Show Review

The line separating myth and reality is sometimes so blurred it is hard to tell the difference between the two. For some bands the myth has outgrown the reality to the point where the music they make is inconsequential to the image they portray. This image even covers up a lack of talent in some bands. For other bands they blazed across the sky so quickly, before burning out that the music they left is all but forgotten. Sometimes that blurred line is razor thin and what separates the truth from fiction is nothing more than poor timing or great word of mouth. So many bands have made a career off of the myth, without having the talent to truly back it up.

The Pixies first exploded in 1988. They released two hugely critically lauded albums, Doolittle and Surfer Rosa, headlined what seemed like every major music Festival, became one of the biggest bands in the world…and then disappeared. No farewell tour, no long linger break-up, just here one day then gone the next. Over the years it seemed that their music became all but forgotten. Their name would come up in conversation and discussions of influential bands and the like. Always spoken in hushed whispers and reverential tones, “Oh, you mean the Pixies”, as if saying there name would spook some angry music god. It was easy to talk about the greatness of the band, but when pressed to be more specific about the music most people seemed to draw a blank. It seemed as if everyone knew the name, knew how good they were, how huge an impact they had on the burgeoning alt-rock scene of the late ‘80s, but had never listened to any of their albums. If it wasn’t for the most important songwriter of the 90’s, Kurt Cobain, constantly talking them up, proclaiming them his, “favorite band of all-time,” and letting on that he “borrowed” the whole soft-loud dynamic he made famous from the Pixies, they may have faded away completely; just another comet flashing across the sky, before dissolving into the horizon, leaving a trail of myths and half-truths.

After reuniting earlier this year, after over a ten-year absence, the Pixies have been doing nothing but proving the myth surrounding them true. That all the stories of how “hot-shit” they where, have proven to be more fact than fiction. Their 32 song set at the Tweeter Center in Camden, outside of Philadelphia did nothing but enlarge on these ideas. Playing to a crowd that was made up of a large portion of people who were to young to see the Pixies the first time around, but who had heard the stories, and the remember when from the “old- folks” now got to see what all the fuss was about.

From the opening shot of “In heaven” to the closing rager “Debaser”, the Pixies blasted through a set of great songs that rocked harder that anything around today. Mixing up a set that covered their entire catalog, as well as tossing in a few covers (a blistering version of Neil Young’s “Winterlong” and The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Head On,” but more on that number later). Guitarist Joey Santiago squeezed out a cosmic blast from his guitar that included every imaginable sound, except those you would normally associate with the guitar. One only had to hear his otherly-world acrobatic solo that seemed born from another planet during “Bone Machine” and “Caribou” to bear witness. Santiago’s space attack balanced with Frank Black’s maniacal strumming, and Kim Deal’s barreling bass lines give the Pixies their violent overwhelming sound. Songs such as “Tame” and “Gouge Away” depend on this violent intensity that threatens to overtake the listener.

Despite this ragged out of control style that always seems just moments from derailing, a style Pixies have perfected, there is a lot of unbelievable melodic music happening underneath this all. After getting past the wall of noise they present, the complexities of Black’s song writing begin to surface.

Listening to their songs live I was struck constantly by how well their songs have more than stood the test of time, how they sound just as new and fresh today, as they did fifteen years ago. This was not some cheap nostalgic act onstage, mailing in their performance, coasting on past reputations. In fact in these days when there is such a void of new refreshing music, they sound even more relevant than they did their first time around. The Pixies have came as close as any band ever has at perfecting the 3-minute hard-rock pop song that can be hummed.

While their stage antics are not of Mick Jaggerian quality, they still have more than enough stage presence to maintain a crowds attention. From David Lovering bashing his drum kit into oblivion to Joey Santiago’s understated guitar antics. Kim Deal can still flash a smile during songs that may be the best smile in all of rock. Vocally they seem even stronger now than they did in the past. Maybe it was a bit more anger in Black’s screeching howl, maybe we just missed the way Deal’s childlike harmonies have always proved to be the perfect foil for those ear-splitting howls. Whatever it was tunes like “Gigantic” glowed with energy from their vocal work.

But the real power for the Pixies comes from the ferocity produced through Frank Black’s guitar, even more so when he picks up an acoustic. “Wave of Mutilation” which they played two versions of this night, was arguably more intense during the acoustic version, which came near the beginning of the set, as opposed to the full–on electric version found at the end of the set. Even slower such as “Where is my mind?” or the awkwardness of “Nimrod’s Son” seem to have a bit more sting coming through the acoustic. “Where is my mind?” also provided another great example of the contrast between Black and Deal’s voices.

On a night when they could do no wrong, they took the one mistake they made all night and turned into one of the highlights of the evening. During the Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Head On,” Black commentated after the song that bassist Deal had been playing the song in the wrong key, instead of lamenting their mistake they laughed it off. Drummer David Lovering then counted it off, and they launched back in to “Head On,” albeit this time in the right key. Not many bands would have the confidence to acknowledge their mistake, let alone be such a perfectionist that they had to get it right so they ripped through it again.

The Pixies set at the Tweeter Center so them proving all the myth and hype about them true, the rare occasion where a band was better than rumored. They did not play like a band going through the motions of a reunion tour. They played like a seasoned bunch of veterans who may not have the energy they had when they were 25, but still know how to wring every ounce of screeching electricity from their instruments. In fact they at times were clearer and better sounding they were in the past, perhaps a fifteen year break was just what they needed, if so I can not wait to see them in 2019.

When the lights finally came on after the “Debaser” encore, there was only one truth remaining and that was that they had played like one of the most important bands of the last twenty years.

Photos by Adam Foley