I first fell in love with the Pixies when I heard “Here Comes Your Man.” I remember thinking this song sounds like it was always written. I loved how it broke song rules, bent some, and followed others. It made the song feel like a friend, but also like the feeling of incorporating a brand new idea you just heard in real time. As I dove deeper into their catalogue, I became more familiar with the more alternative side to their work, which was heavily rock influenced. Then after further research, I came to realize that a ton of bands I love also had fallen in love and were inspired by them (Nirvana and Radiohead to name a few).
In 1986, in Boston Massachusetts, your favorite alternative rock band’s favorite alternative rock band formed. With Black Francis on vocals, rhythm guitar, and songwriter, Joey Santiago on lead guitar, Kim Deal on bass and vocals, and David Lovering on drums, the four members became the Pixies.
Every night of their current tour, the band plays a completely new and different set. It’s a fun surprise for fans, and ensures they walk away with a unique experience. On the Pixies first night in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Palladium, they started the night off playing their album Bossanova in full. They played in tight unison, starting off with “Cecilia Ann,” “Rock Music,” and “Velouria.” The crowd grew increasingly nostalgic for certain songs as the set went on, with some fans nearby sighing to their friends sweet things like “oh yes, this one,” or “oh my god, remember?” At one point, someone in the audience started handing out fist bumps to everyone nearby with a gigantic grin as “Is She Weird” played. It was unique and a joy to see people get to hear songs they didn’t know they would hear that evening.
The band then went on to play Trompe Le Monde, starting off with the title track, as well as “Planet of Sound,” “Alec Eiffel,” and “The Sad Punk,” the latter which had Francis shredding on guitar while singing, “Extinction, racing a thousand miles an hour, I’m just like anyone, wanting to feel the tar road beneath the wheels, extinction named extinction named extinction named, whoa whoa, and evolving from the sea wouldn’t take too long for me if it meant walking beside you in the sun; I read something about a son of a gun.” They also played fan favorite “U-Mass,” as fans screamed “oh kiss the world, oh, kiss the sky. Oh, kiss my ass, oh, let it rock.”
The band then left for a bit, in classic encore fashion, as the crowd grew increasingly louder, cheering for them to come back out. When they finally did, the audience exploded into cheers. They then played “In Heaven,” “Wave of Mutilation,” “Into The White,” and, of course, “Where Is My Mind?” “Where Is My Mind?” felt like time was slowed, as every member of the audience was almost in a trance, moving in unison. The piercing electronic guitar rang through the venue, the same way it surely has in music lover’s bedrooms across the world. I know it did for me, and I felt like I was right back there again.
