Saw the Pixies last night....

[Gasman]

...and they were absolutely incredible! They played everything I could have hoped for and then some. As a band, they have had such a tremendous influence on me, but lately my own musical expression has really gone so far from 15 years ago when I was listening to them all the time. It really took me back I'm spending a lot of today in a sort of identity crisis in that I like what I'm doing now, but really miss when I was in a minimalist experimental post-punk band in the mid 90's.

Back to the show. They were tight as ever, just great drumming and guitar work. Frank and Kim's vocal harmonies were as haunting as ever. And Kim, well, she's just awesome. Played her orange P bass with flats, and the sound was exactly what the Pixies are all about. I wish I had come up with that sound!!!

Anyway, if any fellow TB Pixies fans are out there, let me here from you. And if you get the chance, I highly recommend this show- even if you're not a Pixies fan (yet)!

[blipndub]

I'm glad to hear that. I think Kim's playing is so right on, I love the way she works with the beat. A genius in her own right. One of my top 10 bands no doubt. I was worried abut them after their documentary a few years ago.

[onestring]

Huge fan here too! I haven't seen any of the reunion shows, I'm a little afraid to ruin my memories of the old days...

Kim is a hoot and I think her bass playing was a huge influence on a lot of 90s bands that followed in the wake of the Pixies. Melodic, grindy, excellent rock bass playing.

[engedi1]

You guys are bums! I was so bummed out that I missed the Nashville Pixies concert on Friday, but funds would not allows. I have loved the Pixies for 15 years, since high school, and Kim Deal was a big influence on me when I was younger. Are you guys sure she plays Flats? I have always figured her sound to be old rounds.

[Gasman]

Originally Posted by engedi1

You guys are bums! I was so bummed out that I missed the Nashville Pixies concert on Friday, but funds would not allows. I have loved the Pixies for 15 years, since high school, and Kim Deal was a big influence on me when I was younger. Are you guys sure she plays Flats? I have always figured her sound to be old rounds.

Am I sure they were flats? No. But they sure sounded like flats- no fingerbuzz and whatnot. I guess they could be VERY dead rounds though

[zachoff]

Caught the Doolittle tour last year and it was pretty awesome. Hated the venue, but they sounded and played great.

Funny though... I watched Loud Quiet Loud last week and thought how awesome it would be to see them again.

[engedi1]

Originally Posted by Gasman

Am I sure they were flats? No. But they sure sounded like flats- no fingerbuzz and whatnot. I guess they could be VERY dead rounds though

Even if you use new rounds, with a pick, with high action, on a well set up bass, I don't see why there would be fretnoise. Flats with a pick sound very different to my ears than what I think of as Kim Deals tone. Whatever she uses, it always sounded great to me!

[sammyfallen]

I watched a documentary about the pixies via netflix. Made me despise them. If you have respect for the pixies do not watch the documentary...

[timber22]

Yeah, I just saw them last week near Philadelphia. Great show. Kim definitely has a distinctive style and sound. The entire band was incredible.

[snaverb]

where is my mind?

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by sammyfallen

I watched a documentary about the pixies via netflix. Made me despise them. If you have respect for the pixies do not watch the documentary...

Which one, and why?

Big Pixies fan here... I remember getting Doolittle and Come On Pilgrim on recommendation from my cousin when I was like 10 or 11... those records changed my life.

[BassBrass]

I live in Boston and back in '87 one day the person I was working with (non-music job) came in and said she saw so and so last night but the opening band was fantastic with a funny name: Pixies. She said they should have been headlining! (this person introduced me to Dead Can Dance and This Mortal Coil too...very astute woman when it came to music)
Obviously the Pixies far eclipsed whatever headliner they opened for. Surfer Rosa is one of my top 20 albums of all time. The one song missing is Monkey Gone to Heaven which I regard to be the best rock song EVAH!
Once on vacation in Palm Beach (where the radio was a wasteland) the one Pixies song came on that made the hit list...Hear Comes Your Man...wow, what a relief that was!
Oh, one more, I was once at a neo-Pagan camp out and was asked to turn OFF Surfer Rosa playing in my tent. I said "but it's the Pixies"! as if the killjoy would relent his quest for "purity" vs mythical Pixie trouble-making! Middle-aged nudity was fine. The Pixies-not.
Gonna buy me a soda?

[bazzanderson]

my wife and I are seeing them tomorrow night here in Austin, Texas. They are also playing Wednesday night. I can't wait!.....been a huge fan for 21 years. One of my fave college bands (when I was in college)....very influential in all ways. Their pop sensibilities buried the metal / hard core bassist in me. After them.....I was all about melodic / pop / post punk for years.

I can't wait to see Kim!

[jmercer91]

oh, man. i'm jealous. although i did just see the toadies play at the stone pony, that was awesome!

[sammyfallen]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

Which one, and why?

Big Pixies fan here... I remember getting Doolittle and Come On Pilgrim on recommendation from my cousin when I was like 10 or 11... those records changed my life.

LoudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies

FYI - The main person you will lose respect for will be Frank Black...

[engedi1]

Originally Posted by sammyfallen

LoudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies

FYI - The main person you will lose respect for will be Frank Black...

I actually enjoyed LoudquiteLoud. For sure it bursts your bubble if you had a romantic concept of what being a rock star is like, but it is a very gritty, real, painful, look at the lives of musicians we love. In so many ways it shows that the Pixies are very typical of many musicians:
1. The bass player's career was destroyed by her drug habit.
2. the lead singer has an ego bigger than the tour bus.
3. the drummer is in his 50's and still doing drugs.
4. The only surprise was what a level headed mature guy the guitarist has become. I figure that is about right. Take any great rock band, and 1 out of 4 members are capable of being normal members of society.
5. The band completely hates each other and barely says two words to each other.
6. Why did any of this surprise you?

Here is the deal, none of the above matters in regards to enjoying their music. By most accounts, Beethoven and Brahams were complete a**holes yet they wrote some of the most beloved and beautiful music of all time. Just because 75% of the Pixies lead screwed up lives doesn't mean you have to stop liking the music.

[SpectorDetector]

Saw them in Atlanta last week, it was a great show and sounded fantastic, I was even with the mixing board which was quite close to the stage, row 16 maybe? My love of the P-Bass sound comes from Kim's playing, it sounds so classic! The only thing that got me about LoudquietLoud was the drummer's BS and actually hearing Charles say that the only way anybody wants to hear him is with the Pixies, so true, yet so sad in a way. They are a dysfunctional bunch...

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by engedi1

I actually enjoyed LoudquiteLoud. For sure it bursts your bubble if you had a romantic concept of what being a rock star is like, but it is a very gritty, real, painful, look at the lives of musicians we love. In so many ways it shows that the Pixies are very typical of many musicians:
1. The bass player's career was destroyed by her drug habit.
2. the lead singer has an ego bigger than the tour bus.
3. the drummer is in his 50's and still doing drugs.
4. The only surprise was what a level headed mature guy the guitarist has become. I figure that is about right. Take any great rock band, and 1 out of 4 members are capable of being normal members of society.
5. The band completely hates each other and barely says two words to each other.
6. Why did any of this surprise you?

Here is the deal, none of the above matters in regards to enjoying their music. By most accounts, Beethoven and Brahams were complete a**holes yet they wrote some of the most beloved and beautiful music of all time. Just because 75% of the Pixies lead screwed up lives doesn't mean you have to stop liking the music.

+1. I quite enjoyed loudQUIETloud when I watched it on hulu.

[engedi1]

Originally Posted by SpectorDetector

They are a dysfunctional bunch...

Isn't that part of why we love our rock stars? It is an american tradition. If rock stars were rich, famous, get to play music for a living, AND were happy well balanced people with successful families we would hate their guts!

[sarcastro83]

Kim Deal is my ideal 1980's girlfriend.

Also, the Pixies are one of the greatest bands of all time. Saw em on their reunion tour, and that show stacks up as one of the best times I've ever had... bar none.