The year is 1992 and Pixies are one of the most talked about bands in the rock community. They are taking the stage at The Summit in Houston, Texas on Black Francis' 27th birthday, April 6th. They are supporting their last album before they broke up in 1993 - 1991's Trompe le Monde.
That year they did both an international tour and a tour in the States where they performed in smaller venues, and an opening gig for one of the biggest rock band's out there, U2, on their Zoo TV Tour - which brings us to today's Setlist History: Birthday Edition.
The line-up was OG, with David Lovering on drums, Joey Santiago on lead guitar, and Kim Deal on the bass. With their four most classic albums under their belt, the 15-song setlist was more honed in on deep cut gems we don't hear as often today by the reunited line up.
While that might seem like a lot of songs for an opening band, it was rather short compared to their normal 20+ song sets.
"That was probably the biggest tour we opened. It was also the only tour where no one knew who we were." - Lovering
They opened up the night with "Cecilia Ann," originally a Surftones song. They did TLM's "Subbacultcha" which actually got it's live debut long before the album's release, in 1986. It's since been performed around 248 times, but hasn't been played since 2018.
Some TLM rarities included "Distance Equals Times Time" which has only been performed around 62 times and last played in 2016, "The Sad Punk," "Alec Eiffel" which has only been performed 58 times with the last time being in 2014, and "Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons" which has been performed only 38 times with the last time being in 2011.
The setlist was definitely dominated by TLM licks but included some staples that fans still cherish to this day like "Here Comes Your Man," "Mr. Grieves," "Velouria" and "Is She Weird."
Check out the setlist right here:
Watch their opening set during their stop in Oakland on the tour:
I like to imagine that Bono sang Black Francis an endearing "Happy Birthday" that day in the 32-concert tour. Not sure if it actually happened, but it's a nice thought.
Happy Birthday Black Francis!
