Return of the Pixies

I will say this, if there's a specific show I regret missing over the years -- and I've had a few candidates -- the Jane's Addiction/Pixies show in late 1990 in LA is it.

(watch out, people...the Smiths are next in line)

"world tour"? Can it be true? Will I perhaps get to see them after all?

The bleedin' cocteau twins will have to reform and TOUR AUSTRALIA and then I can die happy.

they will have their gear stolen in vancouver.

or all new material.

I could get behind that train of thought.

Also, Ned I was at that Jane's/Pixies show at the Palladium and people were throwing things (shoes) at the surprise guest Pixies and they weren't happy. Also, between them I had to stand through Primus which really put me on a bad trip, man.

"according to a spokesperson for the band."

The Potential Return of the Pixies

(i prefer frank black solo to the pixies, but keep it under yr hat)

I don't expect the same show. But if I can get tickets, I'm certainly going again.

However, I feel, the Pixies as a band are too smart, cynical, etc., etc., to fuck this up Eagles-reunion style, which is definitely not to say that the Eagles ever did not suck.

I think all of the things we're criticizing them for now, they must have already thought of.

Maybe like the Velvets, they'll just do a few Euro-dates and us here in NorAm can pretend it never happened.

...then about a year later i saw them in a large dull and acoustically horrible shed type thing - about two songs into their set (and after watching support from cud(!!) and teenage fanclub) part of the stage and barrier in front of it collapsed and the gig was halted and 4000 Glaswegian pixies fans filed out with their heads in their hands.

Ah well, knowing me I probably wouldnt have even gone to see them anyhow!

There is a connection -- 4AD was originally a spin-off from and now is part of the label umbrella of Beggars.

indie cindy is the stupidest name for any album ever.

although admittedly the first song on this was better than it should be

Really like this album, What Goes Boom especially. Just wish it wasn't mixed like a Feeder record

the reviews are pretty bad (pfork 1.0 for ep1, spon 4.0), my expectations are so low that i can't be disappointed anymore...

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/04/25/new_iphone_ad_its_soundtrack_is_about_a_penis.html

for whatever reason, i just watched this fairly listless documentary on the Pixies' 2004 reunion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4ITaBOBVGE

What a profoundly awkward group of people.

Not Joey so much, but there's something so ... I don't know ... *unremarkably* odd about Charles. David is like a character from a Christopher Guest film. And Kim is a goddess, but she's obviously not the easiest person to be around.

Watching them try to coexist, even minimally, is not so much painful as it is grating.

I don't know why I'm posting. I guess I just think it's such a strange dynamic among four people who at one point made such incredible music (imo).

The closest comparison I can think of is, maybe, the Who: four very, very different personalities thrust together by chance then stuck with each other.

Yeah I had the same feeling watching this a few years back. It makes it seem surprising that they even managed to be a band as long as they were. Seem like 4 people who can barely stand to be in the same room. I wonder how much of their original sound owes to that tension.

There is an element of sui generis to the band. I could imagine a producer like Gil Norton polishing them into shape in the studio, a la the poor chumps that had to deal with the Replacements, but certainly Albini wasn't the glue holding them together for "Surfer Rosa." If they were not somewhat cohesive as a unit they could not have pulled that off. Joey and Charles were the only true friends in the band, and afaict they never had any sort of falling out, so as awesome as Kim and Dave are my instincts are to credit the other two (though the other two are ultimately a huge part of what made the band awesome). Or probably ultimately just Charles, who brought Joey in. They were both on that infamous trip to Puerto Rico together, right? But Charles is the one with the music collection and weird vision. He's the one who I assume wrote the want ad for musicians into "Husker Du and Peter, Paul & Mary." Iirc there was a quote from Charles claiming he only owned five albums, and Husker Du were three of them.

I really liked that documentary, I thought it was a very enlightening reminder that being a rock band is (among the other things it is) a JOB and you can have a job that you don't feel any particular passion for but which you're good at and which is worth doing and which pays you and so you do it. I appreciate the city tree guys for trimming the trees and I appreciate the Pixies for playing this tour which I and many others really enjoyed seeing.

Joey & Charles were roommates in Boston, Charles did a study abroad in PR by himself iirc.

One thing about Charles that he never really talks about is that he's the only one of the Pixies without lengthy recurring rehab stays.

All that said, Kim is great and when I saw the Breeders a couple years ago I, even as an old jaded nonplussed "seen everybody back in the day" prick, thought she and the rest of the Breeders were absolutely incredible.

...like their new songs were as good as their "greatest hits", that's something you'd never expect from a rock group in their late 50s.

Yeah I implore everybody to see the Breeders if they tour where you are and I have a feeling that's still gonna be good advice in like 2045

otm. I should probably have seen the Breeders more times than I have (3 times iirc, which is also the number of times I have seen the Pixies, all on reunion tours unfortunately)

That opening footage of them playing Where Is My Mind is just unbearably depressing to me. I am sure I'm projecting, but the thought of servicing a few thousand millennial randos who saw fight club -- I'm sure the money was good, but life's too short. I couldn't somehow compartmentalize my contempt enough to get out there every other night, much less with band mates I didn't like

I dunno - turn up, run through the hits, get out of there with a couple of grand or whatever Frank Black's paying you, come home from the tour with maybe a year's wages. I saw them in 1989 and they looked jaded as fuck even then, so I don't imagine the thrill of creating art lasted longer than about a couple of years if that.

I've mentioned it before, probably on this thread, but I regret seeing the band post reunion. Both times they seemed to be having no fun at all, and when I saw them later with Kim Shattuck she seemed to be the only one having fun.

oh absolutely ... that last Breeders record was incredible, and the last show I saw (which was at least 10 years ago now) was so much better than I expected.

All Nerve really rekindled and solidified my respect for Kim as a songwriter, sound artist, etc. I mean ... my respect for her was already off the charts, but to see her come back in that way was super impressive

xxxpost

Poor Kim S. She's a legend in her own right obvs

Is Frank/Charles really a dickbag iyo? I was a huge fan, but haven't studied up much on him

(I know it's extremely misguided to try to suss a guy's personality from his lyrics, but you think you'd wanna have a beer with him)

i mean i don't know the guy but i don't think it's a super stretch to suss his personality from that doc i posted. he just seems awkward socially, egotistical and not that great at hiding it, and he (total speculation) sees how much more $ he can make w/ the Pixies vs. solo, so he puts up w/ a less-than-ideal work environment - as like 97% of humans do, i might add.

he seems to do better w/ Joey and David than Kim, and like i said, Kim = legend, but also a challenging personality to exist in a tour van with. in that same doc, she brings Kelley on tour and they seem to basically exist in a separate space from the others until it's time to go on stage.

i do wonder if Charles and the other two guys are just generally doing better over the past several years without Kim's energy in the band. i think Joey/David are able to play a more subordinate role and you'd think that would help a lot.

still ... offstage tour footage of them is like 75% silence and 25% small talk you have with a stranger.

also, i should say Charles doesn't seem like a *total* egomaniac, and - again, speculating - i'd guess that has gotten better as he's gotten older. but he still says things here and there that let you know he's in charge, the others are not, etc.

being a rock band is (among the other things it is) a JOB and you can have a job that you don't feel any particular passion for but which you're good at and which is worth doing and which pays you and so you do it

this is not untrue, but i think it's a sad thing and not something to be celebrated. if you told me ahead of time that performer X was miserable and didn't enjoy putting on the shows, i think i definitely wouldn't go. how can you enjoy something like that ?

I'm sure the money was good, but life's too short. I couldn't somehow compartmentalize my contempt enough to get out there every other night, much less with band mates I didn't like

otm

she brings Kelley on tour and they seem to basically exist in a separate space from the others

this was def weird but also just pure gold. kelley clearly has this preternatural cinematic sensibility; she was able to seamlessly slip in and out of the role of "interviewer" and the way she was able to shape the narrative while in the shot was magnetic imo. like how she just spontaneously started interviewing the crowd lined up for the show e.g. or even in her ability to coax stuff out of kim.

the other members of the band i found to be interesting precisely for their lack of self-awareness and their inability to really say anything interesting; it was just so honest the way they just sort of threw around platitudes and, as personalities, maybe even as musical thinkers, couldn't reconcile their outsized roles as idk indie legends (?) with their basically normal everyday lives.

That opening footage of them playing Where Is My Mind is just unbearably depressing to me. I am sure I'm projecting, but the thought of servicing a few thousand millennial randos who saw fight club -- I'm sure the money was good, but life's too short. I couldn't somehow compartmentalize my contempt enough to get out there every other night, much less with band mates I didn't like

I saw them on that reunion tour and it was bad. Zero energy, though I don't know that they were ever a great live act.

(The Breeders OTOH have been great every time I've seen them.)

I love Kim, but the three or four or five times I've seen the Breeders they've been ... just OK. But Kim is such a positive presence - does she ever not smile? - and they always seemed to be having a good time.

I don't know that they were ever a great live act

They were great the first time I saw them! Probably not quite on the treadmill by that point I suppose.

They were great the first time I saw them - which was the 11th show of the reunion in 2004 (Boise).

Admittedly, my anticipation of finally seeing those songs live likely influenced by opinion of the show. There was hardly any talking in between songs.

They headlined Coachella a week later and I went, but skipped the set to see Moving Units.

I saw them in 2007 and it was really lovely - it was their first ever trip to Australia so maybe there was some kind of novelty in playing to adoring crowds for the first time

The opening was amazing - In Heaven, then Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf) then Bone Machine - such a graceful arc into delivering the crowd-pleasing goods

Comparisons to The Who upthread OTM, possibly re personality but also re unique musical contributions - like they are a real "only these 4 people can make this exact sound" band, and anything else is a facsimile

the 3 shows I went to were all at least decent, I was never disappointed, although I did know not to expect a great live act going in.

2004 was at a festival, it wasn't the best time or place to see them, my wife had sunstroke and my friends were pretty drunk (as was I tbf) and shouted a lot and I just wanted to watch the band, but my hazy memory is that it was good

2005 was a lot better, I was really excited to see them which helped, they seemed to be happy to be on stage then tbh, Kim & Charles didn't talk a lot but when they did they were charming, Joey did some guitar theatrics, good gig

2019 was a warm up gig so the smallest place I've seen them, again they didn't do much on stage but I guess having a new album might've got them more interested in playing, the new album isn't going to blow anyone's minds but some of the songs sounded fine mixed in with the old stuff

I think if you know what to expect, they will play the songs well but not v passionately, but they weren't known much for being a live act, hell I've been to a v boring Frank Black solo gig before and they were always better than that. Maybe I missed the worst of the by the numbers we hating being here years because I skipped 14 years?

Yeah, tbh, I've seen Frank Black live a few times, and he and his band killed it.

Ha, Emsworth, sounds like you were at the same Sydney show I was at! I thought it was pretty good, stunned at Charles’ ability to summon the screams 20 years down the track.

and yes Kim Deal is a god on par with a fundamental law of nature

Hey Matthew K! Yeh Sydney at Luna Park - I thought the show had a nice vibe, certainly relative to any dour, dialing-it-in reports above - Kim in particular I remember beaming through the whole thing

experience definitely given a sentimental boost by my high school self being v.pleased to finally see The Pixies - haven't had the slightest urge to go to any subsequent tours though - if they had made a new album with Kim then maybe, ISTR it was in the air for a while and maybe Bluefinger was the slightly disappointing result?

Colonel Poo - we might have seen them at the same gigs. I saw them at a festival in 2004 (think it was V - in the park near Chelmsford, anyway) and then at Alexandra Palace in 2005.

Exactly the same experience for me Emsworth, I was about 20 feet in front of Kim and she lit the room. I was excited for new music after I heard Bam Thwok but I was completely unsurprised when she bailed from the album sessions. I was disappointed she’d agreed to it actually.

jealous of you two, I went to V and had to bail halfway through the Pet Shop Boys making 6,000 shirtless homosexuals dance and laugh and spin, to catch an hour and a bit of 8,000 thirtysomethings standing nearly completely still watching four fiftysomethings standing completely still, one of them smiling

absolutely idiotic scheduling decision, Pixies should have been on at 6:30 pm so they and the Pixies-specific part of the audience could be in bed by dark.

and then had Soulwax close. after the PSB, not overlapping.

This band is such a bummer. In the sense that, when they were largely mysterious and faceless in the late 80s, their music sounded like it was coming from outer space or something. Everything over the last 20 years has just been depressing. I know they need money, but just.... do something else.

otm alas

I'm very much at peace with it. I think of them as two different bands.

I think they were the catalyst of literally every band who had a 80s/90s semi-hit getting back together

Hmm. I'm trying to think of other '80s and '90s bands that broke up but got back together after the Pixies. They always seemed kind of like a big fish that followed all the other reunions. Television, Gang of Four, Mission of Burma, Wire and so on.

Pixies inspired Slowdive, Ride, that generation

eh, I think the return of mbv did that.

Touche

My brain won't let me access American indie bands who may have reformed in the sights but there are a bunch

aughts

I'm very much at peace with it. I think of them as two different bands.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, June 3, 2020 6:09 AM (four hours ago)

this exact feeling clicked for me several years ago. i don't really think of post-reunion activities as damaging their legacy, because as far as i'm concerned the legacy of the original Pixies is set in stone. (maybe that's not fair / doesn't make sense, but that's where i'm at.)

and what they do now doesn't bum me out! i mean, those guys built a band lots of ppl will pay to see and they have bills to pay. who am i to stop them from working? it's fine ... there are a million other (newer) bands to be excited about.

Happy birthday, Kim and Kelley

wow, what are the chances of them sharing the same birthday

lol