There’s some events that make you want to stop and absorb everything around you, to take in every detail and make sure you don’t forget anything. Pixies performing at Summer Nights at Kelvingrove Bandstand is one of those moments.
There’s something extremely special about the venue, perhaps due to the surroundings of Kelvingrove Park, perhaps due to it surprisingly staying dry and perhaps the fact that there’s no allocated seating, meaning the audience sat wherever space was found. The setting gives the performance a much more intimate feel, and the atmosphere is something you couldn’t recreate in one of the bigger Glasgow venues. Notably, the event seems very much family orientated, with many of the audience bringing along the younger Pixies fans in the family. The accessible nature of Summer Nights makes it all the more appealing.
Pixies themselves are on top form, starting the set with Where Is My Mind? There is barely a pause for breath (aside from what seems like a small technical issue halfway through). When each song finishes, almost immediately drummer David Lovering counts the band back in. The set is well put together, incorporating newer material with classics from Doolittle and Surfer Rosa. Fairly new member, bassist Paz Lenchantin, is a fantastic addition, and really holds her own when it comes to vocal duties and performing songs which are almost 30 years old. Highlights from the set include Here Comes Your Man, Debaser, and closing song Hey. A captivating and fitting end to a magical night.