A Chancer's Guide To Pixies | Live At The Marquee 2016

Pixies take to the stage at the Showgrounds tonight. Here are a few facts about the band to have in your back pocket before you attend the gig!

Pixies formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1986 and are an alternative rock band. The band consists of four members, Black Francis on vocals and rhythm guitar, Joey Santiago on lead guitar and keyboards, David Lovering on drums and percussion, and Paz Lenchantin on bass, violin and vocals. Former members of the band are Kim Deal who played bass from 1986-1993 and again from 2004 - 2013. Deal was replaced by Kim Shattuck who played with the band for a year in 2013 before Lenchantin took over the position as bass player.

Even though the band are American, they only achieved relative success in the United States with the majority of their fans residing in the UK, mainland Europe and Israel. 

Black Francis is the bands main songwriter and singer. His lyrics often touch on areas such as surrealism and extraterrestrials.

The band broke up in 1993 without giving any explanation for the split before reuniting and touring once again in 2004.

Pixies are said to have influenced bands such as Nirvana, Rolling Stones, Blue and Weezer with U2's Bono calling the Pixies "one of America's greatest bands ever" and Radiohead's Thom Yorke stating that "Pixies changed my life". Pixies themselves were influenced by the likes of Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Black Flag, The Gun Club and Captain Beefheart as well as a mix of Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, Elvis Costello and The Everly Brothers.

One of their most famous song "Where Is My Mind?" was used at the end of the film Fight Club.

The band have recorded six studio albums, Surfer Rosa in 1988, Doolittle in 1989, Bossanova in 1990, Trompe Le Monde in 1991, Indie Cindy in 2014 and soon to be released Head Carrier in September 2016. Their most successful album was Doolittle which sold over 1,000,000 copies worldwide.

This will be Pixies second time playing Live At The Marquee after previously playing in 2014. Support tonight comes from Bleeding Heart Pigeons.