The Pixies played a series of shows at the Brixton Academy in 2004, eleven years after their acrimonious split. The four shows were recorded and will be released as Live In Brixton on 25 February 2022.
The shows had sold out in double time, and the Pixies, who counted Kurt Cobain as a fan, delivered sets that were not just filled with greatest hits. The band famously opened with a muted cover of Neil Young’s Winterlong, while Vamos, with its passages of improvised noise, was early in the day one set and featured guitarist Joey Santiago accidentally breaking his Les Paul.
“It was an amazing reception,” Santiago said. “I guess they had missed us over all those years. I particularly remember getting word that the balcony was swaying and seeing that the crowd didn’t want to leave long after we had finished the show.”
Drummer Dave Lovering’s opening performance with his electrical engineering / experimental magic show, The Scientific Phenomenalist, featured a big trick that completely failed.
“Having played there in the past,” Dave said, “the Brixton Academy was a familiar venue, and the shows were a fantastic experience. When I opened with my Scientific Phenomenalist show, I was a Pixie opening for Pixies. I could do no wrong. But I did. It was an absolute thrill, though, to present it there.
“All in all music or magic, the audiences were very kind and receptive and made it a joy to play. Nothing of my experience I would change. Long live the Academy.”
Newly mastered by Phil Kinrade at Alchemy Mastering at AIR, Live In Brixton will be released on both vinyl and CD formats, each of which consists of eight discs.
The vinyl box set is spread across eight discs of heavyweight 180-gram vinyl, with each show split between two translucent coloured LPs: 2 June is red, 3 June is orange, 5 June is green, and 6 June is blue. It is housed within a beautifully crafted deluxe slipcase box featuring silver foil detail that depicts the famous Brixton Academy venue, and only 2000 will be made.
2 June, 2004: LP 1 and 2
Side A:
1. Winterlong
2. Nimrod’s Son
3. The Holiday Song
4. Here Comes Your Man
5. Vamos
Side B:
1. In Heaven
2. Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
3. I Bleed
4. Monkey Gone To Heaven
5. Bone Machine
6. Velouria
7. Dead
Side C:
1. No. 13 Baby
2. Subbacultcha
3. Gouge Away
4. Caribou
5. Hey
6. Cactus
7. River Euphrates
Side D:
1. Debaser
2. Broken Face
3. Something Against You
4. Tame
5. Gigantic
6. Wave Of Mutilation
7. Into The White
3 June, 2004: LP 3 and 4
Side A:
1. La La Love You
2. Ed Is Dead
3. Here Comes Your Man
4. Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
5. Crackity Jones
6. Isla De Encanta
7. Something Against You
8. Broken Face
9. Mr. Grieves
Side B:
1. Hey
2. Is She Weird
3. Gouge Away
4. Tame
5. Debaser
6. Bone Machine
7. Levitate Me
8. Monkey Gone To Heaven
Side C:
1. Velouria
2. I Bleed
3. Gigantic
4. Nimrod’s Son
5. Vamos
6. Where Is My Mind?
Side D:
1. U-Mass
2. Wave Of Mutilation
3. No. 13 Baby
4. Caribou
5. Cactus
6. Into The White
4 June, 2004: LP 5 and 6
Side A:
1. Bone Machine
2. Crackity Jones
3. River Euphrates
4. Wave of Mutilation
5. Monkey Gone To Heaven
6. I Bleed
7. Caribou
8. Cactus
Side B:
1. Broken Face
2. Something Against You
3. Isla De Encanta
4. Hey
5. No. 13 Baby
6. Dead
7. U-Mass
8. Gigantic
Side C:
1. Velouria
2. Ed Is Dead
3. In Heaven
4. Where Is My Mind?
5. Mr. Grieves
6. Here Comes Your Man
7. The Holiday Song
Side D:
1. Vamos
2. Into The White
3. Gouge Away
4. Debaser
5. Tame
6. Planet Of Sound
5 June, 2004: LP 7 and 8
Side A:
1. Head On
2. U-Mass
3. Monkey Gone To Heaven
4. Cactus
5. Caribou
6. No. 13 Baby
7. Broken Face
8. Crackity Jones
Side B:
1. Isla De Encanta
2. Something Against You
3. Hey
4. Mr. Grieves
5. I Bleed
6. Velouria
7. Dead
Side C:
1. Gouge Away
2. Tame
3. Gigantic
4. River Euphrates
5. Debaser
6. Wave Of Mutilation
7. In Heaven
8. Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
Side D:
1. Where Is My Mind?
2. Blown Away
3. Here Comes Your Man
4. The Holiday Song
5. Vamos
