PIXIES - O2 City Hall, Newcastle 23.05.2025

Boston’s finest rolled into Newcastle on one of the warmest days of the month to play a completely sold out City Hall, oh boy this is gonna be a sweaty one tonight!

The band take to the stage and Black Francis raises his mug of steaming hot something in recognition of the crowds cheers and applause in one of the nights few interactions with the audience.

The Pixies have such a treasure trove of great songs they can (and do) change the set nightly but still play a set filled with fan favourites alongside the material from the latest release 'The Night The Zombies Came'.

The new album is indeed a belter and I’m not in the minority thinking that the way the crowd reacts to tonight’s openers 'Oyster Beds' and 'Ernest Evans' like old favourites! It has to be said The Pixies don’t believe in holding back and we have our first visit to 'Doolittle' for 'Gouge Away' and the only track from 'Bossanova' tonight 'All Around The World' and the place is going nuts!

Trying to make my way back from the photo pit can only be described as swimming against the current and as I start making a bit of headway through the throng 'Monkey Gone To Heaven' makes an earlier than expected appearance and I’m almost off my feet with the swell of 1500 or so bodies giving it six nowt to a bona fide classic!!!

I make it back to my viewing spot a little bedraggled and settle in for the rest of this mammoth set!

For me Joey Santiago is one of Alternative Rocks guitar greats effortlessly cool he stands and wrenches out some of the wildest and creative sounds from his rig and tonight is no exception hardly moving far from his spot but I am transfixed by the sounds he is making.

It’s great seeing such a mix of ages in the audience proving that these songs are timeless and as I look around each song seems to be favourites of different sections in the crowd and then one will have the whole place jumping.

That familiar opening chord that is instantly recognised as 'Here Comes Your Man' is one such tune and the balcony feels like there’s a small scale earthquake it’s bouncing that much.

And as David Loverings rock solid drumming brings that to a close they slide seamlessly into 'Where Is My Mind' giving the 2500 Geordie choir an opportunity to help on those high notes! Not that Emma Richardson needed any help as she has taken on the bass and vocal duties in her stride and is a perfect fit into the line up.

The new album does feature heavily in the set with 9 cuts from it dropped in and around the more familiar numbers BUT as said earlier with songs like the slow atmospheric 'Chicken', the title track 'Jane (The Night The Zombies Came)' and the big guitar sound of 'Motoroller' no one is using the new songs as a beer or loo break the way a lot of crowds do when the “here’s a new one“ crops up (unless absolutely necessary of course.)

There’s even time for a couple of covers with 'Head On' (Jesus and Mary Chain) and 'In Heaven (lady in the radiator song)' (Peter Ivers & David Lynch).

The past couple of times I’ve seen The Pixies the lighting has been quite minimal with one colour washes but none of that tonight it was a full on show with spinning spotlights and strobes and every colour known to man which most likely helped the crowd go even more nuts (which didn’t seem possible) with the triple whammy of 'Caibou', 'Debaser' and 'Wave of Mutilation' and there’s bodies flying over the barrier!

An electrifying 'Nimrods Son' was a personal favourite and dunno if I was just caught up in it but it felt like it was extended quite a bit.

The set ends with full white spotlights and back lights and house lights up illuminating the full house for an appropriate 'Into The White' and just like that the band are taking a bow to an ecstatic fan base.

I love how they come out with no setlist and in 90 minutes barrel through 29 songs sometimes more and can pull out any song Black Francis decides to tell them is next. They’re also probably the only band who can get away with saying very little during those 90 minutes except for a “hello Newcastle“ and a “thank you “ here and there

It’s certainly a case of letting the music do the talking!

PIXIES

Photos & Review - G's Gig Shots