Pixies played Hammerstein Ballroom

At roughly 9:00 Dali's Un Chien Andalou began to play and shortly afterwards the Pixies took the stage to much approval. Kim Deal quickly shouted out b-sides and the band shelled out four songs before getting into the heart of the show. The opening bassline of "Debaser" thumped out and everyone went ecstatic. The band was not very enthusiastic and lacked the high energy that their songs contain, however the evening was still every bit as memorable as I hoped. Songs such as "Debaser" "Mr. Grieves" and "Crackity Jones" got the crowd going and perhaps if it had been a night during the band's initial run int the late 1980s things would have gotten intense. Now it was more about watching these indie giants play their masterpiece. It was all about the craft of the album and hearing it played live from start to finish. The band doesn't pretend to be young and run all over the stage. They stood poised and powered along with the perfection that each one of the songs deserved. Kim Deal gave slight commentary where appropriate such as "end of side one" and "more b-sides" which confirmed the cool aura that band imparted to the audience. After finishing the album and better known b-sides, which included a slowed down version of the always excellent "Wave of Mutilation" the band rocked some other classics from their catolog and polished off the night with their best non-Doolittle songs "Where is My Mind" and "Gigantic" which Kim sang to perfection. Aside from the obviously near perfect setlist, highlights included the video screen behind the band which played excellent accompanying videos to each song. Despite the fact that playing a classic album in its entirety is becoming more and more of a tradition, it was still simply amazing to see one of the best albums from the 1980s, and possibly ever, played all the way through. Many of the songs have not been played in decades or ever at all and did anyone else know that David Lovering does the awesome vocal work on "La La Love You"?

Pixies Hammerstein Ballroom - 11/23/09
"Dancing The Manta Ray"
"Weird At My School"
"Bailey's Walk"
"Manta Ray"
"Debaser"
"Tame"
"Wave of Mutilation"
"I Bleed"
"Here Comes Your Man"
"Dead"
"Monkey Gone to Heaven"
"Mr. Grieves"
"Crackity Jones"
"La La Love You"
"No. 13 Baby"
"There Goes My Gun"
"Hey"
"Silver"
"Gouge Away"
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"Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)"
"Into the White"
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"Isla De Encanta"
some of "Vamos"
"Nimrod's Son"
"Where is My Mind"
"Gigantic"