Live Review: Pixies @ Iveagh Gardens

Since an appearance at the National Stadium in 1990, Pixies have been regular much-adored visitors to these shores. From supporting the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the Phoenix Park to headlining Lansdowne Road and making the Olympia a spiritual home that sells out in nanoseconds, Frank Black and friends have always been the hottest ticket in town.

Their first Irish open air appearance in years is no exception, coming hot on the heels of another full house at the Marquee in Cork. While pesky rain clouds hover with intent over Dublin's secret garden, it never materializes to anything more than a brief drizzle. Anyway, nothing on earth could stop the mighty Pixies in full flight.

They steamroll through thirty plus songs of deranged rock madness; from early gems on Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa to ‘Um Chagga Lagga' from their impending September album Head Carrier. Argentine-American bassist Paz Lenchantin has one of the hardest jobs in rock in replacing the talismanic Kim Deal, but she's warmed into the role and appears so much at home she could’ve been in the band far longer than two years. Lenchantin’s backing vocals for 'Tony's Theme' and a towering 'Where is my Mind' reveal a full-blooded Pixie rather than any form of temporary stand in.

While lacking the intense raucous urgency of recent indoor shows, and offering another example of the late George Byrne’s cracking theory that Irish gigs really need a roof on them, Pixies still deliver a breathtaking and breathless show of demented alt-rock anthems. Long may they rock n' roll.