The Pixies, Eden Project, Cornwall, 26 June 2026
The Pixies are not a subtle live band. They crank the volume up, increase the tempo, scream and shout, and turn most of their music into stomping rawk. The intricate layers of their studio recordings and the strange vocal harmonies are often put aside in favour of ear-shattering high-speed versions that end just in time for the next one to begin.
There’s no denying that original band members Black Francis, Joey Santiago and David Lovering, along with new bassist Emma Richardson, can not only play but are a great team, who musically gel together. Richardson’s bass is like sprung damage incarnate, Santiago is a one-man guitar extravaganza, and Francis has lost none of his vocal dexterity or menace. When Richrdson does sing along or against Francis, the results are exquisitely spooky.
Although he was born in Boston, Francis’ songs are populated by distant relatives of Southern Gothic characters. They are psychologically damaged, religiously indoctrinated, and inclined to violence, lust and murder, not to mention illicit carnal activity. Their God watches over them, all-seeing, and they know it, but it doesn’t stop them or change them, nor the devils, demons or evil strangers around them. Francis ventriloquizes David Lynch’s Lady in the Radiator, fetishizes monkeys sent in to space through the lens of mystical numerology, surfs on a Wave of Mutilation and travels to the Planet of Sound.
The Pixies rely on dynamics tonight, moving betweem extremely loud and not-so-loud, with brief, ecstatic guitar accentuations and explosions of sound. When they do slow down and extend their music it is a relief; too many songs simply come to a sudden end. It’s unclear if this is an attempt to recapture punk inspiration or to simply play as many songs as possible. We get a mix of favourites and newer songs from the reformed band’s albums. particularly Doggerel, whose ‘The Lord Has Come Back Today’ and ‘Pagan Man’ are highlights, along with several earlier and better known songs.
I’d not seen the Pixies in concert before and I was not prepared for the headrush or sonic hammering of the music. Having attuned to what was going on the songs did at times blur into one, but that didn’t seem to bother most of the audience, who sang along, danced and crowd-surfed throughout the evening. The overlong toilet and bar queues and the overpriced burgers – including the least spicy chillburger I have ever come across – didn’t seem to phase anyone else either, although that might have been the result of much swilling of two-pint glasses of variously flavoured ciders.
I’m glad The Pixies got back together and are still touring, pleased they can rock out with the best of them and know how to entertain a crowd, but I’d like to see them give their uneasy songs of transgression, deviance and repression a more articulate and surreal arrangement when played live. These songs of love and hate, life and death, lust and longing, faith and doubt, deserve better than the pummeling they were given tonight.
Rupert Loydell
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