Legendary noir rockers Pixies bring power and passion to Wellington Opera House

It’s been thirty years since I fell in love with the Pixies and I was intrigued to find out whether they still harness that intoxicating mix of driving guitars, hooky melodies and dark lyrics that had the power to bring you to the edge of insanity.

The pioneering Boston-based alt-rock four-piece that has influenced everyone from David Bowie, Nirvana, Radiohead, The Strokes, Arcade Fire, to Kings of Leon kicked off its four-date New Zealand tour in Wellington on Wednesday.

There’s always a danger that in mellow middle-age, a live concert of your erstwhile musical heroes will somehow never live up to the theme to those halcyon student days.

I needn’t have worried.

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The Wellington Opera House was pure power and passion, and the crowd could feel every note, beat and strum.

The test of a great band is whether its music can be appreciated across generations and the reaction of the younger members of the audience was testament.

I went with an old uni friend who brought his 17-year-old daughter Scarlett, who plays guitar and loves the Pixies.

The band played a set consisting of a track list of their first two albums, Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa, backlit by surrealist multiscreen projected imagery.

As soon as the band had completed the eight-song Come On Pilgrim set, a throng of audience members, mostly young fans, jumped to their feet and mashed to the live music at the front of the stage.

For this old fan, it was an unforgettable chance to not only see and hear the band I’d loved my whole adult life, but also feel the raw live power of an outfit still in their prime.

For young ones such as Scarlett it was equally rousing. She said after the show it was the best concert she’s ever been to, better than Bieber, better that Sheeran.

“It was insane, it was so cool, so loud and everyone was so pumped the whole time.”

Lead singer and guitarist Black Francis, aka Frank Black, aka Charles Thompson IV led from the front with her trademark versatile vocals, and nimbly switching back and forth between acoustic and electric guitars.

Lead guitarist Joey Santiago is critical to the “Pixies sound” with his driving guitar rhythm and searing lead such as on Vamos. He seemed totally comfortable shredding searing solos or crunching the feedback distortion with his belly.

Drummer David Lovering, although balding and bespeckled, looked as youthful and energetic as ever as he hit every beat.

Long time bassist and vocalist Kim Deal left the band in 2013. Her replacement, Paz Lenchantin has the chops not only to match Deal’s pivotal bass parts, but also provided those ethereal female vocals that are so important to many Pixies compositions. What would ‘Where is my mind?’ be without those “oooo, ooooooo”s?

The crowd gave Lenchantin a cheer of approval when she launched into ‘Gigantic’ with a booming bassline.

Though the first part of the gig was a lean tribute to the band’s first two albums, the audience were treated to an extra ten songs including favourites which brought many in the crowd to their feet. It wouldn’t be a Pixies gig without Debaser, Gouge Away, Here Comes You Man and Wave of Mutilation.

Another thing I quite liked about this gig was there was no encore. After giving the crowd all the good stuff, the band turned on the lights, came out the front, bowed and waved and said goodnight. The audience responded by standing and clapping and that was it. What a great show.

The remaining shows are at the Auckland Town Hall on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 December (Tickets are still available to Thursday’s gig as of Wednesday night). They’ll also play Christchurch Town Hall on Saturday, December 17.