I was all set to write up what was sure to be a glowing review of the Pixies show at Vet’s last night. I was SO SURE they would BRING THE ROCK and that everything would be AWESOME.

Well, no.

The Good: the band sounded great — it was a great retrospective of Your Favorite Pixies Tunes, a little something for everyone. Best moments: the Neil Young “Winterlong” cover, Joey Santiago playing guitar with one of Lovering’s drumsticks during “Nimrod”, Kim Deal rocking out on “Gigantic”, Frank screaming his freaking head off in “Dead” (and then the stage lights rotating up into the audience on “Caribou” like FRIGGIN’ EYES while Frank’s still screaming), the unadulterated awesomeness that was “Planet of Sound”… There was plenty for even a johnny-come-lately like myself.

(EDIT: Upon reflection, the drumstick stunt was during “Vamos”, and Frank wasn’t so much screaming on “Dead” as he was on “Tame”. Blame the newbie fan.)

The Bad:

Vet’s.

Seriously. Whoever thought putting this band in a venue staffed by the aging ushers from the Ohio Theater (nary a one under sixty, I’ll wager — great and all, but come on, ushers working what is essentially a crazy speed-metal noise cowboy punk band on a reunion tour?), with row upon row upon row of seats (thus separating the audience, physically, from the band — how do you crowd the stage when there’s a big honkin’ metal thing digging into your leg?), with a concession policy that prevented you from, you know, enjoying your concession and listening to the music at the same time (no beers in the seats, don’tcha know), with a reported CUTOFF of said concessions at 9:00 (!!!), and with what, to my eyes, appeared to be a forced abbreviation of the show at the encore (ninety minutes start to finish, 8:50 to 10:20 p.m., complete with a not-so-subtle “Come see us again in Dayton!” hint from Kim)… well, whoever made that decision, they’re on crack. I’m fairly confident when I report that Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium was responsible for this show being just meh.

(The opening band was the Thrills, and the criticisms of the band I’ve heard elsewhere — “they’re boring” — well, let’s just say I was not Thrilled. There also were some things the Pixies didn’t play — “Levitate Me”, the full-speed version of “Wave of Mutilation”, “Broken Face”, the new “Bam Thwok” — but I still think that’s down to the show being cut short. It just felt so ODD. I don’t know that that’s what happened, it’s just my unfounded speculation, but there was something OFF about the way the whole thing wrapped up.)

I still enjoyed it, though — it was worth seeing the band, even at a lousy venue. For those wondering how cool the show itself looked, xtop‘s got some pictures of the KC show last week.