Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2010 > September > 22 > Entry
Review: Pixies at Austin Music Hall Tuesday
Still, still, still. Frank Black/Black Francis/Charles/Whatever still can screech. The way his vocals intersect with bassist Kim Deal is kind of like John Doe and Exene Cervenka: It shouldn’t work but it does, still. Joey Santiago is still one of the most distinctive — and genuinely funny — guitar players in all of rock.
And the Pixies are one of the crazy best bands ever. If you want to argue the point you’re just stupid.
The band’s show at the Austin Music Hall Tuesday, the first of two nights, was an exercise in pure nostalgia. It wasn’t like they had to work to win over the crowd; this was a house full of people that, to eyeball at least half of them, were way too young to have had a chance to see the alt-rock trailblazers back in the day. It was as if the crowd was gazing upon a myth made real. Expectations were perilously high.
But work the Pixies did, plowing into B-sides and all of their breakout, “Doolittle,” backed by a pretty slick multimedia show that actually enhanced rather than distracted. Never a band to work the crowd (“Hello, Austin!” not so much), they just put their heads down and brought a monstrous body of work to life. Into their third decade of on- and off-existence, they rocked improbably hard.
Playing an album in its entirety takes a good bit of the suspense out of the set, so the band front-loaded the show with cuts to reward its more rabid fans — you got your “Dancing the Manta Ray,” your “Weird at My School.” It wasn’t until five tunes in that they got to “Debaser” and it was “Doolittle”-palooza. There it all was: Some of the catchiest melodies in pop, songs that took abrupt turns or simply exploded, guitar tones and riffs that found common ground between surf rock and what would eventually become grunge, big dollops of dada and surrealism, an exuberant weirdness that somehow makes them — still — more accessible.
Yeah, they did “Monkey Gone to Heaven” and “Here Comes Your Man” from “Doolittle.” I would have been more excited to hear them do all of “Surfer Rosa” and “Come On, Pilgrim,” records without which Nirvana would not exist (especially “In Utero,” which was also recorded by Steve Albini). At least Kim got to sing “Gigantic,” and with the house lights up, no less, the band gorging itself on energy from the crowd.
There’s a price you pay for being way, way ahead of your time. “Surfer Rosa” didn’t hit gold until 2005 — and it came out in 1988. Being incalculably influential doesn’t pay the bills, which is why an aging band can be forgiven for touring, unabashedly, for the dough. It’s easier to forgive if that band is good.
Or in the Pixies’ case great. Still.
Follow Austin Music Source on Facebook and Twitter.
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.
By Matt
September 22, 2010 4:49 PM | Link to this
Pixies. Suck. Still,
By Richard
September 23, 2010 8:35 AM | Link to this
That was a great show! I wish I could have gone again last night. Hearing Doolittle in its entirety was awesome; loved it.
By MAY
September 23, 2010 10:54 AM | Link to this
Austin Music Hall is extremely unaccommodating for a sold out show. The sound is great but don’t expect to see anything unless you are at the front of the huge mob of people. I was told by a security guard upstairs that I could stand up towards the side railing. This was the only spot still available that seemed to have some sort of view. When I did this the people standing behind me became upset because apparently they had been told they could not stand there. This created an awkward situation so I moved out of their way and let them stand there. Once i embraced the fact that I wouldn’t see any part of the stage I enjoyed the show very much. The Pixies still completely rock, but it would have been nice to have at least a glimpse of them considering the $50 price tag.
By A
September 23, 2010 11:10 AM | Link to this
Wednesday show was great…Kim was chatty :) AMH was fine…we arrived early, got a great spot and loved every minute.