REVIEW: Pixies at Manchester Apollo
Somehow, Pixies appear to be speeding up as they get older.
Saturday (May 24) night's show at the Apollo is their sixth in Manchester in under three years; they were here as recently as last March, for a three-night stand at the Albert Hall that saw them play the two lesser-heralded albums from their heyday, Bossanova and Trompe le Monde, in full.
Now, they're back to facing forwards again with a new record, The Night the Zombies Came, their first with new bassist Emma Richardson.
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It is largely of a piece with the other records the band have made since they returned to the studio in 2012: taut, melodic, and enjoyable while it lasts, but largely lacking the bite that made the Pixies of the late 80s and early 90s one of the most important bands in indie rock history.
Happily, said bite is in plentiful supply; this is the final show of a six-week European tour, but any lingering suspicion around fatigue is blown away by an opening salvo of classics.
The first 15 minutes alone finds room for top-tier hits ('Monkey Gone to Heaven', 'Wave of Mutilation') and beloved covers, with a fierce take on The Jesus and Mary Chain's 'Head On' and a moving rendition of 'In Heaven Everything Is Fine' from David Lynch's Eraserhead, in tribute to the late filmmaker.
Pixies played that song the first time they came to Manchester, when they played the International in 1988.
Frontman Black Francis is not normally given to interaction with the crowd between songs, but he pauses to recall that the band assembled their first road crew here, and dedicate 'Here Comes Your Man' to Chas Banks, their first tour manager, who died recently.
As Francis tells it, Banks explained his retirement from the road by saying that he'd calculated he might only have another 500 Saturday nights left.
And Pixies played Saturday night like it was their last; tearing through the golden era of their catalogue with an almost unnerving ferocity.
The highlights arrive thick and fast: a brooding, atmospheric 'Gouge Away' and searing takes on 'Cactus' and 'Bone Machine' are all candidates for the night's standout, although 'Tame', 'Caribou' and 'Debaser' are reminders that there are few more exhilarating sounds in modern rock than when Francis summons up his scream.
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The final third of the set is an onslaught of favourites and makes up for the fact that they play six new songs in succession before it, leading to a little bit of a mid-set lull.
Richardson's prominent vocal role on the penultimate track, an increasingly frantic 'Into the White', suggests she is now properly a part of the fold as opposed to a hired hand, but it's the febrile onstage chemistry between Francis, guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering that serves as the most potent reminder of why Pixies remain so cherished after nearly 40 years.
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