LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts/ 4AD) - The
Pixies -
Black Francis, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and
David Lovering - have put together an imaginative and stunning production for their "Doolittle Tour," that kicks off its U.S. leg on Wednesday, November 4 with three shows at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
The "Doolittle Tour" is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of the Pixies' classic 1989 album, Doolittle, with the band performing the album in its entirety plus its related B-sides. Myles Mangino, the Pixies long-time lighting designer, designed the production with designer Paul Normandale, and brought on filmmakers Judy Jacobs, Tom Winkler, Brent Felix, and Melinda Tupling to create 11 films especially for the tour. The films are projected onto a massive backdrop video screen to accompany 12 of the 21 songs that comprise the Pixies' "Doolittle" set. In addition, four huge, undulating, eyeball-like spheres are flown just below the lighting rig and become part of the concert's light show.
As an example, visuals accompanying the song "Debaser" are from a compilation titled "Forbidden Images." The hauntingly beautiful black and white footage from the 1920s depicts the beginning of the women's rights moment, showing women's exuberant playfulness, femininity and sensuality. The footage, a little too progressive for that time period, was originally banned from theatres.
For "Here Comes Your Man," a four-way split screen displays close up images of the band members dancing along to the song; "I Bleed" sees blood dripping down the screen in time to the music; "Hey" features hand-drawn animation of the song's lyrics by Hollywood animator Tom Winkler; clouds, black holes, and Mankind's arrogance destroying the Earth are the focus for "Monkey Gone to Heaven," while "La La Love You" is a humorous animated piece starring hearts with legs.
Doolittle was the band's third album and includes classics such as "Debaser," "Wave of Mutilation," "Here Comes Your Man," "Hey," and "Gouge Away."
The "Doolittle Tour" launched on September 30 in Dublin, Ireland, and played sold-out shows everywhere - Scotland, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and to 20,000 fans over four nights in London. The "Doolittle Tour" has also received rave notices - five-star reviews in the [London] Times, the Guardian, and the Independent, which also said, "...no band has pulled off a one-album show as triumphantly as the Pixies did here with a 20th anniversary performance of their 1989 masterpiece Doolittle."
The Boston-formed Pixies have been acclaimed as the most influential pioneering band of the late '80s alt/rock movement. Their five studio releases and six years together effectively blazed the path for groups like Nirvana, Radiohead, and Pearl Jam to rise to superstardom. They disbanded in 1993 and launched their reunion tour in April 2004 when virtually every, single date sold out within minutes and fans traveled hundreds of miles to attend a show. In post-Pixies years, Black Francis has enjoyed a successful solo career as Frank Black, Kim Deal went on to form the Platinum-selling band the Breeders, Joey Santiago started the band The Martinis and has carved a career as a music composer for film and TV, and David Lovering performs as a magician and continues to drum. The U.S. "Doolittle Tour" will be the band's first American trek since 2005.
The "Doolittle Tour" will coincide with the release of the ultimate Pixies Collector's Set, Minotaur, which ships to purchasers in early November and will hit stores around the same time. To find out more, visit ainr.com.
