Oh my golly!

I went to Constitution Hall last night to see the Pixies. Daughters of the Revolution's Constitution Hall is not really a great place to see a rock show, especially one as loud as the Pixies. While it was a tad better than I expected, it was still pretty weak. I thought the show was solid, if only because it's an amazing album (they played Doolittle and a few others in the last encore).

While I thought it was mostly the venue's fault at first, I may have changed my mind now that I think about it. First off, the giant screen behind them may not have been the best choice. Kind of a diversion. I'll say they were half awesome, half obviously there to cash in 20 years later. Not that that always makes for a bad performance, but I didn't notice much interest in them. The video screen did help give them personality within the show, even though it was a recording. Bizarre. It's like saying, "I don't want to be who you want me to be, but we will throw a bone your way with these 'wacky' videos that we may or may not have approved or had much sway over."

That's actually not a bad way to go about it, if I were them. They have neither the desire, nor the energy to come out every night and live up to myths and exaggerations of the past. True, they're still good and can wipe the floor with most "current" bands. But the sense of going-through-the-motions was palpable.