The legendary college radio/alt rock band Pixies are currently on a tour across North America playing a two-night residency in each city they stop at. The first night had them playing the albums “Bossanova” and “Trompe le Monde” in their entirety.
The second night will saw them playing “a classic Pixies set.” We were there to witness the second of two sold-out nights at the Palladium for a collection of their biggest hits.
I feel foolish for only recently getting into the ridiculously talented Kurt Vile. The former lead guitarist and co-founding member of The War on Drugs, Vile is a great alt folk singer bringing elements of indie, alternative, and outlaw folk music.
Vocally, I can hear hints of Tom Petty, Mick Jagger and even Pixies frontman, Frank Black. Vile’s backing band, The Violators, are just as talented and came together to put on a hell of an opening to Saturday’s show.
Kurt Vile and The Violators opened with “Jesus Fever” before Vile switched to acoustic guitar for “Bassackwards.” “Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone)” was a beautiful melody that featured a slide guitar solo from guitar prodigy Vile.
“We’re from Philadelphia,” Vile announced before the band launched into “Back to Moon Beach,” which saw keyboard player Dave Scher playing steel guitar and then switching to melodica.
The band played their biggest hit, the rocking, bluesy “Pretty Pimpin.” Vile welcomed former bandmate and The War on Drugs lead singer Adam Granduciel on guitar for “Hunchback.”
For the band’s final song, they played “Wakin on a Pretty Day,” featuring a spaced-out guitar solo, followed by a second even longer guitar solo that closed out their set.
Pixies came out to “Pet Sounds,” no doubt an homage to Beach Boys front man, Brian Wilson, who passed away last week.
Emma Richardson kicked things off with the heavy familiar bass intro to “Gouge Away” supported by drummer David Lovering before the rest of the band exploded into the song’s chorus.
They kicked it up a notch with the popular “Wave of Mutilation,” followed by the rowdy “Planet of Sound,” which really showed off Joey Santiago’s playing, in my opinion one of the truly underrated guitarists of our time.
HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM
June 21, 2025
Frank Black has always been a master manipulator of his voice. Sometimes perplexing and unconventional, but always powerful and effective. Whether singing low and soulful (“Hey”), screaming (“Planet of Sound”), or even in Spanish (“Vamos”), his singing choices were always as diverse and interesting as his lyrics themselves.
The band has been busy on tour supporting their October 2024 release, “The Night the Zombies Came” and played five songs off of it including, “Chicken,” “Motoroller,” and “The Vegas Suite.” With a different themed setlist for night two, there was very little overlap in the two nights.
I can’t confirm, but I’ll bet a big reason for them choosing to play their cover of “In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)” both nights was as a tribute to the original song by Peter Ivers & famed director David Lynch, who passed away this past January.
Hanging over the band, suspended in the air by wires was a large cutout of their logo – a cursive P with a single wing attached. It lay dormant for most of the show until the band kicked into one of their most popular songs, “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” and the P beamed in red, bathing the band in its glowing light. They played arguably their biggest song, “Where is My Mind?” made famous when David Fincher included it in the closing credits of “Fight Club.”
Near the end of their set, a woman began yelling “Joey” trying to get Santiago’s attention. She looked at me with a smile and proudly said, “That’s my brother.” I watched as she beamed with tears in her eyes watching her brother absolutely mesmerize the audience with his groundbreaking playing. Quite simply, he plays guitar and the Pixies make music that literally changed the future of music.
For the first time all night the house lights turned on fully as Richardson took on lead vocals for “Into the White.” Following the song’s conclusion, the four bandmates took to the center of the stage, Santiago removing his army cap to wave to the audience.
It seemed like Black was not prepared to do an encore, but the roaring crowd would not let this band leave. Finally, after a quick huddle and some convincing from Lovering, Black nodded his head at the audience and mouthed the words, “One more.”
With that, the P once again shined in red as the band launched into, “Tame.” Santiago’s sister moshed and screamed every lyric next to me – it was a beautiful thing to watch. Lovering playing almost an up-tempo jazzy beat for the verses right up until the frenetic chorus.
If you’re familiar with the song you know it ends in utter chaos, Lovering played at lightning speed, Santiago playing a mind-defying solo. All four members playing at an absolute frenzy, Black screaming “Tame” until just like that, all four stopped on a goddamn dime with incredible precision.
And just like that, the show had reached its conclusion, almost as suddenly as the final song had. The Pixies gathered center stage for one long, well-deserved bow, and the audience showered them with love and appreciation, not just for the evening’s show, but for the last four decades.
Pixies have North American dates through September and will then head to Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. SoCal residents can catch them again August 27th at Gallagher Square in San Diego with Spoon.
