Hudson's Tour De Minneapolis Finally Ends
The Pixies at Roy Wilkins
Five weeks after witnessing the New York Yankees eliminate the Minnesota Twins from advancing to the American League championship, the Scott Hudson Tour De Minneaplis is finally coming to it's conclusion with a sold out show by the rejuvenated, reunited Pixies.
I almost have this travelling road show down to a science. The day begins at 8:30, Traci is picked up at 9:30, and we hit the road after loading up on coffee. This time we brought the portable DVD player, and we watched the recently reissued Dazed and Confused on the way up to St. Paul.
After a quick stop to register at the hotel, we headed over to the CC Club once again. After a couple of drinks, we headed towards St. Paul. We warmed up a bit more at a pub right across the street from the auditorium, and we were pleasantly surprised to hear nothing but Pixies tunes during our stay. After making our way into the venue, I immediately hit the merch stand for a shirt for myself and my son, and also pre-purchased a copy of the show from DiscLive. In case you're not familiar with this service, DiscLive is a company that makes soundboard recordings of the Pixies' entire tour. You purchase a voucher and twenty minutes after the show you turn it in for a two disc recording of the show. I hope this idea catches on, as I don't have enough patience to wait the mandatory week or two for illicit recordings of the shows I attend to finally hit the internet.
The Datsuns were playing as we entered, and I must say that I was extremely disappointed. I thought their first album was a great garage rock recording, but onstage in St. Paul I felt like I was watching a hometown metal band ten years past their prime. It was just sludge, and wasn't helped by the poor acoustics of the venue. Luckily, we missed about half of their set.
Finally, the moment we were waiting for. Frank Black, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago, and David Lovering hit the stage and immediately launch into "Is She Weird", followed by their most excellent cover of the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Head On". It was 1989 all over again. Traci and I danced and sang for the next 90 minutes.
From the reviews I read online, this performance completely blew away their show from the previous evening. Santiago is one of the most underrated guitarists in the world, and they all seemed to have a great time, particularly the always smiling Deal. There was even some rare banter with the audience, particularly when they screwed up the ending to "Nimrod's Song". A few songs even appeared to be spontaneously added to the setlist.
My only complaint is the conlusion. After tearing through "Vamos", Santiago sat his guitar on a chair and played with feedback for ten minutes or so. While it was cool, one more song would have been a more climatic conclusion. But who's complaining? They played pretty much every thing I wanted.
After waiting for our copy of the show, we headed into the traffic jam, singing along with our favorite moments. We headed back to the CC Club and reminisced over more than a couple Jack and Cokes.
The next morning, I probably felt worse than any of the other shows of the past month, although that probably had more to do with the cardboard pillows in our hotel than any real hangover. Once again, we ate some grease at the Uptown and headed home, this time to the accompaniment of the DVD of 200 Cigarettes.
AS per my last couple of "reviews", here's the setlist for the show:
Is She Weird
Head On
U Mass
Monkey
Cactus
Caribou
#13
Broken Face (punk rock)
Crackety
Isla
Something Against you (punk rock)
Hey
Mr. Grieves
I Bleed
Velouria
Dead
Gouge
Tame
Gigantic
River Euphretes
Debaser
Wave
In Heaven
Winterlong
La La Love You
Nimrod's Son (beginning of "illegal medley")
Holiday Song
Here Comes Your Man
Where is My Mind?
Nimrod's Son (derailing train version)
Encore
Wave UK Surf
Vamos
The Pixies at Roy Wilkins
Five weeks after witnessing the New York Yankees eliminate the Minnesota Twins from advancing to the American League championship, the Scott Hudson Tour De Minneaplis is finally coming to it's conclusion with a sold out show by the rejuvenated, reunited Pixies.
I almost have this travelling road show down to a science. The day begins at 8:30, Traci is picked up at 9:30, and we hit the road after loading up on coffee. This time we brought the portable DVD player, and we watched the recently reissued Dazed and Confused on the way up to St. Paul.
After a quick stop to register at the hotel, we headed over to the CC Club once again. After a couple of drinks, we headed towards St. Paul. We warmed up a bit more at a pub right across the street from the auditorium, and we were pleasantly surprised to hear nothing but Pixies tunes during our stay. After making our way into the venue, I immediately hit the merch stand for a shirt for myself and my son, and also pre-purchased a copy of the show from DiscLive. In case you're not familiar with this service, DiscLive is a company that makes soundboard recordings of the Pixies' entire tour. You purchase a voucher and twenty minutes after the show you turn it in for a two disc recording of the show. I hope this idea catches on, as I don't have enough patience to wait the mandatory week or two for illicit recordings of the shows I attend to finally hit the internet.
The Datsuns were playing as we entered, and I must say that I was extremely disappointed. I thought their first album was a great garage rock recording, but onstage in St. Paul I felt like I was watching a hometown metal band ten years past their prime. It was just sludge, and wasn't helped by the poor acoustics of the venue. Luckily, we missed about half of their set.
Finally, the moment we were waiting for. Frank Black, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago, and David Lovering hit the stage and immediately launch into "Is She Weird", followed by their most excellent cover of the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Head On". It was 1989 all over again. Traci and I danced and sang for the next 90 minutes.
From the reviews I read online, this performance completely blew away their show from the previous evening. Santiago is one of the most underrated guitarists in the world, and they all seemed to have a great time, particularly the always smiling Deal. There was even some rare banter with the audience, particularly when they screwed up the ending to "Nimrod's Song". A few songs even appeared to be spontaneously added to the setlist.
My only complaint is the conlusion. After tearing through "Vamos", Santiago sat his guitar on a chair and played with feedback for ten minutes or so. While it was cool, one more song would have been a more climatic conclusion. But who's complaining? They played pretty much every thing I wanted.
After waiting for our copy of the show, we headed into the traffic jam, singing along with our favorite moments. We headed back to the CC Club and reminisced over more than a couple Jack and Cokes.
The next morning, I probably felt worse than any of the other shows of the past month, although that probably had more to do with the cardboard pillows in our hotel than any real hangover. Once again, we ate some grease at the Uptown and headed home, this time to the accompaniment of the DVD of 200 Cigarettes.
AS per my last couple of "reviews", here's the setlist for the show:
Is She Weird
Head On
U Mass
Monkey
Cactus
Caribou
#13
Broken Face (punk rock)
Crackety
Isla
Something Against you (punk rock)
Hey
Mr. Grieves
I Bleed
Velouria
Dead
Gouge
Tame
Gigantic
River Euphretes
Debaser
Wave
In Heaven
Winterlong
La La Love You
Nimrod's Son (beginning of "illegal medley")
Holiday Song
Here Comes Your Man
Where is My Mind?
Nimrod's Son (derailing train version)
Encore
Wave UK Surf
Vamos
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