Pioneering alt-indie giants Pixies, or the band who influenced your favourite band, were the latest act to take to the stage at Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl. Part of the Sounds of the City festival, which saw Foals, Lewis Capaldi, James and Sam Fender all play over the past few weeks.
Opening the show were Dutch band Klangstof and Manchester’s The Slow Readers Club, both well received by the crowds filing into the small amphitheatre venue. Klangstof opened with melodic alt-indie, while Slow Readers made an apt reference to the latest government scandal by dedicating their track ‘Tell No Lies’ to Boris Johnson.
The sun was still shining bright as Pixies took to the stage as the Boston indie rockers opened their mammoth set with ‘Cactus, ’following it up with surf-rock hit ‘Here Comes Your Man.’
Few bands have found themselves in a place like Pixies, as the critical influence for several huge bands and musicians since their formation in 1986. Despite over 30 years in the industry, they had more than enough stamina to keep up an hour and a half setlist, with singer Black Francis’ distinct vocals as strong as they’ve ever been.
With such a longstanding and stellar career in music, playing a non-stop hour and a half set doesn’t seem like a struggle for Pixies.
While the set included music from the span of their career, it leaned in favour of their popular albums Doolittle and Surfer Rosa, with the slightest hint of their upcoming album Doggerel with the new single ‘There’s A Moon On.’ Sticking to the classics went down predictably well with the crowd, with ‘Debaser,’ ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven,’ and ‘Bone Machine’ effortlessly getting fans going.
Alongside their original tracks were covers of Neil Young’s ‘Winterlong’ and The Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Head On’ slotting in perfectly next ‘Wave Of Mutilation’ and their characteristic loud/quiet songs such as ‘Gouge Away.’ Bassist Paz Lenchantin stepped up for vocal duties on ‘Gigantic’ – filling the gap left by original bassist Kim Deal.
Matching the energy of the superset were the fans gathered in the crowd, dancing and jumping along all the way until ‘Where Is My Mind,’ which saw the moshing replaced by waved lighters (or phone torches) and echoing “oohs” throughout the crowd.
The band didn’t need to spend much time on showmanship, instead allowing their catalogue to speak for itself, with the exception of guitarist Joey Santiago even at one point improvising by using his guitar cable as an instrument.
And speak for itself, the songs did – with a polished 30-song-strong set packed with crowd-pleasers, Pixies proved they’re still able to capture the hearts of fans, old and young alike.
Words by Brenna Cooper
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