Photos + Review: Pixies @ Soma (San Diego, CA)

Pixies (Boston, MA)
October 1st, 2022
SOMA in San Diego, CA

With no frills and all the thrills the Pixies delivered a raw stripped down set worthy of SOMA’s unmatched punk history. A night that served as further proof that they are just musical royalty.

Maybe they somehow tapped into SOMA’s history or perhaps they fed into the audience’s relentless intense energy, I am not sure. But I haven’t seen them perform like this since my college years! Actually not even then, I think this was the best show I have seen them perform. No fancy lights, no funny stories in-between songs, no fillers of any kind, not a single distraction, just four amazing musicians ready to rock the house.

They delivered a stellar set of 35 (yes 35!) songs and not a single person in the crowd stopped jumping, thrashing around, and singing their heart out along with them for the entire night. 35 songs and we still wanted more as we stood still at the end of the night after they left the stage chanting “Pixies, Pixies, PIXIES,” as Soma turned on the house lights urging us to go home.

Not many bands can hold the audience captive for that long. Not many bands have enough material nor the energy to do so. Not many bands get better as the time passes, but somehow the Pixies do.

Take a look at their new release Doggerel, I find it to be a testament of greatness when a band broadens their sound instead of just sticking to the same ol’ tricks. It proves growth and to be honest it is what held my attention for this many years. It is amazing to hear the hits and while that’s great for casual listeners, fans expect more.

And tonight, a whole lot more is what we were gifted.

At the opening of the set there were a few moments of sound issues but somehow that didn’t even matter, where the sound muffled out a bit the crowd jumped in and just sang along that much louder.

There was a moment after I left the photo pit where I got lost in my head staring at the crowd. Everything felt a little unreal, a sold out SOMA packed with college-aged kids -which I didn’t expect. I expected a crowd of middle aged punk rockers (shit it’s scary to call myself middle aged anything!). It felt as if time shifted back somehow to my college years and just reaffirmed the timeless magic of their music.

They set the tone right away. I mean when you start off the night with, “Wave of Mutilation,” followed by “Head On,” and “Crackity Jones,” you are raising the expectations of the crowd telling them you are gonna rock their brains out from the start. My loss of voice stands as a testament that they did just as they promised.

Throughout the set the melodies might have slowed down a bit here and there, “Caribou” being one of those welcomed moments, the energy certainly did not fade. “Monkey Gone to Heaven” is another one of those special moments for me, a lot of memories are attached to the song so it always is a highlight as well as, “Nimrod’s Son” which I could play on repeat for hours any given day.

Another great moment was hearing live “There’s a Moon On” and “Vault of Heaven” off their new album for the first time. The crowd explosion during “Debaser” is certainly something I will never forget. Also their cover of “Winterlong” in my opinion, was the perfect ending to a perfect night.

Setlist:
Wave of Mutilation
Head On (The Jesus and Mary Chain cover)
Crackity Jones
Isla de Encanta
St. Nazaire
Caribou
There Goes My Gun
U-Mass
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Gouge Away
Tame
Brick Is Red
Bone Machine
Human Crime
Hey
Mr. Grieves
Cactus
There’s a Moon On ( Off Newly Released Doggerel )
Velouria
Who’s More Sorry Now?
The Lord Has Come Back Today
Vault of Heaven ( Off Newly Released Doggerel )
All the Saints
Here Comes Your Man
Vamos
Nimrod’s Son
The Holiday Song
Ana
Debaser 
Dead
Something Against You
Planet of Sound
Wave of Mutilation
(UK Surf)
Where Is My Mind?
Winterlong (Neil Young cover)