PIXIES are still touring and releasing new music 20 years after reforming. Tonight as they play Glasgow’s O2 Academy, we take a wee look at their second coming.
Having witnessed Pixies last (full) Scottish gig at Glasgow’s Barrowlands back in 1990 before their rather acrimonious split in 1993, I never expected to hear the deathly wails of Boston’s finest in the gory flesh again. But a text from the other Pixies lover in my household changed all that one dreary Monday in early 2004, with news of a reunion tour including a Scottish date at T In The Park that summer. Although the timing could’ve been better, I did what any respectable Pixies-loving fool would do and lugged my 8-month baby bump along to Balado, sneaked a sip or two of medicinal cider and ditched the camping chair that some considerate soul had brought along before plunging back to my youth under the tormented lure of Bone Machine, No 13 Baby and the rest. And as for my No. 1 baby attending under cover and duress? Well something must’ve sunk in because he was up front at Pixies’ Kelvingrove Bandstand gig a couple of years ago, my work here surely done. Of course, had I known Pixies would still be touring 20 years later, and that I’d catch them pretty much every time they visited Scotland, along with a trip to London for one of their Surfer Rosa / Come on Pilgrim anniversary shows, maybe I would’ve made do with the BBC’s coverage. On second thoughts, nah…
From Meadowbank Stadium in 2005 (which nearly ended the romance between a couple of friends after one of them realised they really didn’t like Pixies), to the SECC, Barrowlands, Usher Hall, Kelvingrove Bandstand and O2 Academy, I’d say the most memorable show for me since they got back together was the Doolittle 20th anniversary show at Glasgow’s SECC in 2009, also the setting of their ill-fated gig in 1991 which was abandoned after three songs when part of the stage collapsed. After kicking off the evening with a few of Dolittle’s gem-encrusted B-sides, including the heady adolescent rush of Weird At My School and blood-curdling howls of Bailey’s Walk (which is also the unofficial name of my dog’s favourite route), they roared through the album in its full, unhinged glory, Kim Deal’s breathtaking vocal on Into The White completing the encore perfectly. Despite the venue being void of all atmosphere, from my hazy recollections we were all pretty content with their performance (which even included some cheerful chat from Deal), and were about to head for the door when the four of them strolled back on stage and blasted into The Holiday Song. Congratulating ourselves for not leaving early like some losers, we reckoned that’d be it and once more made eyes with the exit, but alas tracks from Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa just kept rolling out at breakneck speed, clearly making up for the songs cast aside back in 1991.
Of course Deal left in 2013 (long live the Breeders), and the band recruited the late Kim Shattuck of The Muffs for bass duties on their Indie Cindy tour that year. Shattuck put on a rousing performance at their Barrowlands gig, and for some reason I always remember the way she stomped her way through new track What Goes Boom with a ferocious energy that stole the show for me, despite some grumpy fans unhappy that the ‘wrong’ Kim had turned up. After that tour, it was over to the wonderful Paz Lenchantin to pick up the bass, and she well and truly rocked the role for ten years until her unexpected departure earlier this year.
So after 20 years, how do Pixies fare tonight at Glasgow’s O2 Academy, with new bassist Emma Richardson (Band of Skulls) in tow? Well for any seasoned Pixies gig goers, there are no real surprises other than the fact that they don’t indulge in the epic Hispanic melodrama of Vamos, Joey Santiago clearly out of party piece ideas though putting a fantastic sustained spin on their cover of Neil Young‘s Winterlong which closes the show. Although there’s no banter between the band or crowd (not that we expect it), Santiago’s guitar prowess appears revitalised as embellished effects slice their way through the audience, with succulent grooves beefing up many of tonight’s numbers.
With Paz gone, it’s fair to say they need to work on building up a new chemistry and energy which tends to come with time, though Pixies were never ones to cavort the stage. Then again, even if Charles aka Black Francis did scissor-jump into the crowd tonight (perish the thought), I wouldn’t have known anything about it as could see feck all thanks to tall chap after tall chap stepping right in front of every wee gap between me and the band.
But really, gigs like this are all about reminiscing and sharing the music with new generations, and in all honesty I’m a bit envious of their new intake of fans who line the stage, many born around the time of the reunion. These lucky youngsters get to experience the wrath and joy of Pixies for the first time, hanging on to every wretched word that spews from the mouth of Black Francis, from the brooding brilliance of first number Gouge Away onwards. What a gas it must be!
With new album The Night The Zombies Came out in October, they throw in three new numbers including latest single Chicken (yeah, sometimes I feel like one too, Chuck), and although there’s the usual sideway shuffle to the bar and toilets, the desperate melancholy that seeps from Santiago’s opening surfy sway on this particular track make the hairs on the back of my neck attempt to stand up, but alas there’s no room for them to do so, the O2 Academy so stacked we’re all feeling a bit like, you guessed it, caged chickens.
Tonight’s set, though covering most albums, focusses heavily on Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde, the band touring these two albums earlier in the year. But of course these guys are pros and know how to please the crowds, the biggest responses unsurprisingly going to Here Comes Your Man, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Debaser, Hey and Where Is My Mind. But it’s Caribou that really hits the spot for me, wedging waves of eerie space against that mellow build up to the rabid roars of ‘Repent’, which slip somewhat effortlessly off Black Francis’ tongue despite shaky-shaking the dust out of every nook in the ornate O2 Academy. Other top moments are the punk-paced paradise of Isla De Encanta, deranged despair of Mr Grieves and spookily spaced out whirrs of The Happening, complete with Dave Lovering’s exquisite exposed drumming. Richardson finally gets a chance to let her vocal chords shine on the haunting David Lynch / Peter Ivers track In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song) from the film Eraserhead, a song Pixies have performed since it appeared on their demo in 1987, and also a B side to Gigantic. Tonight they deliver their more desolate and chilling variation, Richardson’s mournful baseline and Santiago’s celestial chimes nothing short of intoxicating.
Pixies don’t seem to do encores these days, and certainly not like they used to. But they do take the time to applaud the audience then take a couple of bows, smiling from ear to ear.
Although I’m not sure if me or the band will make it through another twenty years, with so many young fans getting in on the act, may the legendary lyrical nonsense of bleeding bodies, fiery loins, celestial primates, manky carpets, filthy frocks, well-hung boys, tattooed tits and donkeys’ brothers’ mothers’ lovers (or something like that) live on long after we’re dancing with the sludgy ones in the place where everything is allegedly fine.
Check out some more of the top Pixies content on RESOUND:
›› THE ROUNDHOUSE, CAMDEN, LONDON 2018
›› USHER HALL, EDINBURGH 2019
›› O2 ACADEMY, EDINBURGH 2022
›› KELVINGROVE BANDSTAND, GLASGOW 2022
Words: Shirley Mack @musingsbymarie
Pictures: Calum Mackintosh@ayecandyphotography