The week before last, when I celebrated the Pixies’ appearance at UMass and thought about the future, little did I know it would include one final opportunity to see them, as their long-awaited Boston return was announced a few days later. I made a pledge to myself that I wouldn’t try too hard, spend too much money, or worry too much about getting tickets.

So when I sat down to my computer at 11:59 last Saturday morning and managed to get two tickets pretty easily in the three minutes it took for the show to sell out, I felt pretty lucky. Little did I know just how lucky; there’s little comparison among a handball gym, a convention center auditorium, a basketball arena, and a medium-sized rock club. Three of them are passable places to see a great band put on a great show, but one of them, especially from the fourth row center stage, is an amazing place to see a once-in-a-lifetime concert.

The line for will call was pretty long, as not too many people probably paid $19 to have their tickets UPS’ed to them, but everyone seemed happy to wait. I ran into a friend who knows the Pixies’ guitar tech; she’d just gotten off the Pixies’ tour bus and had accidentally left her cell phone and keys on board, a cheap excuse for a return visit after the show, I’m sure… Someone was passing out pixiesdiscs.com flyers (I knew somebody good was behind the packaging) was passing them out up and down the line; I placed my order as soon as I got tickets.

I had heard that David Lovering had been into magic since the Pixies broke up 12 years ago, but I never thought we’d see any onstage, besides the occasional drumstick twirl. While it was technically ‘mentalism,’ his act was the most interesting opening act I think I’ve seen since Corn Mo opened for Speed Levitch’s The Ongoing Wow – and it was certainly better than Ghostigital (sorry, Einar) and Mission of Burma (sorry, rock snobs everywhere) on this tour. “Have you seen the Pixies before? I’ve seen every show they’ve ever done, and I think you’ll enjoy them a lot,” he said to the ten women he gathered on stage for a little mid-reading card trick. He guessed which cards the women had picked, finishing with the “I’ve got the card you picked in my wallet” trick, with a slight variation. The trick was fun, if a little long, but ever mindful of the Real World Philly Party w/ Karamo, Shavonda & Landon that would clear out the Avalon by 10pm, he kept it to only one trick, and after a brief setup, the band came on stage by eight pm.

What a difference a couple hundred feet makes. To see Charles/Frank/BF up close, with his subtle black eyeliner and short, pudgy limbs, manhandling the guitar as he yelped and whooped into microphone, made the experience altogether different from the other shows. Aside from a couple of louts in turtlenecks (?!) who muscled their way to the front and the left after one song, everyone was respectful and enough in awe that they didn’t make much of a ruckus.

Like each of the previous concerts, they managed to achieve a kind of musical nirvana somewhere near the middle of the show, going from one phenomenal song to another, mixing the heavy, crunching yelps and drum kicks with the terrific pop melodies of Joey’s guitar lines.



The most entertaining part of the show had to be their three attempts at “Here Comes Your Man.” Between Joey’s strummed opening chord and Kim’s bass line a second later, they couldn’t get it right, trying once, then playing “In Heaven,” then trying again after that, and, having messed it up again, abandoning it until the encore, at which point they nailed it and the crowd went wild.



It was an unforgettable evening, and, thanks to the Avalon’s scheduling, I even had time to get some chocolate frozen yogurt with Reese’s pieces and raspberry smushed in from Ankara and be home by ten. Not particularly rock and roll, but it sounds great to me.