The iconic Pixies played an hour and a half set at Edinburgh’s 02 Academy on the 14th of May.
The band fired right into their set with characteristic cool, setting the tone for a night that would blur the line between nostalgia and living sound.
Not long into the set, ‘Here Comes Your Man’ sparked a crowd singalong that felt like a shared celebration. As we moved into the next few songs, the visuals turned glowing orange and red for ‘Gloria’ and ‘The Happening,’ where Pixies’ red band logo blazed across the backdrop like a symbol of fire.
Classics like ‘Hey,’ ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven,’ ‘Wave of Mutilation’ and ‘Head On,’ situated in the middle of the set, was each met with raucous applause. By the time ‘Debaser’ hit, the audience was feeding off the band’s energy. It was refreshing to see such unfiltered crowd interaction; the Pixies didn’t just perform, they livened up the room. The band leaned back with ‘Jane (The Night the Zombies Came),’ a late-set track that kept the adrenaline high.
Towards the end of the night, fans were treated to an alternate version of ‘Wave of Mutilation,’ showing the band’s willingness to reframe their classics without losing their core. And of course, they closed with the iconic ‘Where Is My Mind?,’ a song that brought together everything that made the evening special.
Pixies show in Edinburgh didn’t just consist of a band playing hits, they were a force of memory and sound.