Pixies at The Royal Albert Hall Review

Any band that has survived long enough to celebrate forty years of being on the road and in the studio has earned a spot at a prestigious venue. Pixies, for all their alternative rock thrills and the mismatch on paper of planting them at The Royal Albert Hall, are the perfect draw for such a venue. An established rock act with a decades-old discography of greatest hits and fresh material from The Night the Zombies Came that is well worth hearing. An anniversary is more of an excuse to get back on the road and play through some of those lesser-known pieces, under the guise of revisiting underpraised or overlooked songs. That’s exactly what the Black Francis-fronted band offers in their staggering Royal Albert Hall appearance. Those who have seen the band before will know what to expect from their on-stage mannerisms, so Francis and the band are chattier than ever when compared to their brilliantly moody and always cool silence at other shows.  

Hearing them introduce this song or joke about that moment is nice, but the best moments come from the long stretches of instrumental and vocal suspense the band conjures so easily. They’re born naturals with that, and much of their setlist, seemingly thrown together as and when the mood suits a song, is a marvellous experience. Some all-time great songs feature in their set, with Here Comes Your Man an early highlight. But before that, Francis addresses the audience. They’ll open with some new songs, the words no fan ever wants to hear. But brace for some excellent instrumental displays from Pixies. They’re a band whose guarantee comes from the live effort they put into place. Irrespective of the studio quality, their run-through of Doolittle to The Night the Zombies Came is filled with thrills and deep cuts you didn’t know you needed. Vamos is a real thrill, a small contingent of the standing crowd bouncing away to every song really does add a flavour of community to proceedings.  

It’s a necessary addition. Watching from a padded seat close to the stage has its benefits, too. But there’d be a thrill in throwing yourself around to Mr. Grieves or Into the White too. Watching on is just as fun as being in the mix. Sitting on the side closest to Joey Santiago is where you want to be. Between playing the guitar with his hat to jabbing the aux into the air and tooling around with the noise it makes, he’s one of rock’s greatest guitarists. He’s proven as much over forty years, and this celebration from Pixies is for the three founding members and their magnificent bass guitarist addition, Emma Richardson. Fantastic work from her and drummer David Lovering as usual, but not to be taken for granted. They’re both an incredible foil for when Francis wishes to take a step out of the spotlight. He looks more comfortable hanging out by the drum kit than he does front and centre, and for good reason.  

With an anniversary show comes certain expectations. Changing up the tempo of Where is My Mind and not having it close out the show is the perfect concession to make for having to include it. Admittedly one of their best songs, but when you have Monkey Gone to Heaven, Debaser, and a cover of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Head On, it’s hard to focus on just their major hit. A crammed setlist filled with some of their very best works and a few hidden gems. It’s the necessity of an anniversary tour, but it’s not all that different to when the band played a show in Leeds last year. Good. That quality reigns once more, the band are in fine form and it’s incredible to hear not just how well the lyrical quality has held up after all these years, but the vocal and instrumental skill on display is still as sharp and finely-tuned as it is on those all-time studio greats. This is not a victory lap, Pixies aren’t that type of band, but this sort of show is a deserving look into their history.