Fantastic show. A real privilege to see the Pixies in a dark, smoky, claustrophic club. They put on focused . . . purposeful show. Seemed like the first 30 minutes were Surfer Rosa or Come on Pilgrim. Later mixed in a good dose of Doolittle. A few Trompe Le Monde songs. I don't remember Bossanova songs.
It struck me that the band looked younger. Frank Black Francis w/ hair and looking thinner. Kim Deal smiling and looking like the Kim Deal you sort of fell in love with a long time ago. There was a somewhat surreal sense of suspended time being at Sonar - which struck me as having an old 9:30 Club feel - with the band, seemingly ageless, playing seemingly ageless songs. It wasn't so much a feeling of nostalgia - it was that this thing was still alive - maybe never to be seen again, or maybe w/ enough life to go on lead to something new.
Not to sound ridiculous, but I got a feeling like the band was serving perfect waves for the crowd to ride in a Hawaii equivalent for their music - a dark crowded club. (the songs really are like waves. rising. falling. driving. mellow. intense. repetitive riffs can go on infinitely w/out getting old. surfer rosa. wave of mutiliation. SoCal imagery (hermosa etc.). makes sense.
I saw Frank Black at Black Cat in Nov. 02 and when he played a few Pixies songs I thought he must feel a void w/out the chemistry of the rest of the band. There was one moment in particular on Friday - I forget the song - but Black and Kim Deal were trading lines at the end of the song . . . complimenting eachother . . . w/ Kim's line more and more perfect each time she sang it . . . and Black seemed to break down and turned his back and went to the back of the stage. Like he's was overcome by the moment. Or not. But maybe.
Great show. Great venue. The Pixies show I always wanted to see . . . better late than never.
