REVIEW: Pixies @ Tower Theatre, Sept. 7

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REVIEW: Pixies @ Tower Theatre, Sept. 7

POSTED: Wednesday, September 8, 2010, 6:30 PM

Filed Under: Music | Concert Review concert photos

photo | Julia West

Where is my mind? Seeing Pixies live is an experience recommended to anyone, so long as that person can hop in a time machine and set it for say, 20 years ago to watch them annihilate a set with their signature loud-quiet-loud sound. With so much time between their angsty youth and now, Pixies can hardly be scolded for their enjoyable yet mechanical show last night where they ran through a performance of Doolittle. So many of us have spent a great deal of time with that album: blaring it through the tape deck in our first car, or pumping it through headphones while studying in a dorm room, or we heard it — at least pieces of it — live at some point after its '89 release. There's a reason it's a certified gold record, and there's a reason they chose to play it in its entirety. Here's a hint: remember back in June when Molly Eichel called this tour out for being a cash grab? Yeah, she was pretty spot on with that one.

photo | Julia West

The show was not without its highlights, though. The theatrical entrance was made by showing the Luis BuÃ±uel and Salvador DalÃ silent short, "Un Chien Andalou," the surrealist piece that "Debaser," Doolittle's opening track, is written about. This was a true geek out moment for any Pixies fan fond of things coming full circle. But rather than take the stage and plow guitar first into "Debaser", the band decided to begin with a few B-sides. "Some so obscure we had to learn how to play them live," said Kim Deal after opening with "Dancing the Manta Ray" and "Weird at My School." When they got to the album's opener, though, with a simple screen behind them showing the Pixies logo, there was a rush of adrenaline from the crowd. For the most part Pixies played in an obligatory manner, barely taking time to interact with the audience or allow songs like "Mr. Grieves" and "Hey" the proper, quiet intro they require. Songs were rushed, and the band seemed bored. But how many times have they played those tracks over the last two decades? Pixies put on a solid rock show, clocking in at 90 minutes, which included two encores where they played an raucous version of "Vamos" and not surprisingly, "Where is My Mind?" We were all there because of Doolittle's importance as a musical standard and its intimate meaning to each fan. No one expected there would be new tricks pulled, no cards up their sleeves, simply an epic album in pure form.

ceegee

Posted 2010-09-08 17:07:46

Short show and even whore's pretend to orgasm when you pay them.  They seemed distracted and detached and truthfully it was a little disheartening.  Music was and will always be great and I realize this is a cash grab but would have been nice if they pretended to like it.  Might have made for a different aura.  They offered CD of the show afterward and sound quality was better than expected.

Sir Digby

Posted 2010-09-08 20:37:51

I didn't really expect Black Francis to interact with me, or give "Mr. Grieves" a "quiet" intro - whatever the hell that means. I just wanted to listen to some great rock music, and the band delivered. If the show was a cash grab, then the pulverizingly good set was a pretty good argument for it.

Hey

Posted 2010-09-08 22:57:53

Cash grab maybe but mechanical I don't think so. They put just put just as much energy and emotion into this show as any of their old ones. That coupled with an unplanned second encore made this concert spectacular.

Debased

Posted 2010-09-09 09:57:01

Mechanical yes but the music was great. The quiet intro btw Digby was he never sang "Hope everything is all right whats that floating in the water, etc."  Also Hey this is more or less the same set list as the last year so the 2nd encore was planned at all the other shows.  Would have been nice to maybe see them change "other songs" to some others they didn't do on last leg but it really rocked out.  Glad I got to see them again.

chubster

Posted 2010-09-09 13:25:13

I was slightly disappointed that Charles didn't engage more with us (or with the rest of the band, for that matter), but that disappointment was minimal...it in no way detracted from the awesomeness of the performance. 

What a thrill to see the legendary Pixies perform some of the greatest songs ever released. By the end, I wanted them to just start over from the beginning and tear through the set again. I had a blast. 

The F--- Buttons... them, I coulda done without. It was like being forced to hang out upstairs at Woody's on a Saturday night. All that was missing was dancing twinks and club drugs. Ugh.

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