Photo Credit: Audrey Leon

Whether or not the crowd was fully prepared for the event at hand, The Pixies certainly were, delivering a performance worthy of their legend and of the landmark record on display. The sound, appropriately, was simply enormous.

The Pixies took the stage Friday night at the Aragon Ballroom to perhaps the most adoring crowd I have ever stood in. I mention this because it’s interesting to see a band play to a group of people who just a few months earlier would never dream that they’d be standing where they were, seeing a band of such magnitude playing an album of such importance.

As with My Bloody Valentine on the same stage a little over a year ago, it was a surreal experience that was somewhat difficult to fathom, even as it was happening. Maybe I was just too awestruck by the spectacle at hand or maybe, just maybe, this often troubled and messy band came out and delivered a flawless performance to complement the material. From where I was standing I detected nary a single hiccup or deficiency the whole night, not that I was expecting such imperfections.

As promised, the band started out by running through a handful of Doolittle B-sides that, as fans know, are about as awesome as B-sides come. Though obvious second tier Pixies material, songs like “Manta Ray” and “Weird At My School” can hang with most bands’ ‘A’ material, and served as a great warm up to (and later cool down from) the main event.

Photo Credit: Audrey Leon

As soon as Kim Deal plucked the opening notes of “Debaser” the crowd went wild and the energy level never seemed to dip as the band ran through the entire album without pausing much at all. Indeed, I can’t recall frontman Frank Black uttering a word the entire night other than a couple “thank yous” and only Kim offered the occasional quip regarding the performance and the set’s progress.

The band seemed to be mostly all business, but it was obvious that they were enjoying themselves. It might’ve been nice to get a little bit in the way of commentary from the people behind an album as incredible as Doolitle as it was being played, as some insight into the music could have been really interesting, but the band chose to let the music speak for itself, which was just fine. There was no self-congratulating or introspection, even though such indulgences have been more than earned and would have been tolerated.

Photo Credit: Audrey Leon

Every track sounded amazing live, and the presentation was awesome as well. Clips from Un chien andalou, the surrealist film that Francis cites as a major inspiration for the album provided a great intro, and the videos playing in the background, ranging from abstract clips to footage of the band, did a fine job of accentuating the experience.

As an added treat, there were two encores featuring more excellent B sides and a few classic cuts from elsewhere in the Pixies catalog like “Velouria” and “U-Mass,” all of which sounded equally as awesome as the Doolittle material.

Photo Credit: Audrey Leon

The show was an unqualified success, showcasing a band still able to tear it up in a live setting. The album being celebrated certainly deserved an epic performance and the Pixies delivered, and I hope they see fit to perform their other classics at some point.

The music still deserves to be heard in a live setting, and the Pixies proved Friday night that they are still more than capable of delivering a phenomenal live performance.