Concert: Pixies

The Pixies came back to Houston for the first time in four years to play a show at the Bayou Music Center. After hearing Kim Deal had left the band last summer, I was a little iffy walking in — but hey, it was the Pixies, so I could not pass up this show and good thing I did not.

Best Coast did a set, ended their show, and then preparations began for the Pixies to begin their show. Suddenly, the lights went out, and people started cheering — the show was about to begin. They all came out together at 9:15 p.m. and stood in front of the audience. Frank Black, David Lovering, Joey Santiago, and A Perfect Circle’s Paz Lenchantin covering bass in lieu of Deal’s departure. The show began with a bang — literally. Lovering began playing the drums, and everyone knew that “Bone Machine” was playing. They then played “Gigantic” and a couple of songs of their new album “EP2.” The light work was typical of alternative shows and consisted of quite a bit of background ambient lighting with colors that changed from song to song. The Pixies played some of their newer material and then played more beloved fan classics such as “Make Believe,” “Surfer Rosa,” and “Caribou.” They then played some music off the “EP2” album, “Magdalena 318” and “Brick is Red.” Both songs continued the trance Black put them in with “Sad Punk.” They then played another of their newer songs “Bag Boy,” which put the crowd into a frenzy, only for the frenzy to be continued by “Monkey Gone to Heaven” and “Blue Eyed Hexe.” The Pixies then continued their momentum with “Isla de Encanta,” “U-Mass,” “Hey!,” and “Planet of Sound.” After about one hour of playing, Black switched to an acoustic guitar, and everyone knew the moment they had been waiting for was coming. The acoustic set began with “Silver Snail,” a song (presumably) first released during a concert for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. Then, the lights went out, and a single spotlight focused on Black, and he began playing the first riff for “Where is my mind?,” a song best known for being the leading during the final scene of “Fight Club,” when (SPOILER ALERT) the city begins to crumble around the narrator, and Marla as the city crumbles around them. The lighting was dramatic and tense, and you could feel the desperation in Black’s voice as he frantically asks, “Where is my mind?/Where is my mind?/Where is my mind?” The song ended, and the Pixies went on to play a newer song off their “EP1 album” called “Andro Queen.” They then played more fan favorites to satiate the concert attendee’s musical palate such as “Nimrod’s Son,” “Wicked Son,” and “Tame.” The show ended at 10:50 p.m., after an hour and a half of amazing live music from The Pixies. But the fans wanted more, and they clapped and chanted until Black and the rest of the Pixies came back from backstage to play two more songs. They closed out their show playing “Here Comes Your Man,” and then leading into Lovering singing “La La Love You.”

All in all, the show was very good. The venue, the people, and the band were incredible. The lighting was beautiful and colorful and reflected both the themes and tones of each song extremely well.

— Gregorio Ayala Guerra aka DJ Oreo hosts COAST2COAST from 5-7 p.m. on Mondays