The Pixies – April 29th – The Bomb Factory – Dallas, TX
To say there was a buzz in the air would be an understatement – This band will never not command the kind of manic must-see mania no matter who’s playing bass for them it seems. They just have that gravitational pull to them, even just saying their name conjures an irresistiable mystique.
After long-time member (& much to founder Black Francis’ chagrin) & for some the face & heart of the band Kim Deal left in 203 a mere week into recording their long-awaited comeback LP a few cried “No Kim, No Deal”.
Not the case on this evening as I’ve never seen this place so packed. Like I knew it was sold out & arriving literally seconds before they took stage and stressing to get my photographer into the pit before it closed but you couldn’t move.
In 2014 they delivered their first new studio work with the multi-EP series Indie Cindy and last year released their first proper studio album, Head Carrier, since 1991’s Trompe Le Monde. The new songs retain the Pixies sound & they play more than half of the new LP.
With zero talk between songs, the band hammered through a marathon set of over 30 songs & with a show that long it’s amazing how well Black Francis’ voice sounded as strong as ever, Joey Santiago was typically flawless, and the rhythm section of drummer David Lovering and new bassist Paz Lenchantin were very strong.
I’m proud to say that I was able to attend their original return at Coachella back in 2004 – It really felt like hell had truly frozen over & was a glorious moment. I caught four more shows on that tour. During their 90s hiatus I worked at an indie record store seeing their influence everywhere & lamenting with the store’s owner about what it look like if they were ever to reform.
Oddly in a strange form of universal kharma, the first person I saw when I ran into the near fire-hazard of a crowd was the store owner, whom I haven’t seen in 15 years.
The final songs of the set were among my faves as the ones they started with, culminating with my absolute.
The band would take a bow, the smoke machines would shroud them completely. Soon it became apparent it was a metaphor when you heard the unmistakable first notes of Into the White. While Lenchantin admirably filled original bassists Kim Deal’s shoes, there was little emphasis on the songs that featured Deal’s vocals so I was certain we wouldn’t be hearing this one & was seriously losing my shit when we did.
Setlist –
Where Is My Mind?
Nimrod’s Son
The Holiday Song
Vamos
All the Saints
Ana
Brick Is Red
La La Love You
Mr. Grieves
Break My Body
Blown Away
Winterlong (Neil Young cover)
Ed Is Dead
Gouge Away
Um Chagga Lagga
Caribou
Bel Esprit
River Euphrates
Head Carrier
Wave of Mutilation
All I Think About Now
Debaser
Oona
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Classic Masher
U-Mass
Head On (The Jesus and Mary Chain cover)
Rock Music
Tame
Hey
Encore:
Into the White
Brant Bjork – April 28th – Gas Monkey Bar & Grill – Dallas, TX
What better way to end this glorious month of fun activity than with the original drummer & founder (& all around awesome dude) of Kyuss, Brant Bjork. Touring in support of last year’s Tao of the Devil it was great to see Brant & co in top form.
An unexpected surprise was towards the end when he brought out another desert legend in Sean Wheeler from Throw Rag & a million other projects for a few tracks including an awesome cover of the Stones’ Jumpin Jack Flash – Check out Sean with the the Mutants & more with my man Dave Catching’s release party for his Shared Hallucinations Vol 1 on May 27th at Pappy & Harriet’s. Good times.
Setlist –
Buddha Time (Everything Fine)
Controllers Destroyed
Humble Pie
Stackt
The Gree Heen
Lazy Bones/Automatic Fantastic
Stokely Up Now
Freaks of Nature (with Sean Wheeler)
Jumpin’ Jack Flash (The Rolling Stones cover) (with Sean Wheeler)
Encore:
Low Desert Punk
Let the Truth Be Known
Photos –
Roy Turner
Jason Dyer
Mike Brooks
Phil Clarkin
Tim Sheehan
