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ironicninja
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
 Posted - 10/04/2007 : 16:52:34
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San Jose Mercury News.
Voice of the Pixies
BLACK FRANCIS HAS RETURNED, WITHOUT OLD BAND
By Shay Quillen
Mercury News
Article Launched: 10/04/2007 01:37:42 AM PDT
For 14 years after leaving the Pixies, Charles Thompson IV tried to establish
a separate identity as a solo artist. On his first dozen solo albums, he
flipped his nom de Pixie Black Francis and called himself Frank Black.
No more. For his latest CD, "Bluefinger," Thompson has decided to give up
the fight and bill himself as Black Francis again.
"If you read every single review, good or bad, of every record I've ever made, of course they refer to that shadow which
I cannot escape," Thompson says, raising his voice as he refers to the sizable legacy of his old band, a key
influence on such crucial bands as Nirvana and Radiohead.
"They want me to be Black Francis, and they think that's the only thing that I've done that has any value," he
continues. "So it's kind of like, fine, I'll be that."
Therefore, Black Francis will be the name on the marquee when Thompson and his band come to the area for one
show at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz and three at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco next week.
"Bluefinger" isn't the new Pixies album many fans hoped to see this year, but the disc does hew closer to that
band's often-abrasive brand of alt-rock than the Americana-tinged sound of the last few Frank Black releases.
Thompson pulls out the unbridled scream that was his trademark during the Pixies days, and his wife, Violet Clark,
lends backing vocals that recall Pixies bassist Kim Deal.
Thompson, 42, says the album's new songs came to him in a burst after he viewed a clip of the late Dutch
rocker Herman Brood singing and playing piano
with his band.
"I stumbled onto a performance of his on YouTube
and got obsessed with him for about 10 days and
wrote a record about him," he says of Brood, who was also a noted visual artist and an unapologetic hard-drug user.
"I just thought he was really good and really charismatic and haunting."
"Bluefinger" consists of 10 songs inspired by Brood's wild life, which ended when he leaped from the ninth floor of
the Amsterdam Hilton in 2001, and a version of Brood's "You Can't Break a Heart and Have It," the song Thompson
heard on YouTube.
While passing through the Netherlands recently on tour, Thompson got a chance to visit Brood's atelier, which has
been kept exactly as Brood left it.
"It was creepy," he says. "All his stuff's there - his hypodermic needles, his porno, his paintings, his clothing, his
drugs, his speed, his booze, his records that he listened to while he was painting, including one of my own."
Thompson spent much of the past 3 1/2 years doing some lucrative touring with the reunited Pixies, including two
shows at Berkeley's Greek Theatre in 2004 and one at the San Jose Civic Auditorium in 2005. Comments made by
Thompson in interviews led many to expect a Pixies studio album this year, but he says the recording never got off
the ground.
"Nothing ever was really happening with it," he explains, though he admits he wrote some material for the proposed
album.
"To some people's minds, it would be like, 'Well, the songwriter-singer dude wrote some songs for that purpose, so
that's a pretty big step,' " he says. "But you don't know the rest of my band."
So now Thompson - who left Southern California for Portland, Ore., about four years ago - is focused on his solo
career and his family. He and his second wife have four children, ages 1 to 9, one of which can be heard gooing
and gahing throughout the phone interview. Thompson says he and Clark, who sings in his live band, will bring
some of the kids on the road with them.
"When they first started doing it, they hated it," he says of the younger ones. "Now they're a little more chill."
To make the experience more pleasant, Thompson will perform multiple dates in most cities. "I'm a little weary of
the previous rock touring model, which is one-night stands," he says. "It's hard to make money doing multiple-night
stands, so you tend not to do that, but whatever. . . . If I'm going to be in San Francisco, I want to be there a few
nights. I don't want to be there for nine hours."
Whether he's playing on his own, with the Pixies or with Grand Duchy, his new collaboration with Clark, he says the
process is the same.
"The goal is to make rock music, between one minute and five minutes long, and it has to be interesting on some
level, whether it's a poppy song or whether it's something really kind of experimental," he says.
"It's all legit. It doesn't have to be anything in particular. There are no rules."Black Francis
With Eastern Conference Champions
Where: The Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz
When: 8 p.m. Monday
Tickets: $18, $15 advance
Call: (866) 384-3060; or see www.catalystclub.com
Also: 9:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, Cafe du Nord, 2174 Market St., San Francisco, $20, www.ticketweb.com/" target="_blank">www.ticketweb.com, (415)
861-5016 |
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Frohike
- FB Fan -
4 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 09:07:00
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| Anyone have the set list for the show? It was quite a performance, IMO. I've never heard him sound so good live... |
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yerffej
- FB Fan -
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 17:42:39
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It was quite a performance Frohike, I couldn't believe the low turnout it was awesome.
He did a killer solo show there last year with just his acoustic, good sound then too, the only time I ever heard him sound poorly was when he played with The Pixies. ha |
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dmarkcox
- FB Fan -
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 10/10/2007 : 07:37:33
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Catalyst is great for shows! FB there with the Catholics, some years ago, EXCELLENT! Great turnout. FB Solo last year was PERFECT! Average crowd. I love seeing him play there but waiting for LA this year. Two favorite places I think, maybe for him (like I would know) is Santa Cruz and Nashville. Exit Inn!
Ten Miles to Kingwood |
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October 8th - The Catalyst, Santa Cruz
