Review: Craig Eriksson. Photos: David Harris
I’ve always been a day dreamer and deep thinker. Growing up I can clearly recall Mum saying to me all the time: “You’re away with the pixies!” Well Mum, tonight that phrase has never been truer! PIXIES are in town as the main support for Pearl Jam’s Australian tour and tonight they played an exclusive intimate sideshow at The Croxton in Melbourne to a packed bandroom.
Pixies are from Boston, Massachusetts, USA and formed back in 1986. They play a unique blend of alternative surf rock, punk, rockabilly and pop. I’ve been following Pixies since the late 80’s when I first heard “Where Is My Mind?” and went straight out and bought their 1989 Doolittle album. This album was like nothing I had heard before with its dynamic shifts in timbre and song structures.
I can see why bands like Nirvana, Radiohead and The Smashing Pumpkins were influenced by Pixies style of music and finally seeing them live at ‘The Croc’ tonight was a surreal moment for me. They have so many good songs!
The audience for this ‘Sold Out’ show was multi-generational, with many older fans accompanied with their young adult children. A mother with her two daughters all wearing Pixies tees stood directly in front of me and I could see they were genuinely excited as they waited in anticipation for the gig to start. I couldn’t help but think how cool it was for this mum to be sharing the music she had listened to when she was growing up and years later being at a Pixies gig with her daughters both singing along to their songs. Music is the soundtrack of our lives and no doubt tonight would have been such a special moment for them all, something that they will cherish forever.
As Pixies strolled causally out on stage they were welcomed by an almighty loud applause by the crowd. They kicked off with DIG FOR FIRE from their BOSSANOVA (1990) album. Frontman, Black Francis’ distinctive voice is as clear and fearless as ever, as he stood up front and centre playing acoustic guitar delivering this catchy opener. The band then cranked it up a notch playing one of my favourite songs from the Doolittle album, WAVE OF MUTILATION. To hear this song live with Frank Black and Joey Santiago standing in front of me was amazing – “Drive my car into the ocean, you’ll think I’m dead, but I sail away, on a wave of mutilation.”
There are no stage theatrics just the mono-winged Pixies P-logo on the bass drum and a backdrop of vintage guitar amps and wonderful stage lighting creating an atmospheric ambience in the bandroom. This was a raw, gritty, and authentic performance by the Pixies utilising aggressive, punk rock, some weird guitar effects along with heavy guitar riffs, driving bass lines, energetic drumming combined with infectious pop melodies. Their songs alternate between soft verses and explosive choruses creating extreme shifts in volume, from quiet to loud and back again. I can see where Nirvana got that technique from!
During the evening, much to the delight of punters, Pixies played 5 songs from the DOOLITTLE album including the next song HEY, which really highlighted the bands incredible musicality and Francis’ versatile vocals.
Pixies played a solid set for just over one and a half hours with minimal chit-chat. They performed 24 songs, providing punters with an incredible feast of their music from their vast catalogue. Francis rarely speaks on the microphone unless it is to deliver a lyric and the band mostly paid attention to their own instruments. Emma Richardson sings backing vocals on most songs and lead vocals on several songs too.
Many of their songs contain abstract, surreal and often cryptic lyrics, drawing on themes of alienation, dreams and relationships. They sang 5 songs from their new album The Night The Zombies Came (2024) – MOTOROLLER; OYSTER BEDS; THE VEGAS SUITE; MERCY ME and CHICKEN.
There are far too many songs to talk about. The 3 most popular songs that definitely had the crowd singing along to were HERE COMES YOUR MAN; MONKEY GONE TO HEAVEN and WHERE IS MY MIND? Other notable favourites were VELOURIA, PLANET OF SOUND and DEBASER.
The show concluded with Neil Young’s Winterlong completing an incredible evening.
Pixies band:
Black Francis – lead vocals, guitar and primary songwriter
Joey Santiago – lead guitar
David Lovering – drums
Emma Richardson – Bass
SET LIST:
Dig for Fire
Wave of Mutilation
Hey
Mercy Me
Chicken
Cactus
Here Comes Your Man
Oyster Beds
Motoroller
Velouria
Vamos
The Vegas Suite
In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)
Motorway to Rosswell
Bone Machine
The Happening
All Over the World
Nimrod’s Son
Debaser
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Planet of Sound
Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
Where Is My Mind?
Winterlong (Neil Young cover)
