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paco pico piedra
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 Posted - 04/16/2004 : 05:27:02
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it sounds promising, i cant wait until he´s coming to Berlin at the end of june!!
Concert Review: The Pixies
By Chris Riemenschneider
MINNEAPOLIS (Billboard) - As with many bands whose breakup was nasty, the Pixies' first-ever reunion concert leaned heavily on material from the earlier, happier days of the group -- or least an era when members weren't communicating solely via fax.
The influential Boston band went about the kickoff to its first reunion tour the hip way. It booked a club with a capacity far below what it could have filled (resulting in tickets selling for as much as $400 on eBay). It sold t-shirts admitting this was the "Pixies Sellout" tour, the first leg of which culminates May 1 at the Coachella Festival in Indio, Calif.
Best of all, the band members didn't do or say anything on stage that suggested they were nostalgic about reuniting. There were a few more smiles than in the past, that's all. Otherwise, it was the Pixies as you remember them, with very little stage presence or pizzazz but all the musical oomph and bite of their recordings.
Even over 27 songs, the band played only one track from each of its final two albums. Instead, it offered nearly three-quarters of its first two LPs, as well as a large chunk of its 1986 debut EP.
The cult-rabid audience didn't seem to notice any omissions. Obscure oldies such as "Broken Face" and "Levitate Me" were received as warmly and vocally as the band's nearest things to hits: "Here Comes Your Man," "Velouria" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven." The only song that wasn't recognized word-for-word was Neil Young's "Winterlong," but that too proved a cool choice.
Frontman Frank Black/Black Francis (real name: Charles Thompson) and his ex-communicated harmony partner Kim Deal were back on solid footing from the get-go, trading vocals in the show openers "Bone Machine" and "Wave of Mutilation." Deal did more of the talking than Francis, who at one point even asked her what she wanted to play.
Guitarist Joey Santiago was his usual understated self, even as he effectively unleashed the hyper riffs of "Nimrod's Son" and "Isla de Encanta." Drummer David Lovering was a little more rock-star, with mutton-chop sideburns and his coy dedication to "all the lovely ladies" before "La La Love You," a song that the band had purportedly never-before played live.
As a whole, the quartet slipped up a few times and especially lagged in the encore, reflecting what may have been a brief rehearsal schedule. But the imperfections were part of the charm. When Francis sang, "We're not just kids, to say the least," in "U Mass," he tellingly flashed a brief smirk.
His one noteworthy comment during the show came as he struggled to tune his guitar before "Vamos," when he quipped, "This is starting to seem like our first gig." Fortunately, that proved true in more positive ways than negative. |
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pixies reuters review
