Everyone and their life-partner�s uncle have already talked about the Pixies show in Chicago but me. And since I�d like to update once more before November is over (oh sweet November, where have you gone?) I thought I would say this:� The show was excellent. Don�t get me wrong, but with the crappy sound in the Aragon Ballroom and the way they blew through the set, I couldn�t help but think if I would have just invited about 372 people to my studio apartment to stand on top of each other, sweat, and listen to The Pixies Live at the BBC CD on �shuffle,� well, the experience might have been pretty much the same. Only I would have made a bundle off of charging $3 for six ounces of water.
� There was not much of The Joy in my fellow audience members and hey, those people don�t owe me anything, but if you took a second to look around the area, in which I was standing, BEHOLD! A lot of non-smiling �thirty-somethings� dressed in black, all meekly bopping the their heads to the likes of �Where Is My Mind,� and, oh every. Single. Fucking. Song. Granted, I realize the Pixies aren�t ever going to land a spot on a Totally Dance Hits! MTV compilation or anything. Oh, their music is deep, dark, meaningful blah blah blah, but damnit people, most of you have waited years (and then months after buying tickets!) for this. The Tool Cool for the Rock Show thing? Really? You�re still keeping that posture up after your 23rd birthday? Umm, okay.
� Did I mention the show was really excellent and I should not be so negative? It was. Really. But the big pay-off for me came when Kim Deal sang the In Heaven (The Lady in the Radiator) song. Afterwards she got the biggest applause of the night, which clearly pissed off Black Francis/Frank Black. After she was finished, there was some banter between them (the only unrehearsed thing of the night really) and even though I could not hear it (thank you shitty sound!), witnessing a legendary honest to goodness Frank Black Control-Freak Freak Out (as small as it was in comparison to what he usually puts out, I am sure) was extremely satisfying.
� Finally, if I were to make a Top Ten list of say, SIGNS YOU ARE AN AGING ROCK SHOW ENTHUSIAST, number one on my list would go something like this:
Upon entering the venue, the first thing you�re interested in checking out before the bar: FIRE EXITS!
I will not be shamed!
In my aging, I may think about personal safety a little more than usual, but at least I�ll crack a smile and dance a little (little bit) when I get to see a favorite live.
That is all.
xox
ann frankenstein