There’s a Pixies song that only has six words: “It is time for stormy weather,” Black Francis sings it over and over again for three and a half minutes until he’s just screaming. He faced “Stormy Weather” in the week before the premiere of their album tour for “Bossanova” and “Trompe Le Monde” (1990-1991). Previously, another bassist had to leave, and the singer was accused of misogyny on social media. The Pixies can close their comment columns, but the internet continues to react with accusations of abusing women.
In the last eleven years, the trio around Black Francis, Joey Santiago and Dave Lovering has lost four musicians, after founding member Kim Deal the second Kim, Kim Shattuck, probably because she tried stage diving once, which is now possible for the image-wise introverted Pixies not at all, and now, a week before Dublin, Paz Lenchantin. Without explanation. The fans loved them.
New on bass: Emma Richardson from Band of Skulls. She towers over Black Francis by a head (always dangerous), but imitates co-vocalist Kim Deals well (even the wistful “The Navajo-Knoooooooow”). On stage, Richardson appears unsettled; at the end she has to be asked to bow to the audience with the ratty Proudfoots from the Shire.
“Bossanova” and “Trompe Le Monde” live? Actually a reason to celebrate. The two most fantastic full-length records. The personnel castling, however, distracts attention from the class of these works, whose lack of success contributed to their separation in 1993. They combine the best that Black Francis has ever composed. The Bible stories of “Doolittle” were replaced by more colorful American themes: Native myths, surfing, the legends of Roswell. The songs became longer and more expansive, which is why the Pixies hired Eric Drew Feldman, a live keyboardist, for the first time in 1992. The task of additional atmosphere now falls to Joey Santiago, who leans down to his effects pedals more often than ever.
The stage decoration now consists of the glowing globes from the “Bossanova” cover, surrounded by Saturn’s rings – the Pixies wanted to conquer our world and at the same time dreamed of opening up neighboring planets. But back then Nirvana came, adopted their quiet-loud-quiet patterns and became stars. Black Francis broke up his band.
From the journalists’ box in the Olympia Theater you could catch a glimpse of all the happy faces in the lower audience, people who were praying “Thank God!” to heaven because they heard some of the songs live for the first time in 34 years: “Hang Wire”, a Western Shootout fantasy, “The Happening”, a UFO fantasy, or “Letter To Memphis” about a woman who rules Graceland instead of Elvis. The sweetest song, “Havalina,” is about cute but snappy prairie pigs. One would think that Black Francis knows why he dedicates a song about leniency to these animals.
But that’s also the Pixies: the band whose song “Allison” is danced to by an Allison here in the box in Dublin, namely Ali Hewson, Bono’s wife.
Black Francis rarely speaks on stage. At the beginning of the concert, before the first song, he does something he’s never done before. He talks for three minutes about the creation of his music. Why two cover versions appeared on Pixies albums for the first time, “Cecilia Ann” and “Head On”. A clumsy speech and the story has a beard.
But she probably doesn’t come without a reason. The lecture is Francis’ twisted attempt at dialogue after Paz Lenchantin’s expulsion; proof of being able to praise others. Only that he is not honoring Lenchantin, but rather other composers.
Black Francis cannot be overthrown because without the dictator the Pixies cannot exist. “Your new bass player is great!” shouts one from the crowd. And on the second of three Dublin evenings, Emma Richardson blows back kisses. It runs. Sooner or later, Black Francis always knew, people would forgive him.