I am firm believer (whether right or wrong) that idolatry is bad for our health. Idolising something to the point of insanity always struck me as rather short sighted and this was reinforced by one Mr Mark Radcliffe whose book 'Thank you for the days'- incidentally should be a must read for any open minded music fan- learned me that way. Anyway what Mr Radcliffe manages to artciculate far better is that idolising or hero worship means that you accept with reserve therefore suspending your critical opinion well along those lines- I would definitley read the book for the original and better outline. Well sorry Monsieur Radcliffe but I'm breaking that rule entirely I love adore, adore, adore and idolise Pixies.Yes, yes, yes I do . No confusion I adore and idolise them for all the above reasons and a roundabout explanation follows.
I only know the legends post their break up(s) so guess you could that I used to be an 'in theory fan' but I was initiated one Thursday 8th October 2009 in the hallowed halls of Brixton Academy, South London. One again THANKYOU JOHN whose spare ticketbrought all this into being sorry if this is totally overwhelming but I PRETTY MUCH LOVE YOU UNCONDITIONALLY FOR LIFE. I have bought cds listened to each one, incessantly learned words, cried on my own when post adolescent angst reared its oily head and collided head on with 'Where is my mind?' fantasised and laughed as Kim Deal made me feel 'Gigantic' fought non-believers of all sorts as 'Vamos', 'Into the white' or 'Gouge away' fuelled my fire. So think its fair to conclude my dedication is kosher and what I continue to love about them is their implosion. It just strikes me as so tragically human that fuelled it all resulting in the ability to create something so special yet with the other hand almost destroy it all but then later pick it up again. Then not only make it sound fantastic but add something new to it, although it may sound boring, a calmness and playfulness flowed throughout that made the experience so awesome.
The mixture of old and new fans (sorry but can only be described by being age specific) made for pretty fun watching too from late teens to early-mid forties they belted out every word, hurled themselves around and cooed every time the graphics flickered from the surreal 1920s esque movie clips to maginificent-video landscapes to montages to the band staring out of comedy lineups mocking their onstage selves. Amazing. I worshipped at the altar of Pixies without reserve- whoops idolatry.
Contradictory maybe but takes nothing away from the gig, its definitely in the top ten gigs in my lifetime so far (in joint place with The Mars Volta at the Roundhouse) and I know I'll find it incredibly difficult to top it- its either something to aim for or will bring me crashing down when trying to create that original high. So for anyone who might have been there the first time round do I speak anywhere close to that? Do I need explain myself anymore? You know what to do?
So that aside the Doolittle theme was pretty much the map for the gig, following the tracklisting of a dark, off-beat and sometimes comic album with a few other big hitters thrown in to keep the animals happy. Two of my favourites in the encore pretty much finished me off 'Into the white' and 'Gigantic' and inside at the back was a little voice quietly chanting for 'Where is my mind?' but the universe was out watching Pixies too so was I on my own but no matter I was overflowing with emotion and grattitude.
Only thing left to say is THANKS PIXIES, NICE ONE. Nana
