PEARL JAM
PIXIES HYDE PARK, LONDON
Alt rock behemoths forge a communal state of grace
IT’S NO OVERSTATEMENT to say that the 90s alt rock boom couldn’t have happened without PIXIES, their post-punk and leftfield rock chops laying the blueprint for everyone from Dinosaur Jr. to Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Bush. Their sound might generally evoke New York attics and subterranean clubs, but the band look surprisingly at home amid the carefully manicured greenery of Hyde Park.
It’s only the perpetual weirdo vibe given off by singer Black Francis that suggests Pixies are anything other than the consummate festival band. Chatty in a nervous and almost neurotic way, there’s a haphazardness to the band’s onstage patter and performance that only makes them more endearing. The little screw-ups and changes of tack are a reminder that alt rock wasn’t ever meant to replicate the stadium-filling excess of its mainstream counterpart.