Tuesday 18 January 2011

127 THE PIXIES, The Wolfgang Press, Bristol Studio, Monday 8 May 1989


A 2 car convoy of 7 of us all met up in the Horse And Jockey for drinks before going in for this one. The dirgelike support band made us wish we'd stayed there! Ran into lots of Swindon people at this gig; the town was well represented!

Got fairly near the front for The Pixies set; and what a set it turned out to be! The 3-pronged visual assault of the, erm, "corpulent" vocalist Black Francis, together with tiny bassist Kim and kinetic guitarist Joey, full of tension and nervous energy, was matched by the gigantic seamless power of their sound; huge, raw, ragged and jagged, but memorable and melodic at the same time. Operating in similar territory to the magnificent Throwing Muses, it's no surprise that they're also from the Muses hometown of Boston! "Vamos", the encore, featuring Joey playing his guitar with a can of Miller Lite (!), was particularly memorable. Aggressive, sexy, sleazy, The Pixies were brilliant beyond words; yet another Boston band showing the rest how it's done!

2 comments:

  1. I was only thinking about Joey Santiago's beer can guitar playing today for whatever reason. Thanks for reminding me of the track!

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  2. i was at that gig too!! nearly 25 years ago!!

    bixie

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