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The Pixies Sell Out - 2004 Reunion Tour DVD

Watching this video sort of makes me feel like Rip Van Winkle. The band was at its (original) peak of fame while I was busy doing research for my first book on pop music history, so when the Pixies became the darlings of indie-rock, I was immersed in the Dixie Cups, the Corsairs, Eddie Cochran and God only knows what else. For a few years, I was decidedly out of touch with contemporary culture, and this video pretty much proves that it was my loss. I have been playing catch-up ever since, so in a sense, the reunion tour (and this corresponding video product) makes me feel as though the band did it specifically for my own sake. Thanks, guys.

In a sense, this is truer than it sounds. When the Pixies were together and releasing new albums on a fairly regular basis, the size of their audience was respectable, but not particularly huge. For reasons that may have surprised the band as well as everyone else, the ‘sell-out’ reunion tour provided the band with an audience that seems to have increased tenfold in their absence. This DVD helps to explain how and why this happened.

If you liked the Pixies then, then you are fairly certain to be happy about the “Sellout 2004 Reunion Tour” DVD. It features rock solid performances with an impressive degree of continuity, and most importantly, it never lapses into nostalgia or self-congratulatory reminiscing. The main part of the disk is dedicated to a single performance filmed in Belfort, France. The band rolls through twenty-eight tracks, and it would be difficult to not be impressed by the overall body of work that is presented here, especially the songwriting. I admit that I didn’t find their performance style particularly compelling, and the musicianship and vocals aren’t stellar, either. There’s more here than meets the eye, though, and the sum is apparently greater than the individual parts, especially if I am to judge from the audience enthusiasm that accompanies the entire performance.

For me, the ’bonus’ bits are more interesting than the complete show, because they are more varied (Different venues! Different cities!), and more informative (Interviews with band staff), with lots of cool, relevant historical information about the band. Even better, it fills in some of the key ‘missing’ tracks from the Belfort show. I didn’t know very much by this band, but “Debaser” is immediately recognizable to me. For whatever reason, it was not included in the Belfort set list, so it’s great to see the band perform a great version of the song from a show Scotland. “Caribou”, taken from their Coachella performance, is fabulous, and the version of “Here Comes Your Man”, taken from a performance at the More Festival in England, is superior to the French version. The excerpts from their Japanese performances are totally great, too (and the Japanese music fans are incredibly enthusiastic). The bonus disk works so well because it does the best job of conveying the triumphal nature of this reunion tour, while providing context that helps me to better understand a band that I previously knew very little of. I’m a decade late and a few bucks short, but it’s cool to get this chance to redeem myself. P>