Club Paradise

Pixies fans are advised to spend a loudquietloud evening with their favorite band courtesy of this film of a rare event: the Pixies performing in a small venue in their hometown of Boston. Club Date captures the band in 2004 as they re-formed after a 10-year split. In contrast to The Pixies - Sell Out which is also from their 2004 reunion tour and features the band playing before massive crowds at sold-out festivals, Club Date is a more intimate experience, but no less energetic. As they emerge to start the 29-song set with "La La Love You," the band is visibly relaxed and seem at home. There's no hint at all of the ten year break or any acrimony that caused the band's split years before. Feeding off the enthusiasm from the small but vocal crowd, the Pixies' set builds in intensity as they rip through their hits. While their most driven and powerful songs like "Something Against You," "Vamos," and "Tame" may not make the crowd mosh and go as crazy as they once would have, the power is still there, and when they launch into the opening chords of "U-Mass" it's clear that the magic is still there as well, it's just the magicians are a little older and wiser. For Pixies fans who never had the chance to see their favorite band in a small venue, this is the next best thing. The bonus features is a showcase of a never-before-seen set of one of the band's first performances in 1986. The footage itself is far from topnotch, but fans will likely enjoy hearing some early performances of Pixies standards while witnessing the early days of a seminal group whose best years are yet ahead of them. --Daniel Vancini