The Pixies
November 8th at the Fox Theater, Oakland

I was only nine years old when Doolittle came out. So I missed out on the Pixies in their heyday. Once I finally discovered them, they had already broken up. It would have been no surprise if they never found their way back together again, as all four became fully engaged in other side projects, but the ‘00s proved otherwise. They have legions of fans, from every demographic. Few bands have such far-reaching influence. Few bands will ever uphold the credibility of the Pixies.

The Pixies swept through the Bay Area this week to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of Doolittle. The complicity of each band member, as disparate as their respective musical roles may be, is still so palpable, that incongruent chemistry surely fodder for their noise rock but also contributing to the creative differences and struggle for control and direction that ultimately broke them. That disharmony was most present in Black Francis and Kim Deal. But when they feed off each other, when they get along, the result is some of the best, most consistently awesome music that rock has ever seen. For a band so off-kilter and unexpected, circuitous while staying true to the noisy roots that defined them… well, it’s a common story. When all the haphazard elements come together so perfectly, sometimes it’s only fitting that it eventually implodes.

The grandeur of the Fox Theater was an appropriate venue for a band of such a lofty reputation, but even they seemed somewhat in awe of their surroundings; Deal thanked us for having them in “such a beautiful fucking place.” The show began with a surreal short film which I found out later was Dali’s Un chien andalou, after which a dense projection of fog was emitted, out of which the four members of the Pixies emerged to thunderous applause. After playing a few B-side tracks, including “Weird at my School” and “Bailey’s Walk”, they kicked into the opening notes of “Debaser.” “DOOLITTLE” was projected on the screen behind them, attesting to the album’s singularity—they weren’t embarking on a “set”—no, they were very deliberately celebrating a selection of songs that marked a juncture in the progression of how bands approach making music. Glowing, color-changing orbs hung above the stage, and each song was accompanied by video projections, which spoke visually to the music. They ranged from sepia-tinted old film sequences, to a black-and-white, four-way headshot of the band members, to the oversized, plasticized jabbering mouths for “Crackity Jones.” Black’s insistent vocals to “Hey” were emblazoned in huge, white script on the screen behind them. “Hey! / Where have you been / If you go I will surely die / We’re chained.”

As they journeyed through the album we were there to honor, with a few witty, verbal asides by the ever-ebullient Deal, the Pixies couldn’t have felt any closer to their audience. After the culmination of Doolittle, the band treated us to songs they knew we wanted to hear, including “Into the White”, “Where Is My Mind”, “Gigantic”, and “Caribou”, which closed the show. Then together they bowed, side-by-side, smiling and waving. You could see it in the way they held down the stage, and on their faces… the Pixies are glad to be back.

Watch: Pixies, “Monkey Gone to Heaven” [at youtube.com]