Photos: The Pixies in Asbury Park

'Doolittle' at Convention Hall

Fans thought they pretty much knew what to expect when they walked into a chilly Convention Hall last Friday night (Oct. 28). A band of reunited and road-tested alt-rock architects, namely the Pixies, performing what is arguably their greatest album, in this case 1989's "Doolittle," along with the corresponding B-sides and assorted other classics. The Asbury Park audience got that, but they were almost surely not prepared for how mind-blowlingly great the whole night was.

Forget the fact that Black Francis, Kim Deal, David Lovering and Joey Santiago have only recorded two new songs - one of which was a Warren Zevon cover - since reuniting in 2003, and that they've been touring with basically the same set list behind the 20th anniversary of "Doolittle" for a few years now; on Friday night, none of that mattered. They played like exactly what they are: one of the great American bands of the last few decades, reclaiming their legacy for fans who never thought they'd get the chance to see them live.

On record, "Doolittle" is great, but as a live experience, it's downright stunning: pop-leaning cuts like "Here Comes Your Man" and "Wave of Mutilation" balance out more confrontational material like "Mr. Grieves" and "Crackity Jones," and the full-album format ensured that fans heard cherished deep cuts such as "La La Love You" and "Silver."

Francis showed himself to be in top voice early in the night with a knockout rendition of "Tame," while Deal charmed the crowd with between-song banter and killed with her bass work and backing vocals.

Opening with a screening of Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali's surrealist 1929 short "Un Chien Andalou," the show also featured creative and cinematic production, with films being shown during many of the songs, an impressive light show and a heavy but appropriate use of smoke machines durning "Into the White."

While Pixies fans may still be begging for a new album, as long as they continue to put on a live show as stunning as the "Doolittle" tour this writer couldn't be happier with the 2011 incarnation of a band few expected to have around at this stage of the game.

Here's the set list from Friday night:

1. Dancing The Manta Ray 
2. Weird At My School 
3. Bailey's Walk 
4. Manta Ray 
5. Debaser 
6. Tame 
7. Wave Of Mutilation 
8. I Bleed 
9. Here Comes Your Man 
10. Dead 
11. Monkey Gone To Heaven 
12. Mr. Grieves 
13. Crackity Jones 
14. La La Love You 
15. No. 13 Baby 
16. There Goes My Gun 
17. Hey 
18. Silver 
19. Gouge Away
    

Encore:

1. Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf) 
2. Into The White 

Encore 2:

1. Isla De Encanta
2. Nimrod's Son
3. Caribou
4. Where Is My Mind? 

- Alex Biese

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