It's a beautiful Summer evening, they're selling 2-pinters at the many bars here at Eden, and the Pixies are in town, I am excited! I never saw these guys before they split up for the first time, but have seen them since 2004 a few times, including 12 years ago in this very special place with and then, unfortunately, without Kim Deal. It's been a few years now, though, and they're here to celebrate 40 years of the band, Forty years! Time flies, eh?
They walk unceremoniously onto the stage, and Black Francis immediately starts strumming his acoustic. I pre-warned some family I was there with (new generations of Pixies fans of which there are plenty here) that Pixies do not perform a "show", they're not about stage lights, big screens, pyrotechnics, special guests, amusing banter, no bullshit whatsoever. They will play as many songs as possible, as loud as possible, and then leave. Francis is strumming the opening chords to the stark, dark, and unmistakable Cactus. I already have goosebumps, something about this man, this band, the raw abrasiveness of the songwriting. He hasn't even started singing yet, very few bands have the ability to awaken such a concoction of emotions in me, but Pixies do it every time...."will you take off your dress and send it to me" begs Francis, before Joey Santiago's beautifully distorted guitar kicks in and David Lovering Chants "P. I.X. I. E. S" in this brooding twisted beautiful mess of a song. Straight into Nimrod's Son, " you are the son of incestuous union" sings Francis. Pixies never held back on their lyrical content! This song from debut Come on Pilgrim has the crowd start to really move. Next up is the big rarity, the one time I think that Francis actually speaks for a couple of sentences, thanks us for coming etc, then Joey's famous sustained D7#9 chord rings out before they kick into Here Comes Your Man, and the place really starts to move.
What continues is just a platter of delicious morsels. Hey! Is always a treat, the building guitars of Caribou are immense and Francis' repeated scream of "repent" proves that the legendary scream is alive and kicking. "It's educational" screams Francis in U-Mass, and Planet of Sound does exactly what it says on the tin.
Gouge Away has the kind of Kim Deal bass intro that Emma Richardson could play all night, and is the quiet part of the Quiet/Loud formula that Kurt Cobain took so much inspiration from. The loud part is just immense, this song encapsulates the angry, shouty, screaming, effortless beauty of noise that the Pixies created and nobody has ever quite imitated.
The set tonight is large, 30 songs in all. It leans heavily on Doolittle, their most successful album; they play all bar a couple of tracks, and why not? Monkey gone to Heaven, La La Love you, Crackity Jones, must I go on? By the time Debaser comes on I'm in the mosh pit, the only way to follow this song is to play Tame, and they do, it's loud, it's frenetic, it's violent, there's nothing tame about it, and it's fantastic. This is Pixies.
We get both versions of Wave of Mutilation tonight. I would have preferred a couple more songs off Surfer Rosa instead of the slow UK surf version. I mean, it's a great tune to sit and listen to at home, but I would have swapped it out for Broken Face and Bone Machine a hundred times over here, but we all have our favourites eh?, and only one man chooses a Pixies setlist, and that isn't me!
Where is my Mind is probably the most recognised and well played of all Pixies songs, and for good reason. The haunting and understated masterpiece floods the arena tonight as 6000 people chant "oohoooh" in unison and mobile phones on record fill the skies.
Winterlong, the Neil Young cover has been in the live set for years, personally I could take it or leave it (again, another couple of tracks from the criminally neglected Surfer Rosa album could have been slotted in here), it's a perfunctory cover but not a set closer. Thankfully that job goes to Here comes your Man B-Side Into The White. This belter of a song builds itself on an infectious riff and a lopsided drum beat. Francis takes a back seat as Emma's pounding (Kim Deal) bassline and haunting vocals steal the show at the end of the night. And they're gone.
Unless Pixies play a 4-hour gig and play everything they ever recorded, there will always be disappointment. That's what comes when you don't write a bad song.
This has been an incredible evening, shared with family, friends, and strangers, who have all witnessed the continued brilliance and compelling mystery of the Pixies. The amps weren't quite loud enough, I don't want to hear anyone except the band, I guess an outdoor gig is never going to be as loud as the Brixton Academy, but the amps should always be turned up to 11! ...
Cactus
Nimrod's Son
Here Comes Your Man
Motorway to Roswell
Hey
Mr. Grieves
Caribou
U-Mass
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Wave of Mutilation
Isla de Encanta
Planet of Sound
The Vegas Suite
Gouge Away
I Bleed
Crackity Jones
Head On (The Jesus and Mary Chain cover)
There Goes My Gun
In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song) (Peter Ivers & David Lynch cover)
Death Horizon
Vamos
Ana
All Over the World
Debaser
Tame
No. 13 Baby
Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
Where Is My Mind?
Winterlong (Neil Young cover)
Into the White
