Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

Charles/Black Francis/Frank Black

Well, even though it seems as half my blog readership hasn’t heard of the Pixies, which, to me, is about on par with not having heard of mushrooms. ANYWAY, I still feel like posting a review. It will entertain me, and that’s fun… you know… for me.

The gig was on Wednesday night at the Ryman Auditorium, which is the old home of the Grand Old Opry. It’s an excellent space. I’d been into the lobby yet hadn’t ever seen anyone play there.

This was a reunion tour. The big fear I had was that they’d be doing it for the money, hating every minute of it, and that it would be obvious in their performance. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. They sounded really excellent. The crowd was so grateful just to see them all together. I think age has mellowed them all a bit. Kim Deal is still chain smoking. Frank Black (or are we calling him Black Francis again?) alluded to the fact that Kim had a sore throat, but to me, she sounded like she always did. She still had that freakish happy expression on her face the whole time like she always did. They played lots of their “hits” (although they never really got much radio play outside of college stations). They also played a lot of songs that I used to skip past on the CDs!

They sounded excellent. They aren’t the most dynamic performers ever, but I saw them back in the day, and they weren’t dynamic back then either. At the end of the main set, instead of leaving the stage, they came to the front of the stage to accept a long standing o, and they had the lights turned on to the crowd, and they accepted the adulation, and they waved and smiled and seemed happy. Throughout the show, FB (BF?) and KD had good rapport, seemed to get along fine. Like I said, I was worried they’d have the doing-it-for-the-money feel, but I think they were truly enjoying themselves. Man, I didn’t remember how excellent the drumming was.

The Thrills opened. They were just as dull last night as they were when I saw them open for Gomez. A seriously yawner of an opening act. Seems they could have done better.

If only I could jet to NYC for the final night of the tour. The midnight gig has 50 Foot Wave opening. That would be a total DREAM!

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I found an interesting review of the Gomez gig on Sunday. It explains why the Thrills played for such a short period of time, and why the crowd wasn’t paying NEARLY enough attention to Gomez. HELLO?!! So you go to a gig, and the band you didn’t go to see is fucking AWESOME… What do you do? You STFU and listen! That’s what. I hate people who go to gigs to be seen or to seem cool. I’m generally there to listen and watch and participate and to have a great time. I have no time for the losers who hang at the bar, trying to pick up chicks. If you’re looking for me, I’ll be right up front, rockin’ and rollin’!!

The other thing that’s funny about this review is the picture of the sound board. For a short time, I was standing on the landing just above this sound board, and I just kept thinking how completey excessive it was, especially for the Thrills’ acoustic set.

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Gomez ROOLZ! 😛 

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Saw Gomez again last night. I can’t remember if this is the third or fourth time I’ve seen them. I’ll have to check my ticket stub folder to be sure. Gomez kicked ass, as per usual. After an adequate but fairly dull opening act (The Thrills), the announcer said that Gomez could not make it and that the Gomez cover band, Harpoon, would be playing instead. This was, of course, a silly lie for shits and giggles.

I was a nerd and copied down the play list. Here’s what it said:

• Nothing (Nothing is Wrong)
• Trombone (Love is Better Than a Warm Trombone)
• Do One (Do One)
• Catch (Catch Me Up)
• Free (Free to Run)
• Ping (Ping One Down)
• Gun (In Our Gun)
• Breeze (Here Comes the Breeze)
• 5/Yellow (I think this is a Super Furry Animals cover, only because this lady next to me said so.)
• There (There It Was)
• Fill (Fill My Cup)
• Last (I think this is a Monkees cover, but I’m sick of trying to find out which one!)
• B.Y.L.B.H. (Bring Your Lovin’ Back Here)
• Silence (Silence)
• Arrested (Get Myself Arrested)
• Donkey (I always see this on their play list and always immediately forget what song it was they played. I know I know it, probably every word. I’m too tired to get to the bottom of this right now!)
• Piccadilly (Whippin’ Piccadilly)

I put a sign next to the play list before they came out that said “Play California.” It’s one of my very favorite Gomez songs, and they never play it. So mid-way into the set, I pointed my sign out to Tom. He told me, “You don’t understand. It’s very complicated. And we’re just Harpoon, the Gomez cover band.” Talking to the band when you’re up front may be cool, but hearing “California” would have been way cooler, but that’s just me.

As I said, I’m a bit beat, so no real detailed review. Just wanted to share some pictures and the joy. I heart Gomez! 😀

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