SpenniesFulfilling the Dream
April 12th 2007 02:24
Last Wednesday night. The 4th of April 2007. It's a date that will be etched into my memory forever, for its the date that a dream of mine was realised.
Unfortunately it wasn't my dream of waking up to find:
A) Dave Grohl in bed beside me (just thinking about that makes me weak at the knees!)
B) A closet full of Jimmy Choos, Manolo Blahniks, Marc Jacobs boots, and D&G stillettos
C) That I can suddenly eat and drink whatever I want, never have to exercise and be a perfect size 10
But then, I never really expected to fulfill any of those wishes above. Instead, what happened was..........I GOT TO SEE THE PIXIES LIVE!!!!!!
I discovered the Pixies relatively late. When their first cd came out in 1987, I was obsessed with cool bands like New Kids on the Block, Whitesnake, Poison and Def Leppard (yes, I was a really cool 13 year old huh?). In fact, it wasn't until the Pixies disbanded in 1993 that I really discovered them......great timing!
So, after 14 long years, when I heard that The Pixies would be headlining night 2 of the Best of V Festival at Sidney Myer Music Bowl, I jumped immediately online and got me a ticket!!!
I met my friends at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl early in the evening, as I was very interested in the other bands on the bill. And they didn't disappoint.
Opening the show was the NY Dolls. Despite the fact that the band has been around for 25 years, only two of the original members remain (singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain). While, to be honest, I don't know that many of their songs the raw energy of singer David Johansen was more than enough to keep the attention. Unfortunately, for the NY Dolls, it was still daylight the entire time they were onstage....which makes it hard to really capture an audience's attention. But for those of us who preferred to watch the show rather than wait in line with 4000 of our closestfriends strangers in order to get an alcoholic beverage, we were treated to a damn fine performance.
Next up were French rockers, Phoenix. A bunch of reasonably good looking, French dudes who can play rocking tunes......yep, they were a real hardship to listen to. Unfortunately, during their set, I had to take the dreaded bathroom break and missed a good chunk of their show. Thankfully I could still hear the music from the never-ending queue.
By the time I returned to my friends on the grass section of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Jarvis Cocker was hitting the stage. For those unfamiliar with Cocker, he was the frontman of Brit band Pulp.
While Jarvis is good, don't get me wrong...he's really good, his brand of melodic, pared back downtempo music really wasn't suited to the venue. At a more intimate venue, such as The Forum where he played his solo shows, he would have been amazing. Unfortunately, the open air venue just didn't have the atmosphere needed.
But that didn't worry Jarvis, who talked almost as much as sang. To be honest, whatever substances were running through Cockers veins....I wanted some. Because he was having the time of his life onstage. And I'm not so sure he was just high on life. He was long winded at times....but very entertaining.
Finally, after all the support acts were done, it was time. At 9:40pm, the lights went out. The crowd collectively lost their minds, then suddenly the stage lights came up and Frank Black (aka Black Francis, born as Charles Kittridge), Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and Dave Lovering walked onstage. No fuss, no calling out to the crowd. No waving of hands. Just straight to their places, pick up the instruments and start the show.
To be honest, I was so damn excited I can't even tell you what song they did to open the show. But they played all their hits. Here Comes Your Man (one of my personal favourites), Wave of Mutilation, Bone Machine, Broken Face, Vamos, Monkey Gone to Heaven and many many more.
The Pixies don't do much interaction with the crowd. There was a minimum of talking. The way they dress is lowkey. No gimmicks. They were there to rock. And that's what they did. The stage was sparse so the focus was on the awesome music and Black's voice. I had honestly almost forgotten that Frank Black has THE best scream in rock. The intensity with which they play their music is evident in their live sets. The music is cd quality.....but with the intensity that only comes from hearing the music live.
The Pixies finished their set with Where is My Mind. Once they were done, there was no running off stage to wait for the crowd to go mental before the encore. Instead all 4 band members stayed on stage, walking round and waving at the crowd rather self-consciously, as though they were a little embarassed at the attention. Once the guitar and drum tech's fixed their instruments, it was back to business. They played another 2 songs (again, so in awe that I can't remember the first song) to finish the show with Gigantic, sung by my favourite band member, Kim Deal.
I walked away from the show on a massive high. I had just been in the presence of rock royalty and it had lived up to every expectation I'd ever had. A week later, and I'm still on a high!
Here's a video of The Pixies playing their hit Where Is My Mind live in 2005.
Now, if I could just wake up tomorrow morning to find Dave Grohl in my bed.........
Unfortunately it wasn't my dream of waking up to find:
A) Dave Grohl in bed beside me (just thinking about that makes me weak at the knees!)
B) A closet full of Jimmy Choos, Manolo Blahniks, Marc Jacobs boots, and D&G stillettos
C) That I can suddenly eat and drink whatever I want, never have to exercise and be a perfect size 10
But then, I never really expected to fulfill any of those wishes above. Instead, what happened was..........I GOT TO SEE THE PIXIES LIVE!!!!!!
The Pixies
I discovered the Pixies relatively late. When their first cd came out in 1987, I was obsessed with cool bands like New Kids on the Block, Whitesnake, Poison and Def Leppard (yes, I was a really cool 13 year old huh?). In fact, it wasn't until the Pixies disbanded in 1993 that I really discovered them......great timing!
So, after 14 long years, when I heard that The Pixies would be headlining night 2 of the Best of V Festival at Sidney Myer Music Bowl, I jumped immediately online and got me a ticket!!!
I met my friends at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl early in the evening, as I was very interested in the other bands on the bill. And they didn't disappoint.
Opening the show was the NY Dolls. Despite the fact that the band has been around for 25 years, only two of the original members remain (singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain). While, to be honest, I don't know that many of their songs the raw energy of singer David Johansen was more than enough to keep the attention. Unfortunately, for the NY Dolls, it was still daylight the entire time they were onstage....which makes it hard to really capture an audience's attention. But for those of us who preferred to watch the show rather than wait in line with 4000 of our closest
Next up were French rockers, Phoenix. A bunch of reasonably good looking, French dudes who can play rocking tunes......yep, they were a real hardship to listen to. Unfortunately, during their set, I had to take the dreaded bathroom break and missed a good chunk of their show. Thankfully I could still hear the music from the never-ending queue.
By the time I returned to my friends on the grass section of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Jarvis Cocker was hitting the stage. For those unfamiliar with Cocker, he was the frontman of Brit band Pulp.
While Jarvis is good, don't get me wrong...he's really good, his brand of melodic, pared back downtempo music really wasn't suited to the venue. At a more intimate venue, such as The Forum where he played his solo shows, he would have been amazing. Unfortunately, the open air venue just didn't have the atmosphere needed.
But that didn't worry Jarvis, who talked almost as much as sang. To be honest, whatever substances were running through Cockers veins....I wanted some. Because he was having the time of his life onstage. And I'm not so sure he was just high on life. He was long winded at times....but very entertaining.
Frontman, Frank Black
To be honest, I was so damn excited I can't even tell you what song they did to open the show. But they played all their hits. Here Comes Your Man (one of my personal favourites), Wave of Mutilation, Bone Machine, Broken Face, Vamos, Monkey Gone to Heaven and many many more.
The Pixies don't do much interaction with the crowd. There was a minimum of talking. The way they dress is lowkey. No gimmicks. They were there to rock. And that's what they did. The stage was sparse so the focus was on the awesome music and Black's voice. I had honestly almost forgotten that Frank Black has THE best scream in rock. The intensity with which they play their music is evident in their live sets. The music is cd quality.....but with the intensity that only comes from hearing the music live.
Bass Player, Kim Deal
I walked away from the show on a massive high. I had just been in the presence of rock royalty and it had lived up to every expectation I'd ever had. A week later, and I'm still on a high!
Here's a video of The Pixies playing their hit Where Is My Mind live in 2005.
Now, if I could just wake up tomorrow morning to find Dave Grohl in my bed.........
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Comment by Jonathon
Anthroblogogy
monkey gone to heaven would have to be my favourite song of the pixies and i do i have to say that it is good to see frank black back and not black francis anymore. the pixies certainly do have the right stuff.....baby. nice review.
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Thanks a lot. They were SOOOO worth it. Monkey Gone to Heaven is my other favourite song of theirs. And I agree....I hated Black Francis...Frank Black is much better!
Kylie
Comment by Billy M
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
It was a particularly good gig! Who knows if they'll ever come to Australia again....so I made the most of it.
Kylie