Lately I have been intrigued with the idea of seeing bands play an album live. I think my interest was struck when I heard that the Church was getting back together and playing a show in Seattle where they would play Starfish and Priest = Aura.

I mentioned a few posts back that I had tix to see the Pixies again this week. I wasn’t sure what to expect, this being the third time I have had the opportunity to see them. The first time I saw them I was just in a state of unbelief. Actually seeing the band that I had been listening to for so many years but were all but dead and gone. Then seeing them later that summer at Bumbershoot in Seattle was no less thrilling. I can honestly say that my craving for them was satisfied at that point. Still, I was looking forward to the show this week.

As the Pixies came out on stage Wednesday night they began by playing a couple of b-sides from the Doolittle album. They had a big screen behind them that was playing movies while they played their instruments. After a couple of said b-sides the word doolittle flashed on the screen and the band played Debaser (the first song from Doolittle). The crowd went wild and I wondered, ‘are they going to play all of Doolittle?’ Well it turns out that yes, this was the Doolittle tour and I hadn’t been paying attention enough to know what was going on. It was a nice surprise. If there is only one album of theirs I would like to have seen played live, Doolittle is it. I don’t necessarily think it was their best, but it holds the most nostalgia.

For their opening band the Pixies chose Imaginary Cities from Winnepeg. I can’t say I was amazed by their show, but that may have been due to our poor seats and the thin air up there (we were at a higher elevation than the lights). There were a few songs that stood out as pretty good though. It’s funny though, the band didn’t seem to make a huge impression on me at the show, but I have been listening to their stuff quite a bit since then. The song Hummingbird has been stuck in my head ever since.