as lovers, fathers and sons, a holiday romance that could never be mentioned. Other
songs were sung in Spanish; Santiago's freeform leadbreak on Vamos was as offputting,
inspired, and as much of a wild goose chase as Francis' cross-cultural delivery. A bit in
Spanish, a bit in English, sacred here, profane there. What was he up to? Where would this
lead?
Well, they would keep all this weird stuff but just keep making it catchier. Surfer Rosa used a
song like Something Against You, which was basically pop chords delivered as death metal,
with Francis screaming gibberish.
Then he went into something like Bone Machine, where he delivered a kind of surrealist's
manifesto as spoken word over sparse drums and bass. But then there was River Euphrates in
his mystical falsetto again, which was fast becoming a trademark, and it's classic Pixies,
although we didn't know that yet. And we didn't know that they would keep writing nasty little
pop songs you could whistle into another lifetime altogether.
Looking back now, and listening to all this bizarre magic once again, it's like the Pixies were
some kind of tremor and that the aftershocks keep on hitting. Now it's not unusual for a band
of misfits to dress down, sing weird and blend unusual Latin stuff with surrealism and evil.
And it's certainly not unusual for a band to marry infectious pop melodies with severe abrasion.
But I think back then as the '90s were only just beginning to emerge it was new, and it was
fantastic, and you were able to hear a song like Broken Face or the brilliant River Euphrates on
an old Triple R show such as Station to Station or while shopping at Missing Link or even at
some record collector's bunker, pre-grunge, and be reduced to just shutting your eyes and
banging your feet on the floor in rapture.
After Surfer Rosa came the Pixies' takeover. They signed to a major label, following the lead of
Husker Du who had usurped the underground a few years earlier to get in bed with the
corporate recording industry while keeping their credibility intact.
But almost as soon as this new era had begun, tensions rose in the band, primarily between
Francis and Deal. Francis thought Deal was slack and he didn't care much for the songs she
was writing and desperately wanting to record.
Deal thought Black was a meglomaniac control-freak. The band made Doolittle, with a big-time
producer, which made them famous and contains their best-known songs: Debaser, Monkey
Gone To Heaven, a UK top 10 hit, Wave of Mutilation and Here Comes Your Man. They
managed to make two more - Bossanova and v - before imploding angrily in
1993.
Francis went solo as Frank Black. Deal joined her sisters in the Breeders and wrote Cannonball.
Santiago started writing TV music and Lovering became a magician.
Through this progression of albums the Pixies slowly but surely lost most of what made them
special in the first place. However, a key element remained, and it can be traced right back to
Broken Face, the incest song, where dreamscapes and imagination were blended with some
finely observed, if unpalatable, realities to create great outsider art.
Debaser, for example, Black said, was based on the 1929 plotless surrealist film Un Chien
Andalou by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali in which, among other things, a woman's eyeball is
cut with a razor blade.
Wave of Mutilation expresses that universal desire to, at the end of the world, when all seems
doomed, simply get in your car and drive it into the sea. Later, on Bossanova, Francis' debt to
surf-music would surface in a cover of Cecilia Ann by the Surftones. As would his obsession
with aliens. He once told the story of when his mother saw an alien in 1965. She told him the
aliens' spaceship hovered above their house. The police tried to chase it away but they
couldn't catch up. She told him it was big, red and glowing. "My mother's weird," Black said.
The Pixies play The Best of V Festival at the Myer Music Bowl on April 4.
loudQUIETloud, a documentary about the Pixies, is out now through Madman.
http://www.cqextra.com.au/entertainment/30032007_2.shtml
CQ Extra's going to the first ever V Festival!
Aldous Supernova
Friday, 30 March 2007
yoursay@cqextra.com.au
Australia’s inaugural V Festival
hits the Gold Coast this Sunday,
and several of us here at the CQ
Extra are rather excited to be
heading down.
Excitement has gripped Australia’s
rock music community at the
announcement that the event will
be headlined by none other than ...
The Pixies.
The seminal alt-rockers have put
their differences behind them to
reunite, and word from Melbourne
(where the band played a secret
warm-up show for around 200
people on Tuesday night) is that
they are in sensational form.
They’ll be joined by a raft of
international talent, including ex-
Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, French
indie popsters Phoenix, and punk
legends New York Dolls. Some local
up-and-comers will be there as
well, including much-touted
Melbourne four piece Temper Trap
and Sydney fashionistas The Valentinos.
yoursay@cqextra.com.au
Frank Black, (front, in White) and his Pixies bandmates are at the
Gold Coas this weekend as the headline act for V-Fest — A musical
party put on by the world’s least demure Virgin, Sir Richard Branson
of Virgin Atlantic. The Pixies pioneered the alt rock sound and are
probably the world’s biggest band’s band. |
Edited by - Carl on 03/31/2007 17:02:19 |
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Pixies Confirmed @ V Festival in Australia
