Friday October 3
Black Francis (aka Frank Black, aka ‘that guy from the Pixies') is a great songwriter and a clever lyricist. If you ignore the LOUDsoftLOUD bombast of songs like ‘Debaser’ and ‘UMASS’, these are clever little surrealist tales about the life of an overeducated Masshole (Massachusetts asshole. A term of affection). Stripped of his band you’d think Frank would be an engaging storyteller and a singer-songwriter with bite. How bad could a set by somebody from the Pixies be? Christian Brimo finds out. Photos by Angelo Kehagias.
It wasn’t the lack of older material that Black Francis tonight. He played ‘Wave of Mutilation’ and ‘Nimrod’s Son’ fairly early in the set and his solo stuff is good, literate rock. The problem was how bored he seemed. This may just be grunge affectation but Frank was utterly unengaging as a performer.
Songs ran into each other without a pause in a haze of distorted guitar and half-caught lyrics. Frank didn’t seem to know or care about the audience. At the Pixies reunion show this was a good thing – the band was so tight and the songs so good that any distraction was unnecessary. A solo performer needs to prove himself to the audience and connect on some level or the show just becomes an exercise in ‘hey, remember me? You used to like me, so you’ll like this.'
Things picked up halfway through with the introduction of a band and the show shifted from a mild solo gig to a decent rock 'n' roll gig. It wasn’t the Pixies. Hell it wasn’t Johnny Casino at the Lansdowne on a Friday. But it was fun and shouty and redemptive and went on slightly too long. I was hoping for an encore and a cheesy old classic like 'Debaser' or 'Gigantic' but apparently "Frank doesn’t do encores". It summed up the night well.
Brisbane’s Violent Soho opened up the night with some nice loud grunge. They were basically Frank’s musical grandchildren and they learned their lesson well – LOUDsoftLOUD dynamics and nice agnsty shouty choruses. These guys get better every time I see them and provided the most excitement of the night.
by Christian Brimo
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