Levitate me.
So they're middle-aged, overweight, balding and by their own admission in it for the cash. Yes, the pixies re-formed this year and have been playing gigs for a few months now, and it's one of the most exciting things that has happened in music in recent years. What makes this different from any other load of has beens trying to pay off the debts to their drug dealers with a few more shows to the devoted masses?
Maybe for me its the fact that I've have a big emotional attachment to the pixies ever since I heard them as a teenager. All of a sudden I could hear what all the bands I'd been listening to had been trying to acheive. Kim Deal's sexy, aloof basslines, Joey Santiago's viscious attacks on his guitar and THAT voice - the scream that rattles every organ you hold dear. But of course, they were no more, having collapsed under personal differences and gone their personal ways. Sure, there was the Frank Black stuff, and the Breeders, both of which were ace, but they just couldn't match the utter brilliance of the early pixies recordings. And I ached to see them play.
So when they announced they were playing again I was so excited I could puke. Usually when an old band reforms that I like (The Velvet Underground, Sex Pistols) I just think 'Ugh, that looks arse, I'll give that a miss'. But I hoped and prayed that they still had it, and imediately went and bought tickets for T in the Park to see them.
I was part-excited, and part terrified. I mean look at them now, they're old and fat like the pistols and the velvets were when they reformed. BUT, they have the full original line-up, and reports from their gigs in london were promising. Could they possibly live up to my expectations of them? Only one way to find out really.
So the rest of the festival was, to be fair, a bit crap. Sure there were good bands, but a series of organisational cock-ups both on the festivals part and mine and my friend's part made it a bit of a chore. The only thing keeping me there was the promise of Black Francis and co on the Sunday night. I was tired, a bit sunburned and largely pissed off with the minority of drunken yobs making things a bit unpleasant.
But then they walked on stage...
They didn't greet the crowd, and they didn't chat between songs, they just played and played and played until we were all spent. And it was utterly magical.
Why was it not just another crap reunion then? If you took one look at the crowd you knew the answer. The place was jam-packed with people of all ages, but predominantly teenagers, the life-blood of rocknroll. Now, other bands pick up new fans after they split, but the pixies have continued to gather hordes of youngsters who attach themselves just as avidly to their music as I have. So just as I imagine their pre-1993 gigs were like, the audience were all stood, mouths open, unable to believe what they were seeing. It was like the pixies had never left us.
I've kind of forgotten what the point of this whole rant was, other than to say that the pixies were great and I got to see them.
Ner nerna ner nerrrrr
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Git!
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