Not only have the Pixies reformed but they are touring and have dates in the UK. The tickets for two nights at Brixton Academy sold out in minutes but not before I got 4 tickets for the Wednesday.
When the rumours first started floating around I came up with this ideal setlist that I’d still LOVE to see. To be honest though they could play their B-sides and Isla de Enchanta four times and I’d still be ecstatic.
Ideal Pixies reunion tour set list (I’ve given Kim quite a lot to do here to keep her happy) 1 hr plus encores:
- Debaser (right out of the starting blocks)
- Head On (ratchet it up another notch)
- The Sad Punk (and evolving from the sea wouldn’t be too much time for me to walk beside you in the sun)
- Nimrod’s Son (eclectic crowd pleaser)
- I Bleed (break it down)
- Here Comes Your Man (everyone’s happy middle section)
- Gigantic (everyone’s happy middle section)
- Velouria (getting somwhat more excited)
- Tame (hips like cinderella)
- Hang Wire (every morning and every day – I’ll bossanova wit’cha)
- Tony’s Theme (stomping crowd pleasing build up to the finale)
- Oh My Golly (stomping crowd pleasing build up to the finale)
- U-Mass (stomping crowd pleasing build up to the finale)
- Down to the Well (medley of greatness finale)
- Is She Weird? (medley of greatness finale)
- Gouge Away (medley of greatness finale)
Encore:
- I’ve Been Tired
Second encore (unplanned, because it was just too wonderful):
- The Happening (if they could pull this off I could die happy – “I’m almost there to Vegas where they’re putting on a show they’ve come so far I’ve lived this long at least I must just go and say hello”).
Final Score: Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim 4; Doolittle 5; Bosanova: 5 (who would’ve thunk it); Trompe le Monde: 3
Notably missing (mostly because they’re too quiet):
- Dig For Fire
- Where Is My Mind
- Caribou
- Levitate Me
- Cactus
- River Euphrates
- Brick is Red
- Hey!
- Letter to Memphis
- Subbacultcha
Thankfully missing to the chagrin of most of those attending:
- Monkey Gone To Heaven
- Wave of Mutilation
you seem to have made a mistake, where is Vamos.
Oh no, you need Where Is My Mind, Monkey Gone To Heaven and Caribou – they’re live staples of the band.
Hey is probably the bands most beautiful moment, and what about stuff like Stormy Weather from Bossanova?
Well, I’ve seen them live twice now. And I was wrong about Monkey Gone to Heaven. I still say it’s the non-Pixies fan’s Pixies song but I wouldn’t want them not to play it.
Also I was wrong about stuff like Hey! and Subbacultcha, Caribou and Where Is My Mind — the fact that they are brilliant songs is enough reason to play them.
I even like the fact that they play so many B-sides (Into the White, Lady in the Radiator Song and others) because then I get to sing along while part-time Pixies fans stand around going, “huh?”
The only thing I can’t abide is that they have played the truly mediocre and not-particularly-suited-for-live-performance Wave of Mutilation FOUR TIMES in the twice I’ve seen them live. Overkill! I never liked that song.
They’ve played Wave… three times in the twice I’ve seen them (two fast, one slow), and it’s more a transition song in the set – to go from quick to slow or vice versa.
The Pixies songs I’ve seen live (in a rather internet-nerd fashion) are:
FROM COME ON PILGRIM:Isla De Encanta (x1)/Caribou (x2)/Nimrod’s Son (x1)/
Ed Is Dead (x1)/Vamos (x2)
FROM SURFER ROSA: Bone Machine (x2)/Broken Face (x2)/Something Against You (x1)/Gigantic (x2)/Cactus (x1)/Where Is My Mind? (x3, once a Placebo cover)/Vamos (x2)
FROM DOOLITTLE: Monkey Gone To Heaven (x2)/#13 Baby (x1)/I Bleed (x2)/Dead (x1)/Wave of Mutilation (x3)/Debaser (x2)/Gouge Away (x2)/Tame (x2)/Hey (x2)/
Here Comes Your Man (x2)/La La Love You (x1)
FROM BOSSANOVA: Velouria (x1)/Blown Away (x1)/Stormy Weather (x1)
FROM TROMPE LE MONDE:Planet of Sound (x2)/U-Mass (x2)/Head On (x1)
B-SIDES:Lady in the Radiator Song (x2)/Winterlong (x1)/Into The White (x1)
You might wonder why I’ve done this – it’s because of this: Can you name another band that would give you such a wide variety of stuff in just two gigs?