No Surprises

By the time you read this, I will have seen the Pixies perform Doolittle in its entirety. The Pixies as you may know, are one of the most important acts that have ever come to pass. A whirlwind of indispensable music delivered over the course of about five years flowed out of this quartet without a flinch. Not only were they simply great tunes, but it was a sound that more or less invented the musical landscape of the 1990's. As the years have passed on, more and more listeners stumbled upon their genius, making their reunion tour in 2004 an unparalleled success. They have in effect never made a wrong move, expertly achieving critical acclaim and a legion of fans both young and old. So why are they stooping to this 'play our most famous album in its entirety' bit that would be more suited for a washup like Peter Frampton?

The sad thing is that this is nothing new. This 'album-in-sequence' concert is now very much in vogue. It was surprising to see an accomplished band like Sonic Youth touring Daydream Nation a few years ago, not to mention The Cure performing Pornography, Disintegration, and Bloodflowers as their self claimed Trilogy. In these cases though, it was forgivable in that they seemed like interesting challenges. Daydream Nation is a long album and had songs on it the band had not performed in years. Trilogy was a marathon run, ambitiously tackling three albums from three different time periods of the band's career. Doolittle is 38 minutes long. Not only that, but every song on it (save "Silver") are staples of their live set anyway. Doolittle is their most played album at any Pixies concert. So why remove the excitement of spontaneity and just play it in the order it was originally presented? It's a move I don't quite get from a band that could do just about anything they want and still be loved.