On Wednesday night, a few thousand monkeys in Lowell went to heaven.
The Pixies' reunion tour has been one of the most anticipated in recent memory. Wednesday's performance in the Tsongas Arena did not disappoint, as Frank Black wailed and Kim Deal provided some of the best bass lines in rock history.
The band was truly in top form, and most of the crowd sang along with their famous catchy-yet-intelligent lyrics for close to two hours.
For those who think of pixies as merely a type of fairy, here is a little band history. The Pixies are considered by many to be one of the most influential bands of the '80s and '90s.
The band was started in 1986 by Charles Thompson (who later picked the stage name Black Francis, and still later changed it to Frank Black) and guitarist Joey Santiago in Boston.
Rumor has it that the duo found bassist Kim Deal after advertising in the newspaper for a bass player who liked Husker Du, another big independent rock name of the late '80s, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Deal brought drummer David Levering with her into the group, and the Pixies were formed.
The Pixies effectively mix punk rock, surf rock and pop to create short, hard, loud appealing songs with some of the most cryptic lyrics around. Nirvana could never have existed without the Pixies. Their songs are about sex, mutilation, death, space, religion and love.
The band broke up in 1992 due to tension between bassist Deal and front man Black, just when they were on the verge of breaking out.
Much of the audience at Wednesday night's concert was older, in their 30s or 40s, and one fan said that he had been listening to the Pixies since they came out with "Surfer Rosa," their first full length album, in 1988. Some in the crowd seemed dubious about the attention-grabbing reunion.
"[The reunion tour] is a crass exploitation of capitalism, but if they play well, I don't care," a fan proclaimed at the show.
The Pixies played most of their hits, choosing songs from all of their albums. The second song of the set, "Wave of Mutilation," got every head in the crowd moving.
"Is She Weird?" came next, off the album "Bossanova" (1990), which got the crowd chanting over and over again, "Is she weird? / Is she white? / Is she promised to the night? / And her head has no room."
Many of the early songs were slowed down, as Frank Black played on an acoustic guitar. The band seemed in control, totally cohesive and completely at ease.
But even when the Pixies began to speed things up after five or six songs, longtime fans were reminded with awe of their astonishing ability to turn aggressive, discordant music into catchy pop songs.
The last number of the evening was perhaps the most famous song by the Pixies, "Where is My Mind," which was popularized by the film "Fight Club" in 1999.
After a nearly two-hour set, the band stopped playing and moved away from their instruments for what seemed like a break. The crowd was so hyped up that the Pixies simply absorbed the applause, appearing thankful and humble, and then came back to their instruments to belt out "Where is my mind".
For a fan of the band, Wednesday's show was a near perfect two hours of great music. Silhouetted against a simple background of colored lights, it was difficult not to join in as they belted out the words to "Subbacultcha."
It was hard to find a flaw in the show. One fan did complain that he felt the show had gone on a little bit too long, and other complaints included a too short encore and a bad opening band The Bennies.
An article could be dedicated to the other opening band, another hugely influential early-1980s group, Mission of Burma, who put on a great half-hour show.
Buzz about the Pixies has been growing for quite some time. This reunion tour has fostered rumors of a new album in the works.
For the moment though, Pixies fans must be content with what they have been given: one of the best reunion tours in recent memory.
