"The Pixies Sell Out," the tour was called. Alternative rock legends The Pixies, who roared through the late '80s and early '90s with a handful of highly influential albums and a clattering loud-soft dynamic that influenced countless bands, decided to reunite for a brief worldwide tour in 2004.
It was probably mainly about the money for the band, but also maybe a chance to try and heal lingering wounds over the breakup. For fans, it was an unbelievable chance to see the band behind "Monkey Gone To Heaven," "Gouge Away," "Debaser" and many more grinding classic pop rock songs.
In their bittersweet documentary LoudQUIETLoud: A film about the Pixies, directors Steven Cantor and Matthew Galkin got remarkable access to the Pixies during the course of their reunion tour – catching in their intimate portrait not just the clash and bang of their concerts, but the nervous moments in between gigs, the never-ending slide show of roadside scenery, a sense of the personalities behind the Pixies.
Many rock documentaries focus on the out-of-control antics, the ego-mania. What's surprising about this is that it's a quiet, bittersweet movie about a very loud rock band who have settled into the strange uncertainty of aging. They're all in their late thirties or early forties, a bit battered – the three men are all bald, all of them are a bit heavier than the old days.
Bassist Kim Deal is a tentative recovering alcoholic who insists her twin sister Kelley chaperone her on tour, guitarist Joey Santiago misses his family, frontman Charles "Frank Black" Thompson is still uncertain how he relates the Pixies to the rest of his life and drummer David Lovering is a bit of an overall wreck whose grip on sobriety seems very faint. All four are shown to be kind of stunned at the Pixies' growing fame since their breakup, unsure if this band is how their lives will be defined in the end. But they're willing to give it another go.
Yet when they get on stage, the old magic still erupts. I caught the Pixies reunion tour at an April 2004 show in Thompson's hometown of Eugene, Oregon, and they were on fire – blasting out feedback and rage and melody like there'd been no hiatus. The only thing that seemed a bit off about the gig was how serious and professional they all were – there were a few smiles, some gentle stage patter, but no real sense that there was a bond of love between bandmates. Raw and fiery as the music was, the band themselves seemed strangely staid. In their excellent concert footage, Cantor and Galkin show the contrast between the ferocious band onstage and the repressed, restrained four individuals off stage.
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites.