It is hard to describe the anticipation the crowd at Minneapolis' Fine Line music venue felt Tuesday night as they waited for the Pixies to play their first show in nearly 12 years. On one hand, the lucky fans understood they were privy to one of the most historic concert events of the past decade. On the other, however, an unspoken fear lingered that the show would be a disaster, making the band's improbable reunion a short-lived one.
The real litmus test of the reunited band's long-term viability would be bassist Kim Deal's interactions with frontman Frank Black. Twelve years ago the two had left on infamously bad terms after Black broke up the band for a solo career then said a number of disparaging things about Deal, even alluding to the inherent inadequacy of female rock musicians. Oddly enough, however, it was Deal, not Black, who found the most success post-Pixies-her band The Breeders achieved a fair level of fame during alternative's heyday, largely thanks to the inescapable single \Cannonball.""
Consequently, Deal was the wild card prior to the reunion. With Black's solo career stalling and guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering virtually off the map altogether, Deal appeared to be the only member who didn't particularly need the Pixies anymore.
Returning to a supporting position, subordinate to a man who had cut her down so badly before, certainly couldn't have been easy, and fans feared that if anything were to prematurely end this reunion it would almost certainly be renewed tensions between an arrogant Black and a dissatisfied Deal.
Thankfully, fans' anxieties were put to rest early on in the set. Make no mistake about it, this was Deal's show. She was the first member to step on stage, grinning from ear to ear, and the last member to leave after the encore, making a special effort to shake the hand of every fan within reach.
Her bass was placed notably higher in the mix than is typical for most bands, and the set list made a special effort to include every song the band recorded with Deal on lead vocals, even their cover of Neil Young's ""Winterlong."" Perhaps tellingly, the band's set also downplayed material from the two final Pixies albums, recorded at the height of the band's tensions and marked by a significant decrease in Deal's contributions.
With Deal visibly pleased to be playing with the group again, the band opened on a strong note with ""Bone Machine"" and ""Wave of Mutilation"" before they began to show signs of rust. Many of the early songs were marked by small mistakes, and the group didn't seem particularly loose.
Thankfully, the band warmed up as the evening progressed, and the final third of the show saw Black's vocals in especially fine form as he yelled, screeched and squealed his way through rockers like ""Dead,"" ""Tame,"" ""Gouge Away"" and ""Caribou."" The contrast between Black's guttural assault and Deal's girlish coo remained as effective as ever.
The night ended with a surreal encore atoned for any shortcomings of the first set. During one particularly surreal moment, the audience fell completely silent when a medley of ""Wave of Mutilation"" (reprised in its slower b-side version) and ""Where is My Mind?"" was introduced with a dreamy take of David Lynch's ""In Heaven,"" that found Deal singing lead instead of Black, a telling deviation from the original.
Now that the playing field has been leveled between the band's two most dynamic personalities, the dream of every rock lover has finally become a reality: The Pixies are actually going to pull this reunion off.
