They were using this small show as their warm up for the Splendour headlining slot tomorrow night, but it barely showed. Every now and then they missed some notes or a lead in, and had a laugh, but most of the time they were the Pixies I love.
They were the only band playing tonight and they left a very anxious and tightly packed crowd waiting for a while before they hit the stage. They opened up with a little country number, which sounded a lot like the start of the TV show King of the Hill. But after that, the long wait was forgiven.
In over a 2 hour set, they pumped through what seemed to be every single song ever written by the Pixies. Songs I've never had the privelage of seeing live I finally got to. The two stand outs for the night for me were their faster songs Planet of Sound and Nimrod's Son, the latter being one of my favourite Pixies songs. They also fit in a Neil Young cover, Winterlong, which of course they made sound like a unique Pixies song.
As a band, the Pixies are obviously not used to such small venues, as their gear did not fit on the stage. In fact, Kim Deal was set up almost directly behind the PA, as that is the only space she could fit in. But that didn't stop them. It seemed they also had a lot of fun playing for us, as we even got to hear Black Francis talk and joke (normally it's just Kim doing all of the talking).
I'll probably never go see them again, as nothing will ever top this almost religious experience.
I managed to record Debaser. I apologise for the crappy quality, but I had to use my camera phone due to the Zoo's ultra strict no-camera policy.
Edited to add the setlist:
1. CECILIA ANN
2. ROCK MUSIC
3. BONE MACHINE
4. MONKEY GONE TO HEAVEN
5. GOUGE AWAY
6. HEY
7. VELOURIA
8. DIG FOR FIRE
9. ALLISON
10. DEBASER
11. PLANET OF SOUND
12. ALEC EIFFEL
13. CARIBOU
14. WINTERLONG
15. RIVER EUPHRATES
16. CACTUS
17. IS SHE WEIRD?
18. BREAK MY BODY
19. THE SAD PUNK
20. HEAD ON
21. WAVE OF MUTILATION
22. TAME
23. ISLA DE ENCANTA
24. BROKEN FACE
25. NIMROD'S SON
26. GIGANTIC
ENCORE-
27. WHERE IS MY MIND?
28. HERE COMES YOUR MAN
Glad to hear something productive came out of this visit to Australia.
ReplyDeleteLast night at the Splendour festival was the most vibeless performance of the whole festival.
The mistakes lost their 'cute factor' in the larger arena, and Kim seemed to have no idea where she was, asking questions as daft as "Are you guys camping here?" - come on! You're the headline act, research your bloody gigs!
There was nothing to indicate that the band were enjoying themselves. In fact quite the opposite. The crowd responded with a fairly lax energy. Obviously the money was already in the bank...
I'm not surprised anonymous. I had actually sworn off seeing them again after their Convention Centre performance. They just don't seem to translate so well to a large audience and seem rather lethargic and uninterested most of the time ath the larger gigs
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