Pixies – Auckland Town Hall: November 23, 2025 (13th Floor Concert Review)
Last night the Pixies delivered their Bossanova & Trompe Le Monde set to the Town Hall with an almost frightening intensity.
Avoiding the energy stifling potential that can occur when bands play full albums in sequence, Pixies and their audience were thoroughly energized and locked in.
Elliot & Vincent
Bathed in blood red lighting for the duration of their support slot, two-piece Elliot & Vincent warmed the room with a hypnotically heavy set. Thick and fuzz-heavy guitar riffage from Vincent Cherry paradoxically evoked both desert rock expansiveness and garage rock minimalism. The riffage a perfect bedrock for Elliot Finn to smash along to with her straightforward drumming style.
Elliot & Vincent are a band that prioritizes a pummelling groove over conventional song structure and melody. This may be surprising to those introduced to Elliot Finn through her impressive vocals when backing and duetting with her father Tim Finn. In Elliot & Vincent, her vocals were delivered in shouts, whispers and moans.
The band projected a ‘don’t fuck with me energy’ whilst playing, but Elliot Finn broke into warmth and smiles at the end of each song.
Elliot & Vincent went down a treat, most heads on the floor were nodding with full attention. A perfect pick of band to start this show.
Pixies
No strangers to the Aotearoa shores, Pixies return just one year after supporting Pearl Jam on their stadium tour. For those shows, Pixies delivered competent sets with flashes of brilliance however the band largely failed to connect in the daylight stadium environment. Perhaps due to a setlist choice that fell too far into the mid-tempo, or maybe it was playing to an audience that was not entirely their own. I am happy to report that Pixies in the Town Hall absolutely renewed my passion for this band.
Taking to the stage dressed entirely in black, Frank Black welcomed the audience, stated their intention to play 1990’s Bossanova and 1991’s Trompe Le Monde in full, before speaking to the musical whakapapa of first track Cecilia Ann. The first of several insights regarding song inspirations across the evening.
The first half of Bossanova boasted enough hits and recognisable rockers for the room to fill with energy; Rock Music, Velouria, Is She Weird and Dig For Fire all had the Town Hall punters bouncing and singing.
It was largely the second half of Bossanova that I found most engaging. Folks were less familiar with these songs, myself included. Yet Pixies performed them with heart and sufficient volume to deliver them powerfully to the unfamiliar. For example, in the The Happening, I noticed the lovely extended falsetto vocal sections and Joey Sanitago’s beautifully meandering guitar lines. Similarly, I was struck by the strength of the hooks in songs like Down To The Well and Stormy Weather.
After Bossanova was a wrap, Frank Black let us know that we were moving from the Hollywood to the Burbank period of the Pixies where the sun was fast setting on the college rock scene.
The band launched into Trompe Le Monde. Side A of this album goes harder than perhaps any other Pixies record. Age is showing no signs of slowing them down, most notably Frank Black yelled and screamed with a frightening frequency and intensity. Perhaps the material calls for it, perhaps he was buoyed by how locked in his band were, but that was absolutely the most unhinged vocal performance from Frank Black I have witnessed.
Surprisingly it was Head On, the Jesus and Mary Chain cover that received the most enthusiastic audience reception of the night.
My personal highlight was Space (I believe in), another tune nestled deep in the album that I had overlooked. A group of teenagers beside laughing their heads off while belting out the absurd lyrics Jefry with one F, Jefry, Jefry with one F, Jefry!
After the two records were done, Pixies remained onstage and rewarded the casual fans with the UK Surf version of Wave Of Mutilation and Where Is My Mind. They closed with a tasteful version of Neil Young’s Winterlong.
With Frank Black’s acoustic guitar placed against his amp, feedback circling the room, Pixies were done. No frills, no fancy stage production, no encore breaks, just great songs delivered with passion.
I left with a compulsion to return to the recorded albums having made friends with several tunes during the show that I was less acquainted with and having witnessed other favourites performed with such fire.
Pixies are playing again tonight (Monday 24 November) with their ‘classic’ set, I’ll be there, but I’m pretty sure they aren’t going to be able to top the Bossanova/Trompe Le Monde set.
Chris Warne
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