by Jennifer Wagner
Thursday, November 19th was the first of a three-night stint for the Pixies at the regal, slightly hokey Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. The north side venue, built as a ballroom in 1926, houses some of the biggest national acts every year. Although there have been constant complaints about the Aragon’s acoustics, the Pixies performance dispensed with these design flaws. Amid a Spanish courtyard facade under a nightscape canopy painted on the ceiling, the Pixies, midway through a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of their iconic album Doolittle, showed Chicago that the band’s reunion looks real, real good on them.
Eleven films were created for the tour by Pixies lighting designer Myles Mangino, along with designer Paul Normandale and filmmakers Brent Felix, Judy Jacobs, Tom Winkler, and Melinda Tupling. The crowd got in the right frame of mind as we watched a nonsensical short film by Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel, “Un Chien Andalou,” (1929). A study on meaningless disconnect, this film was Black Francis’ inspiration behind Doolittle’s first track “Debaser,” and it set the tone for an evening of disturbing, sophisticated and splendidly performed art. Throughout the show these little films ran along with around half of the 21 or so songs they played. “Here Comes Your Man” featured the band’s heads in a four-way split screen, bopping along to the song; “La La Love You” had goofy animated hearts with legs running around; “I Bleed” featured blood dripping down the stage. Some of the images got disturbing, but they served to fill out the experience by touching on the album’s themes of uncovering some of the more ghastly human qualities.
The cinematic aspect of the show reminded the crowd that the Pixies are proud to possess a taste for off-kilter, sophisticated art. The b-side montage at the start of the show exemplified this as they played cuts so deep bassist Kim Deal admitted that even the band didn’t remember all of them. The Pixies always balance the refined and the raucous without ever hitting middle ground; they swing between smooth and rough, clear and distorted, bemsued and furious. They rolled into playing Doolittle with a subdued enthusiasm quite fitting Black Francis’ persona in particular. The band were well-rehearsed, possessing energy and there were no discernable mistakes in the entire production. Francis’ engagement with the audience was limited but this came off not as a snub so much as the behavior of someone who simply will not waste time with niceties and banter. He remained somewhat distant aside from a very angry “Tame” in which his performance was raw and direct and immediately grabbed the audience. There wasn’t much chatter, and what there was of it was primarily handled by Deal.
The Pixies’ years apart have given the members a chance to hone their skills and branch out. Black Francis has continued to write, record, and perform at a voluminous rate, producing 13 albums during their sabbatical. Kim Deal fronted the Breeders with sister Kelley. Guitarist Joey Santiago has produced scores for movies and television documentaries and formed The Martinis with his wife Linda Mallari. And drummer David Lovering has continued percussion but also began performing as a magician. Their talents have strengthened over that time, and they brought it all to their live show. After they finished up Doolittle, they dipped back into related b-side territory during the encores and left us an extrememly satiated audience. The Pixies played splendidly and the films added the perfect touch to an evening of thought-provoking entertainment that was over much too quickly.
