Pixies - T.T. the Bear’s, Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 31, 1986

Pixies - T.T. the Bear’s, Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 31, 1986It’s Halloween 1986 and you’re in Cambridge, MA. Why not head over to T.T. the Bear’s to catch this new up-and-coming-band you’ve started to hear about — Pixies?! If you’d followed that sage advice, you’d have eternal bragging rights, I think. The rest of us will have to make do with the shaky camcorder footage that remains 40 years later. Don’t worry, it’s pretty good stuff, capturing the Pixies only a few months into their existence; Kim Deal had only answered Joey Santiago and Charles Thompson’s Boston Phoenix classified ad that January. “WOMAN BASSIST WANTED. To sing harmony with male lead vcl. PeterPaulandMary ala Husker Dv unprofessional attitude for sure!” That’s a recipe for success, I guess. It may have been only the beginning of the band’s reign, but the early material is pretty much set in stone. And from this viewpoint, it’s easy to play spot-the-influence: X, Gun Club, Violent Femmes, B-52’s, etc. But…