Pixies, March 16, 2022, at House of Blues Anaheim

In 2022 folks were just starting to go back out for concerts or public gatherings, or at least they tentatively were after the false stops and starts of the pandemic in its waning, uncertain days after the initial lockdown that kept anyone at home. That also went for the bands, who were traveling even more to get out, and being away from the road life they were so familiar with. Carla & I had already gone to a first show back a few months ago but Cid & Jon were just coming out, and we were all unsure even at that time if it was a great idea to be out (inevitably being on the cusp of coming out of or going into another lock-down). But the tickets had already been bought, and there had been worse reasons to stay in, so we got out and took our chances, as well as chancing that it would be a show worth risking our safety for, but we had thought it would be a good bet. It could have been like any other show, and the venue (the first time we'd been there) was just as packed as any time they could have played. Something called Clockworks opened but we missed them, less from less time there minimizing our risk, but more from our habit of arriving late from having lives during the day. We might have been good for Pixies shows for a while, especially if they were playing new stuff (ug), but Cid & Jon were up for it and we follow their lead. Post-reunion Pixies were road dogs, doing as much as they could if they had to do it in the first place, desperate to get back at it, maybe not at the best time, but for a short tour through the Southwest, including near us, maybe to get their sea-legs back and get ready for it again. (Or to see if the crowds were still there, and we could have helped cut them off by not going.) (Or to make their money for whatever they were going to do and what anyone would pay for.) The good news was that they stuck with the old stuff, as if to make sure they could find their groove again. For what they played they only did one new song and it was easy to disappear into the rest of the set. That doesn’t show much faith in their new material that they bothered doing at all, but it saved us from it when we’d already decided we could do without it. We’d already seen the show(s) with the old stuff but it was good to get back out, and seeing such a familiar band again was a comfort. But it was limited in its reach and hesitant in execution, wobbly but acceptable, then got worse. Frank’s voice was thrashed from the beginning, either from being away for so long or rushing into it with a marathon show in Arizona the night before. That would have been forgivable. If we could even tell the difference, it might have given them a bit of an edge and reason to push and changed up the sound we knew too well. (Frank never has had to go back to the screeching vocals from his youth, but it’s been impressive post-reunion that he would and has and still can, almost enough to suffer through his boredom for being there). But he made a big deal out of it and got flustered, then a broken guitar string that was either cause for his frustration or only an addition to it, put him over the edge. After only 26 songs (a short set for a Pixies show) and just about an hour, Frank stormed off the stage. Paz covered for him (feigning that he really did want to play for us -- a lie for anyone who has tolerated Frank Black Francis dragging through a show) and it had been short enough that any of us would expect him to come back. But they were done for the night. It might have been just at the edge of how long they were obligated to play to not have to issue a refund, or maybe they just didn’t want to give the money back (26 songs would have been a great set for any other band, but for them it can be about quantity). It's some arrogance to brush off a truncated show and assume the fans will still be their fans for it, but Frank could say he doesn't want to be there anyway and we're lucky he would deign to do it). But that was it and we couldn't do about it. It didn’t do much for me other than shrug, since being a Morrissey fan for as long has made me tolerant of temperamental artists and unpredictable performances (if they happen in the first place), no matter how genius, but Cid & Carla were peeved (they’d given up on Morrissey long ago for his show-canceling antics). I just thought we’d probably reached another level in being done with them and could set off on a better fresh start being able to go back out to shows again.


Pixies’ set-list:
“Gouge Away“
“U-Mass“
“Head On“ (The Jesus and Mary Chain cover)
“Something Against You“
“Isla de Encanta“
“Rock Music“
“Dead“
“Debaser“
“Crackity Jones“
“Cactus“ (false start #1: Charles loses his voice)
“Gigantic“
“Planet of Sound“
“Tame“
“Mr. Grieves“
“Ed Is Dead“
“Bone Machine“
“Break My Body“
“Cactus“ (false start; Charles loses his voice)
“I Bleed“
“Caribou“ (false start; guitar string breaks)
“Vamos“
“Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)“
“Nimrod's Son“
“All the Saints“
“The Holiday Song“
“Caribou“