Pixies / The Slow Readers Club, Castlefield Bowl. 5th July 2022

Castlefield Bowl is starting to feel like a second home. We’re here once again for Manchester’s Sounds of the City. With tonight, fresh from some Covid cancellations, the fully recovered and truly legendary, Pixies!! Before that though, they’ve invited along some rather special support from the fast becoming local legends, The Slow Readers Club. To be honest, I think the Readers could sell this out on they’re own. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve watched Readers, but it feels like it’s been a while since the last time. A quick check tells me it was last October in Night & Day. Tonight I suspect will be rather different. The last few months playing in Europe, courting festival crowds has clearly paid off. ‘The Wait’ is a lovely building opener, Aaron arms aloft sounding in ridiculously fine voice. Those rich tones resonating around this concrete bowl. ‘Open Up Your Heart’ rolls through into ‘Plant the Seed’ as they step up through the gears. I catch a few impressed nods as Aaron hits those high notes. It took me a while to warm to ‘All I Hear’, but it’s a catchy little bugger. Pixies fans don’t dance, but Readers fans do and we’re here in force. The chants of “READERS! READERS!!” ringing out between songs. ‘The Great Escape’ gets its live debut, but it’s largely a charm offensive set of trusted favourites. ‘Forever in Your Debt’ definitely wins a few new fans, as does dedicating ‘Tell No Lies’ to Boris. More people are swept up as the pogoing starts for ‘On The TV’ before that bass synth wallop of ‘Lunatic’ closes the set. Support slots like this are tough, but they absolutely nail it. That said, I do have to tell the lad behind me off for declaring them “The worst support act I’ve ever seen”. He didn’t respond to the Boris put down though, meaning he’s probably a Tory and shouldn’t be allowed out, never mind have an opinion.

After a bloke spills half his beer over my foot, it’s time for Boston’s best to take to the stage. I’ve seen Pixies a lot too, but they’ve been quite prolific in more recent years and with a new album on the way, there’s scope for some new songs. They have time on their side though, with half the catalogue clocking thrifty run times, I’m expecting a lot of songs. The Bowie approved ‘Cactus’ eases us in. Before ‘Here Comes Your Man’ reminds me that of course Pixies fans dance. ‘Nimrod’s Son’, ‘Break My Body’, ‘Mr Grieves’, I can’t possibly go blow for blow with every song, there’s just too many and they’re all brilliant. Frank Black sounds great, they all do, Joey’s guitar squealing, Paz locked in with Dave’s amazing drums. It’s fantastic. Joey’s up to his feedback tricks with his guitar lead on ‘Vamos’, before the melodious ‘Winterlong’ has everyone swaying and I swear the temperature drops a few degrees. The smart jacket that Frank’s been wearing is discarded though for ‘Gouge Away’, it’s clearly warmer on stage than it is out here with the black clouds rolling in above. ‘Wave of Mutilation’ has to be one of the darkest songs to sound happy when sung by a crowd and ‘Broken Face’ one of the bounciest, it’s just what I need to warm me up. Not warm enough? Have a bit of ‘Crackity Jones’. If we were inside, the sweat would be starting to pour. It’s relentless, no chatter, just bang right into ‘Isla De Encanta’. No one screams like Frank, the guttural wrench of ‘Tame’ sounds biblical, but just to prove a point it’s followed by the soft “ooo’s” of ‘Caribou’… okay and the terrifying call to “REPENT!”. The tactic seems to be to hit us with an hour of classics, followed by a few newer songs from Beneath the Eyrie and the forthcoming Doggerel, before resuming the hits (not that Pixies had hits), but that the point of Pixies, massive songs, hugely influential, but always retaining that underground feel. ‘This Monkey’s Gone to Heaven’ is received like a sermon by the devout. Every song is met with a “Ahhh” from the crowd as everyone recognises the intros. ‘Bone Machine’, ‘Gigantic’, everything receives “Big big love”. It’s insane how many great songs they have. I almost forgot ‘Debaser’ that’s just thrown in. That’s the confidence of the Pixies. ‘Planet of Sound’ has always been a favourite and sound absolutely monstrous. You can’t beat the entire crowd singing to ‘Hey’ though. Like I said, I’ve seen the Pixies a lot, but this might be the best set ever. By the time they close with ‘Where is My Mind’, I’m blissfully lost. THIS is what live music should be. Transcendental. There’s a bloke in tears on the way out, happy tears, he’s witnessed something truly beautiful. For anyone who’s never been to a gig, I think maybe Pixies might be the perfect starting point “It (really) is educational”.