Pixies: Just going through the motions

I wasn’t meant to be seeing the Pixies (again), I was just meant to be the taxi driver. Unfortunately, someone couldn’t make it last minute so I had to accompany my wife.

I haven’t been to the O2 Academy in Birmingham since Lamb of God and Dimmu Borgir played there in February 2009. I didn’t remember the venue at all. There’s a reasonable view from the gallery, but the seating is uncomfortable and unreserved, so we ended up sitting from just after the doors opened at 7pm to 10.30pm when the Pixies went off. Numb bum doesn’t even come close. However, the service at the bar was quick and the staff friendly.

An hour after the doors opened, the support band, Big Special, came on. Consisting of  a drummer, a singer, a backing track and a number of samples, they clearly had a talent, but it wasn’t in song writing or performance. They fully embraced what I would describe as some of the worst parts of lad culture, but the songs weren’t good enough to allow for it. Big Special are a local Birmingham band and a lot of the crowd seemed to love it. There’s no accounting for taste.

Pixies managed to cram 28 songs, without an encore, into a 90 minute set. But they were just going through the motions. They didn’t speak to the crowd or interact with them in any way until the end, when they paraded around the stage like rock gods. It was like they just couldn’t be bothered. Emma Richardson was like watching the dead inside and Joey Santiago was out of tune most of the time or he just can’t play - I don’t know. I’ll give drummer David Lovering and Frank Black their dues though, as musicians they were solid.

There was a good mix of old and new songs, although I was surprised that Monkey Gone to Heaven was the second song. Perhaps they needed something to get the crowd's interest early.

When there is inevitably a next time, I hope I’ll get to stick to being the taxi driver.