Pixies and Franz Ferdinand Brought a Lot of Cool to a Hot Saturday Night in Dallas

The crowd at a Pixies show is like none other. The band has influenced so many genres, so it’s no surprise that the Saturday night crowd at South Side Ballroom included punks with fully spiked Mohawks, goths with blacked-out eyes, Gen Z kids into the retro '90s thing, metal girls with throat tattoos, old skater dudes and, of course, posers who know they’re supposed to like this band, but don’t really know any of the songs.

Nashville grunge throwback band Bully led the night off with all the force of forebears like Liz Phair’s storytelling mixed with Sheryl Crow’s energy and Hole’s dispirited distortion.

Led by singer and guitarist Alicia Bognanno, Bully popped, rocked and rolled. Alicia Bognanno stopped the show two songs from the end of Bully’s set when someone passed out near the front of the stage, bringing the house lights up. The crowd cheered as the person was attended to, but the situation served as a reminder of what extreme heat mixed with thick crowds can do even when there’s air conditioning.
The crowd remained largely still after Bully left the stage. Everyone was vying for the best spot to see Franz Ferdinand, who proved to be a big draw itself.
From the outset, Franz Ferdinand seemed an odd choice for an opener — a Scottish indie rock band known for some of the poppiest songs on alternative radio in the mid-aughts. Hearing them open for Pixies, however, one could hear how the discordant textures and reckless approach to songwriting definitely drew inspiration from Pixies, as so many bands did.

Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos sought to build a connection with the crowd, throwing his guitar behind his back and reaching out to the fans in front. He smiled wide as the band’s biggest fans pogoed above the crowd. He kept the stage banter light, aiming to make the people of Dallas feel welcome.
The set started out slow, but picked up when Dallas started getting shoutouts in the band’s biggest songs, first with “Right Action,” replacing London with Dallas in the lyric, “11 South Court Gardens / England's Lane past end to [Dallas].” The band did it again in “Do You Want To” — “Well here we are at the [Dallas, Texas] party / I love your friends they're all so arty.”

The performance grew increasingly out of control until the band closed with "This Fire" before exiting the stage.
One Pixies show is never the same as the last as the band changes its setlist every night. They pull from the vast catalog, with decisions often made live on stage. It’s loud, it’s unpredictable and it’s legendary.

The band took its time coming to the stage, letting the stage lights illuminate the steam in the room as the lead-in music played and the band situated itself.

After a quick count-off by drummer David Lovering, the band ambled its way into “Gouge Away.” Singer Black Francis stepped out of the green and into the white spotlight just long enough for the audience to catch a slight smile.

A key example of the band’s “loud-quiet-loud” songwriting dynamic, the lights shone brightest in the loudest moments of “Gouge Away” — a lighting technique they’d employ all night.

The night's first singalong moment came early, with the audience echoing the chorus of “Wave of Mutilation” with passion.

In the guitar break of “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” Francis stepped into the black, letting the light shine down on Joey Santiago for the solo.
The crowd would get quieter as the Pixies delved into deep cuts such as “Planet of Sound” from 1991’s Trompe le Monde or anything from its 2022 release, Doggerel. Really anything released after 1989’s Doolittle. New bassist Paz Lenchantin came to the front of the stage for the bass solo in “Who’s More Sorry Now?”
It’s not that the crowd wasn’t into the show, but you could feel the anticipation and restlessness building for the songs that defined life soundtracks through the band’s 30-song set.

In many ways, it felt like an endurance test. If the audience could make it through a mix of 10 new songs and deep cuts they’d be rewarded with a block of songs with “Bone Machine,” “Caribou” and “Hey.” Ten more songs, then “Where Is My Mind?”

It was surprising to see people leaving less than an hour into the set.

What folks miss when they leave a show like the Pixies too early is that exact thing shows are meant to do —promote the album and maybe walk away with some earworms to chase down. But in the fans' defense, Franz Ferdinand did more to engage the audience than Pixies did in all of its stoicism.

True, the Pixies don't have to do anything to prove its legendary status. All the bands that cite them as influences and all the "best-of" lists that contain their albums do that already. And there are enough people out there dedicated to the idea that the Pixies really don't need to court new fans. The Pixies will pack rooms the size of South Side Ballroom for as long as they can keep going.

It would be surprising if anyone walked away as a new fan of the band after Saturday night's show. Shutting up and playing what you want may show one's musical ethos, but it can still be pretty alienating to the folks who don't already think you're great.