Concert review and setlist: Black Francis (aka Frank Black) captivates the Old Rock House with a stripped-down jam session, Tuesday, July 19

Frank Black

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Best known as the lead singer for the Pixies, Frank Black brought his surreal lyrics and howling vocals to the Old Rock House for a solo show that highlighted his talent for crafting a great song regardless of genre.

One-half of local indie rockers This City of Takers opened the show, playing a few of their songs with a dual-guitar setup instead of their usual four-piece ensemble. I found the set somewhat awkward, which I assume is due to the lack of a rhythm section. David Mahew and Brandon Lee had a good sound and played well, but there was something sonically lacking from the set. I found the same issues were happening with Brandon’s vocals, which were partially inaudible due to volume distortion. I think with some low-end to absorb some of the sound that wouldn’t have been an issue. One thing I noted is that Brandon sounds a lot like Guy Picciotto of Fugazi, which I really enjoyed. I get the feeling that my opinion would be different hearing the whole band together. Much like the rug in the Dude’s apartment in The Big Lebowski, they needed the rhythm section to tie the sound together.

Walking on to thunderous applause and cheers from the audience, Frank Black headed to the far corner of the stage and began to tune his guitar. The show was billed as a solo acoustic show so I was surprised to see another figure taking the stage as well. Once I got a good look and recognized Magic Band/Pere Ubu/Pixies alumnus Eric Drew Feldman as his accompaniment, I knew we were in for a treat.

Once he was tuned up and ready to go, Frank howled out a fantastic cover of Tom Waits’ “The Black Rider” and his own tune “Six-Sixty-Six” over Eric’s gorgeous organ accompaniment. The rest of the set found Frank playing whatever came to mind, picking out some fantastic guitar lines and delivering his lyrics in a wailing tenor while Eric switched between electric piano, organ and bass depending on the song. The set mostly consisted of songs from Frank’s solo albums, but did include a handful of Pixies tunes, covers of the aforementioned Tom Waits tune and the Gary Green penned “That Burnt Out Rock and Roll” along with the fan suggested “Song of the Shrimp” from his 2005 album Honeycomb.

Politeness was the theme of the evening, with Frank asking if there were any children in the audience before playing a song with foul language in it. They also abruptly stopped in the middle of “Brackish Boy” to ask a fan to stop drumming on the stage since it was throwing the duo off; they were focusing more on the song and each other than sticking to a beat. Between songs Frank was reminiscing about past performances in St. Louis playing with the Ramones at Mississippi Nights on their Acid Eaters tour and playing at the American Theater. After breaking down their equipment post performance both Eric and Frank took some time to sign some autographs and chat with the audience. Judging from the smile on his face, Frank seemed to have an especially good time interacting with the fans.


The set felt more like a jam session than a planned concert tour thanks to the lack of a set list, and was a showcase of exactly how good these two guys are as musicians. More than once Frank would start a song without telling Eric what he was going to play next and Eric would jump in once he figured it out. I thought it was fantastic seeing some old favorites reworked for a stripped down singer/songwriter setting. It proved that the power of Frank’s songs lie with the deep and surreal lyrics and his passion in performing them rather than attributing it to the sounds of the Pixies or his solo rock albums.

I’m grateful that Eric and Frank decided to stop and perform in St. Louis. I think we got just as powerful a show with these two consummate professionals as the Pixies would have put on in a more intimate setting, and that makes it all the more special.

Frank Black setlist:

The Black Rider
Six-Sixty-Six
Los Angeles
Song of the Shrimp
Nimrod’s Son
Two Reelers
All Around the World
Robert Onion
I Heard Ramona Sing
Ten Percenter
That Burnt Out Rock and Roll
She Took All the Money
Calistan
Horrible Day
Where is my Mind?
Bullet
I Burn Today
Brackish Boy
Dead Man’s Curve
Cactus
Planet of Sound
I’ll Be Blue

Posted by | July 20, 2011 | Concerts | Comment 

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