Pixies, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 9/11/2010

I picked up Doolittle by the Pixies when I was about 12 or 13 years old.  I heard them on MTV's 120 Minutes and was blown away.  That album, along with REM's entire early output, Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, and the Cure's Distentegration (and a few others, like the B-52's and Hoodoo Gurus), was the start of a lifelong obsession with music.  (What a way to start - thanks, MTV [and my older sister and the older siblings of my friends].)

I had the good fortune to see the Pixies twice when they first reunited in 2004, once at the Ryman but quite spectacularly at Coachella (where they were immediately followed by Radiohead - not too shabby).  That Coachella set is one of the better concert experiences of my life.

So here we are, putting together one of my favorite albums ever with one of my favorive live experiences ever, yet I was going into this one pretty nonchalantly.

We had dinner beforehand at Cabana with some friends and then found downtown to be just hopping - nary a parking spot to be found.  Kind of strange, but good to see.  We arrived as F*** Buttons were finishing a very loud, very boring opening set.

Without much ado (though some very rude youngsters told us that we needed to move out of "their" seats - just like that - when they were in the wrong section altogether - why be rude, people?), the Pixies came out after a short silent film that included parts of Un Chien Andalou (the inspiration for "Debaser").  They rocked about 5 B-sides and then launched into "Debaser."  They sounded awesome, the crowd was just about sold out and totally on their feet and loving every minute of it (how un-Nashville, yet again - love it), and it kind of flew by all too fast.

What can one say about Doolittle at this point?  It's fantastic from start to end, and hearing it now reminds one all over again that without this sound, there would've been no "alternative 90's" decade of music.  They played a first encore with the more famous B-sides (including the UK surf version of "Wave of Mutilation" and ending with "Into the White").

They surprisingly came out for a second encore with all the houselights up (past curfew?) and ripped through "Winterlong" (Neil Young cover), "Alison," "Dig for Fire" (had not heard them play this live yet), "Where Is My Mind?" and finally "Gigantic."  They seemed to really be soaking up the enthusiasm of the crowd, etc.  So glad I went to this ...