There seems to be a resurgence in the amount of bands that made albums in the 80’s and 90’s
having reunion tours.
The Pixies, who
were at least three years ahead of the pack, have
returned to Australia to play their masterpiece "Doolittle" in
full. The anticipation for me personally leading to these shows was pretty big; demands for the show were fairly large also with many of the shows across the
country selling out and this show being the first of three in Sydney.

Before the band took
the stage, montages of old film footage played on the screen at the rear of the
stage bringing the crowd into rapturous applause. Rather than diving straight
into their set, The Pixies delved into b-sides from "Doolittle", teasing the crowd
with more obscure numbers. As the cuts that didn’t make the album ended, the
stage lights went down and the band tore "Debaser", the back screen flashed up the "Doolittle" font signifying the start of the album. Being an album show, you wouldn’t expect too many surprises;
the album in full, maybe a short encore set of other songs and that’s pretty
much how it went.

The beauty of album
shows is that you get to hear some songs that would have never been played live.
Some songs that just don’t fit well into live set-lists rear their heads in the
context they originally sat in when released on the album. Throughout the play
back of the album, Kim Deal added little touches of commentary, at the end of
the first song “The Needle Is Down”, the commentary gave a nostalgic feel to the
event as Deal reminisced about the days of vinyl. It continued on with Deal reminding
us where we were on the album from middle of sides to when the record would be
turned over.

"Doolittle" is an
album with a lot of great songs with very little filler; I would go on to
mention the album highlights but I wouldn’t want to name the whole album. A
particular track that stood out was "Monkey Gone To Heaven", well and truly
showing Frank Black’s vocal range and ability going from soft speaking to
screaming mid beath.

The Pixies definitely
had the crowd at their fingertips; a mix of nostalgia and great song-writing
gave the crowd plenty to cheer about. Once the album had been completed the
band had two encores, the first of two beginning with the UK surf rock version
of “Wave of Mutilation".  The
second encore brought about a few other songs, what is possibly the most well
known song from The Pixies, "Where Is My Mind?". Strangely though the whole
second encore was played with the house lights on, and it killed the atmosphere
present in the room somewhat by taking away the intimacy of the dark.

Could this be the last
time we see the pixies on our shores? Something inside tells me they could
return with another album show in a few years, and if "Surfer Rosa" gets a world
tour I would be there hands down.