I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 20, 2018] Pixies

I saw Pixies back in September 2017.  It was the first time I’d seen them in almost 30 years.  And they were fantastic.  They played 34 songs, nearly everything I wanted to hear.  I say nearly because they have not been playing any Kim Deal-sung songs.  Which is fair.  New bassist Paz Lenchantin played great (she’s a fantastic bassist) and sang enough like Kim (with her own unique spin of course) that her backing vocals were perfect.

So I assumed I’d never need to see them again.

Then it was announced that in a most improbable double bill, Weezer and Pixies would tour together.   I had seen Weezer a while back but came away disappointed with the show.  Not because of the band, but because of where I was and what I couldn’t see.  I also knew that there was at least one Pixies song that I wanted to hear (“Debaser”).  So I figured if I could get good seats for this show, I would go.

And I did.  Row G!

Pixies came out, the sun had not yet set, and just like last time, they said not a word and just launched into a blistering set of twenty-two songs.  Not bad at all for an opening (and therefore shorter) slot.

And the best thing was that they played seven songs that I didn’t hear last time and six of them were songs I really love!  I don’t really think of Pixies as having a huge catalog of songs, but I see that including their new albums, they have 90 to choose from, and with out the last two they have 65 “classic” songs.  So I saw nearly half of their songs over the two shows.

I was super excited that they opened with “U-Mass.”  The song is funny and very very vulgar and completely inappropriate for 8PM, when the sun is still up, and kids are there to see Weezer. It was very amusing watching the dad in front of me grimace during
Oh dance with me
Oh don’t be shy
Oh kiss me cunt
Oh kiss me cock
Oh kiss the world
Oh kiss the sky
Oh kiss my ass
Oh let it rock

Since I was so far up I had no idea how much the crowd was into it.  Despite it being a co-headlining tour, the crowd seemed to be far more Weezer-centric.  But there was excitement of “Wave of Mutilation” and a few others.

Black Francis’ voice sounds exactly the same.  And it’s clear that he doesn’t care what he audience thinks.  He’s doing his own thing–never pandering, just playing and playing.

I nearly lost my mind when they played “Debaser“!  It made the whole trip worthwhile (actually the whole show, both bands, was spectacular).

The crowd got really into “Monkey Gone to Heaven” (especially the sludge from New York and New Jersey line–I’ve seen the band 3 times, all only in NJ), but I was more psyched to hear “I Bleed” which they also didn’t do last time.  These songs have a lot more Paz on backing vocals and she sounds great.  I was in front of her and she seems very sweet.  She’s the only person who talks, just a thank you here and there.

After playing a great mix of songs from all of their albums, (including a wild Crackity Jones) and the terrific “Hey,” they played a song I didn’t think they played anymore–the awesome Gigantic!  This is a Kim sung song, so I assumed it was verboten, but there came that bass line.  And there was Paz singing “Hey Paul Hey Paul, let’s have a ball.”  It was outstanding.

After another great run through “Bone Machine” (one of many highlights from the previous show), they had one more new song for me.  It was their cover of Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Head On” which they released on their Bossanova album.  It was great to hear–I’ve always loved their version more than the original.

And just when I thought their was nothing else new (to me) to hear, they whipped out a roaring version of Tame.  Frank Black can still scream with the best of them.  The loud/quiet dynamic can’t be beat. It was awesome.

By this time the seats were filling in so everyone got o witness this madness.

After a couple more songs

After a couple more songs, they played “Vamos.”  I hadn’t realized that this was officially Joey’s guitar solo part.  He had a lot of fun with this, stretching it out and playing a “solo” with the cable to his guitar and then  largely with his hat.  It was weird but fun.

There was no encore (I would have liked them to end with Into the White again, as it was such an outstanding way to go last time).  They waved and were gone.

If I had one complaint it’s that I would have loved to hear “La La Love You” again.  It was so much fun last time.  But I’d seen it once before and I shan’t complain that they didn’t play something a second time.

Last time they played 10 of 15 songs from Doolittle.  8 of 13 from Surfer Rosa and 4 of 8 from Come on Pilgrim.  So that’ a lot of old stuff. I happen to really like Bossanova (only one song, Ana) and Trompe Le Monde (one song, Motorway to Roswell).  That left a B-side, a song from Indie Cindy, and seven songs from the new Head Carrier.  Plus a great cover of Neil Young’s “Winterlong.”

For this show they played 8 of 15 from Doolittle–including 3 different ones, so that’s 13 of 15 songs from that album that I heard), 5 of 13 from Surfer Rosa, including Gigantic!, 3 of 8 from Come On Pilgrim, and two songs I love from Trompe Le Monde.  There were four from Head Carrier (all played before).  

 

PNC Bank Center, July 20, 2018 (opening act)	Stone Pony Summerstage, September 23, 2017 (headlining)
U-Mass [¥]	Gouge Away [∂]
Wave of Mutilation [∂]	No. 13 Baby [∂]
Gouge Away [∂]	Brick is Red [$]
Caribou [¢]	Break My Body [$]
Classic Masher [Œ]	Wave of Mutilation [∂]
Debaser [∂]	Um Chugga Lagga [Œ]
Monkey Gone to Heaven [∂]	Isla de Encanta [¢]
I Bleed [∂]	Something Against You [$]
Crackity Jones [∂]	Hey [∂]
Isla de Encanta [¢]	All I Think About Now [Œ]
Hey [∂]	Monkey Gone to Heaven [∂]
Um Chugga Lagga [Œ]	Classic Masher [Œ]
Where Is My Mind? [$]	Vamos [$]
Gigantic [$]	Nimrod’s Son [¢]
Bel Esprit [Œ]	All the Saints [Œ]
Bone Machine [$]	Ana [β]
Head On [¥] (Jesus and Mary Chain)	Motorway to Roswell [¥]
All I Think About Now [Œ]	Magdalena 318 [Î]
Tame [∂]	Cactus [$]
Cactus [$]	Bel Esprit [Œ]
I’ve Been Tired [¢]	Crackity Jones [∂]
Vamos [$]	Broken Face [$]
	Bone Machine [$]
	I’ve Been Tired [¢]
	Might as Well be Gone [Œ]
	Mr. Grieves [∂]
	Where is My Mind? [$]
	Head Carrier [Œ]
	Caribou [¢]
	Winterlong (Neil Young)
	Here Comes Your Man [∂]
	La La Love You [∂]
	Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
	encore
	Into the White