Pixies @ Madison Theater 5/6/17

By: The Busted Amp Staff

Derek: It was the perfect storm of an evening. Joseph and I were lined up to see the legendary Pixies, and then immediately following, an aftershow featuring one of my favorite up-and-coming bands, White Reaper (You can read that review here). It did not disappoint.

Most are familiar with how big of an influence Pixies were on other grunge era bands like Nirvana. Kurt Cobain famously listed their 1988 album Surfer Rosa as his 2nd favorite album of all time. Now, nearly 30 years later, the band is back and have two new albums with their reunited lineup. The only difference between the original lineup and now is the absence of founding bassist Kim Deal, who left the band in 2013 and was eventually replaced by Paz Lenchantin.

A sold out crowd greeted the band as they came on stage. Side note: Both them and opener Public Access T.V. came on early, which according to rock lore is a sign of the apocalypse.

Anyways, their 28 (!!!) song setlist focused mainly on their two late 80's albums, Doolittle and the aforementioned Surfer Rosa, along with their latest album, last year's Head Carrier. Lead singer Black Francis sounded great; his distinct voice was perfectly mixed. In fact, overall the sound was incredible. Whoever was working sound did one of the best jobs that I've heard with what I am sure is a difficult band to mix properly.

Joseph: I'm not gonna lie....I had the time of my life at these shows. While I came in not knowing much about any of the 4 bands playing, I left as a newly converted fan. The night started with Public Access TV and Pixies, and after listening to Pixies I could hear why Cobain held the band in such high regard. Despite a somewhat lackluster crowd energy at the Madison Theater, there was a palpable, borderline magical, energy to the band's set, and they didn't waste any time between songs to let that energy fade. Their MASSIVE setlist, combined with consistent playing, made this set feel similar to something like Twenty One Pilots set I saw back in March (which you can revisit here) except the crowd wasn't anywhere near the same energy level in return. But Pixies didn't care, and neither did I. This show was a blast, and if they're in your neighborhood you should definitely take the time to see them.

Setlist

Un Chagga Lagga
Something Against You
Vamos
Crackity Jones
Nimrod's Son
Baal's Back
Bone Machine
Broken Face
Tenement Song
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Caribou
Head On (The Jesus and Mary Chain cover)
U-Mass
Winterlong (Neil Young cover)
Where Is My Mind?
Ed Is Dead
Oona
Hey
Subbacultcha
Gouge Away
Mr. Grieves
Wabe of Mutilation
Debaser
Planet of Sound
Cactus
Might as Well Be Gone
Tame

Encore
​
Into the White