This is huge music news. I remember very vividly interviewing the Pixies, especially Kim Deal, in the locker room of the Oberlin Field House in the winter of '91 or '92 - Daivd Bowie was hanging out with us also as his son Joey went to Oberlin at the time and he had a Tin Machine performance the next night in Cleveland.
Though hopeful speculation has been whirling about since the day they broke up in 1993 - and came up in our interview with Frank Black in September '02 - as of this moment it's official: THE PIXIES ARE GETTING BACK TOGETHER.
- Band to Play Series of Warm Up Dates, Co-Headline Coachella Festival, Head to Europe
DVD, CD to be Released
They're talking, they're rehearsing, and they're going to perform together for the first time in more than a decade. The Pixies , acclaimed as the most influential pioneer of the late '80s alt/rock movement, and who effectively blazed the path for groups like Nirvana, Radiohead and Pearl Jam to rise to superstardom, have officially confirmed their much-anticipated reunion. The original line-up - Frank Black/vocals, guitar; Joey Santiago/guitar; Kim Deal/bass; and David Lovering/drums - are already holed up in a Southern California rehearsal space working together for the first time since they disbanded in 1993.
In April, The Pixies will kick off an 11-city "warm up" tour of North America, marking the first time they've toured together since 1992's massive "ZOO TV" in support of U2. This string of dates will culminate on May 1 when the band co-headlines (with Radiohead and Kraftwerk) the first night of this year's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival to be held at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, CA. The band will then embark on a European tour starting May 28 and ending July 10.
But wait, there's more. Later this year, 4AD/Beggars Banquet will release PIXIES, a DVD that features four elements: eight Pixies' videos ("Debaser," "Here Comes Your Man," "Monkey Gone to Heaven," "Velouria," "Dig For Fire/Allison," "Alec Eiffel," and "Head On;" a live concert filmed in 1988 at the Town and Country Club in London; the definitive Pixies documentary entitled "Gouge," which features interviews with Radiohead's Thom Yorke, David Bowie, Bono, among others, as well as "behind the scenes" footage. And if this isn't enough, a "best of" album with the working title "Wave Of Mutilation - Best of Pixies" will be in-stores later this year and will offer twenty-three tracks including a remixed "Debaser," "Here Comes Your Man," "Gigantic," "Allison," "Nimrod's Son," "Dig For Fire," and "Monkey Gone to Heaven."
Article comments
1 - shannon
Oh BLESSED, blessed day! All my dreams have come true. Search "Kim Deal" or "Pixies" on my site if you don't believe me. I've got an utter Pixies fetish.
2 - Eric Olsen
I'm pretty charged myself Shannon!
3 - Jim Carruthers
Wow, this is great news. I spent some time with Charles on the roller coaster at La Ronde, and several times had cocktails with the Deal sisters. And I had a thing for field hockey players.
And the next thing you know ...
4 - BRICKLAYER
As Gov. Dean says: "Yeeeeeeahhhhhhh!!!!"
5 - Eric Olsen
Another interesting angle is that despite the intensity of their fans, their stellar critical standing and influence on so many, they have never really been super popular with the masses. This could be one reunion that actually transcends original popularity.
6 - Craig Lyndall
Bigger than a breast on National Television? Eric, have you lost your mind? ;-)
7 - Eric Olsen
Perhaps not bigger in the mass media sense, but I am guessing more artistic import.
8 - Mark Saleski
this is pretty danged cool.
i knew nothing about the Pixies back in the day...my first exposure being the acoustic (sort of) verions of "Wave Of Mutilation" in the movie Pump Up The Volume.
...went to the store, couldn't find that tune...so i got Tromp Le Monde.
yow! it blew my head off.
9 - Eric Olsen
I was hooked when I heard "Bone Machine" in '88.
10 - Jim Carruthers
I can trump you all because I first heard the Pixies via a tape of "Hello Pilgrim" via 4AD after reading a short clip in the NME,. I made copies of the tape and everybody I gave a copy to thought it was brilliant.
Then I saw the band at Foufounes Electric with 20 other people. Then they released "Surfer Rosa" and it had the tits in Canada.
11 - Eric Olsen
Smug
12 - Mark Saleski
I can trump you all...
i went down on kim deal.
13 - Jim Carruthers
You kiss your mother with that mouth?
14 - Mark Saleski
i will now step aside so as to avoid the lightening bolt...
15 - Robert Brandt
"Monkey's Gone To Heaven" is HUGE on the open mic circuit nowadays. Really!
16 - Carl
The Pixies will be a 'special guest stars' for 5 David Bowie concerts in the US in late May/June - after the Sterophonics have done their bit (they finish 27th May).