"You could hear a pin drop in here," Black said, as he surveyed the crowd. "It's like the Mormon Tabernacle." Black considered this for a second. "I love the tour," he admitted. "I've taken it twice." He paused. "Not to offend anybody."
Black, who is also known as Black Francis in his "other, more popular thingie-dingie," the Pixies, packed a humid Knuckleheads, full of 250 fans in the East Bottoms. (Apparently, cold beer and post-punk legends tend to make people crowd a little closer to each other than they normally would after a 100-degree day.) "I think we were in town last fall doing the Doolittle Broadway show," he joked, before spilling that he'd play four Pixies songs, solo-style, to kick off the show.
"Not to get them out of the way, or anything," he said dryly. "I'll perform them with feeling ... and my agreements with the 'indie-rock clique' ... will not allow me to perform these as a medley." Laughter.
Black fudged the beginning of Bossanova cut "Velouria." He stopped abruptly. "That's the wrong chord. Maybe we should just press on with the show. No?" People protested (lightly, to be fair). Enjoyment of these tunes was strictly proportional to each crowd member's familiarity with the band's deep cuts. The Pixies' songs were never the most melodic -- and Black's electric strums weren't meant to communicate the full depth and breadth of the band's sound. Regardless, the die-hards in the crowd mouthed along with lyrics reverently.
Before launching into the most recognizable song of the night -- Surfer Rosa's "Where Is My Mind" -- Black opened with a bit of self-deprecating humor: "I was trying to re-create my first gig with the Pixies, and I neglected to tune my guitar." A beautifully lilting, rich riff emanated from the sound system. "Is that close enough for jazz, as they say?" Black asked, to wild whistles and cheers. A ramshackle rendering of the song had its truly transcendent moments, and crowd members chimed in for the song's signature high-pitched squeals.
Black's singularly strange, idiosyncratic phrasing is like a painter's signature brush stroke: There simply isn't anyone else like him. Like a circus ringleader -- or, as Black commented after the song's closing, "a preacher" -- he incited an odd mixture of fascination and fear with a Tom Waits number: Come along with the black rider. Throughout the night, his vocal flourishes ranged from lackadaisical yowls to bright, harsh screams and mock Johnny Cash deep growls.
The minimal setup -- including Eric Drew Feldman, Black's longtime collaborator, on the organ, bass and vocals -- gave Black a lot of room to showcase his smart, flinty lyrics, which took on a long, literary form as the night progressed. What started as loose, disjointed arrangements blossomed into elegant, free-form imaginings of songs, including a frenzied "Los Angeles" and lower-key, loose shakedowns of "I Burn Today" and "Dog Gone." (Someone also requested "Song of the Shrimp," which Black played quite somberly.)
Black's wit was as integral to the show as his guitar: "As an indie-rock ar-teest, sometimes you dabble in country," he drawled. "I was given my credentials by my fourth-grade teacher. That's enough credentials, as far as I'm concerned," he said, adding that this fine woman introduced him to Woodie Guthrie. "The folk music and the country music -- it's all disco," he joked.As 10 p.m. drew close, the rocker ended on a softer note: a slow, swaying number called "Sing for Joy." Feldman joined Black on backup vocals for the first time during the night, giving the song an earnest reverence. As the two men's quavering vocals evaporated, Black put a hand in the air. "Thank you, Kansas City," he said. "Toodle-oo."
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When are the radio gods going to quit ramming Nirvana and Pearl Jam down our throats??
Music didn't hold up?!? The Pixies were one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, influences on the alternative rock boom back in the early 90's.
oh it held up -- just the production on Dolittle has that '4AD' sound so it dates it a bit -- but the music is as integral to all of indie-rock that followed as ever. Even whispering the names Pearl Jam and Nivana in the same breath reveals ignorance bred of not enough curiosity.
you're a fool if you can't tell the difference between Nirvana who were TRYING to do the Pixies, and the Pixies, who were the bastard love child of Peter Paul and Mary and Husker Du... I'm all for goring sacred cows, but first you gotta know what the hell you're talking about....
I thoroughly enjoyed it -- as for the neg comments, really? Because you're such an official of good music...and the 90's comment (probably from someone who was born in the 90's!!). The show was inexpensive, varied, and well-worth enduring the heat and hard seats :)
Youre right ---some bands are never dated , but Im with Danno. Whenever i hear a Pixies song on the radio (which is rare), Im immediately struck with the feeling that their music didnt really hold up well over the years. Same with Pearl Jam and Nirvana,. That shit smells like the early 90s!!!
I didn't even go to this (more than likely fantastic) show and because of your well written review, I feel like I was there. Thank you for it; a good read.
Great show, FBF is always entertaining.
I haven't seen that many iphones capturing a show before.
Exactly. Even if the Pixies are somehow 'dated' if Danno read the review he would have seen that he only played a handful of Pixies tunes.
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