Boston Globe: Gigantic steps. I read this article with some interest. It’s rare that you see artists come out with a bare statement of fact about the purpose for reunion tours, like the one Frank Black made at the end of the article:
“We’ve had this chip in our back pocket for a long time, and it keeps going up in value,” Black explains. “We’re cashing it in this year.”
The most remarkable thing about the Pixies’ comeback is that none of the participants—the band, the organizers, and especially the media—seem to understand how big the event is. That the Globe, of all papers, would begin this article with the sentence “No one could have predicted the large and passionate crowds that have greeted the band on its first tour in more than a decade,” is the symptom. This is what’s wrong with the music business and music journalism—it doesn’t listen to its customers.
How else could a Pixies reunion be a “surprise” when: (a) the Pixies were the top-downloaded artists on eMusic after they were added to the catalog; (b) KEXP routinely rewards listeners during its pledge drives by playing huge blocks of the Pixies; (c) they were that good. I think anyone who thinks that the Pixies’ greatest contribution to music was inspiring Nirvana either hasn’t listened to the Pixies or doesn’t understand music.
At any rate, I’ll be catching their concert on Thursday, December 2 (happy birthday to me!) at Tsongas Arena, with Mission of Burma opening. I’ll subsequently be visible in your skies sometime early Friday morning as I’ll be orbiting the Earth.