Pixies Doolittle Anniversary Tour

By J Howell

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Uptown Theater, Kansas City MO
September 17, 2010

As I see it, there are two kinds of people in the world: those who love the Pixies, and assholes. All kidding aside, is there another band as universally loved as Pixies?

Judging from the crowd at the Uptown, arguing the point would be a tough row to hoe. There were older folks, younger folks, thirtysomethings with their kids in tow, frat boys, the artsy, the not-so-much, friends and acquaintances from bands of every ilk, my chiropractor. . . everybody loves the Pixies, and for good reason: 21 years on from Doolittle, they are still one of the most compelling—and fun—bands, well, ever.

They were in fine form at the Uptown. While the set started a little on the slow side, beginning with “Dancing The Manta Ray,” a song which I love but seems like a bit of an odd choice for an opener. The band continued the string of Doolittle-era B-sides with “Weird At My School,” “Bailey’s Walk,” and “Manta Ray,” with Kim Deal pointing out that some of the B-Sides were so obscure, they had to relearn them. I don’t know if I agree with Kim, though; it seems like everybody I know is pretty well-versed in Pixies B-sides, and the crowd singing along would seem to support that claim. At any rate, while “Dancing The Manta Ray” was fine if a bit strange to open with, by the time the band began the album proper with “Debaser,” it was clear the audience was in for something special.

I’ve seen Pixies before, and considered the 2004 show I attended easily one of the five best performances I’d ever experienced. This time they were just as good, if not even better.

While the band seems to have traded just a little of their ’80s ferocity for more mature musicianship, it’s hard to imagine a better showing from them. They played like a tight, well-rehearsed unit, but loosely enough that it was apparent they were having fun. Aside from a couple of almost-undetectable slips, the performances were flawless.

Seeing the band perform the entire Doolittle album, in sequence, was an almost indescribable joy. As a whole, the show was predictably amazing, especially seeing the band perform songs I never thought I’d get to see live, “La La Love You” and “Silver” in particular.

Trying to explain the ecstatic joy of live Pixies is nearly impossible, almost as difficult as explaining Pixies’ aesthetic to someone who has never heard the band. Sure there’s the loud/quiet/loud dynamic; the bizarre lyrics that don’t seem so obviously lovable taken out of context; Black Francis’ idiosyncratic yelp and slinky Telecaster played against Joey Santiago’s skronk played against Deal’s simple, perfect bass parts and David Lovering’s phenomenal drumming.

Somehow, Pixies always add up to more than the sum of its parts, and seeing the band live is no different. There’s certainly some amount of nostalgia involved in seeing a great band perform a seminal classic end-to-end, but this show was much, much more. Though I’ve been listening to Doolittle since I was a teen, and know each and every song by heart forwards and backwards, live it was as fresh, exciting, and vital now as it was in 1989.

As encores, the band performed two more B-sides, the slow, dreamy “Wave Of Mutilation (U.K. Surf),” which I will point out now—for those who may not already know—is to be played at my funeral, and “Into The White.”

Following those two, Kim Deal pointed out that they know other songs, too, and the band launched into a spirited set of non-Doolittle songs, pulling material from every record but Surfer Rosa. I thought it was something special when, at a solo Black Francis show last year, 200 people chanted “You are the son of a motherfucker!” during “Nimrod’s Son,” but hearing the same thing times ten was hilarious and endearing, well, times ten.

The band finished with “Gigantic,” and while I would’ve loved them to play for another hour, by the time the encore set was over I was exhausted. While the band’s sold-out performance was wonderful, the venue seemed to have been oversold by quite a bit, and the shoulder-to-shoulder, sardine-tin feeling coupled with the heat of so many bodies crammed together was more than a little uncomfortable at times.

Fortunately, with Pixies, it’s easy to forget at the time and well worth it. Hopefully, the band will continue performing now, after some on-again off-again touring since 2006. Everyone needs to see the Pixies at least once. Maybe, just maybe, hey might convert some of those second types.

For those interested in actually hearing the show, the band has recordings of this, and the other stops on the Doolittle tour, available online.