When a beloved band returns to their hometown, a certain magic emanates through the crowd and across the stage. If said band has the ingenuity and vitality to sustain a decades long career, the homecoming run becomes a celebration of the past, present and future for performers and fans alike.

Boston’s own Pixies brought their mastery of alternative rock back home on Friday and Saturday for a career spanning two-night run at MGM Music Hall. For the past thirty-nine years, Pixies have been a guiding light for left-of-the dial rock and their live performances have consistently amplified the musical qualities that have lit a fire under generations of listeners. Their famous” loud-quiet-loud” dynamics morph into a physical entity amongst a packed crowd attuned to the band’s precision and power.

Frontman and songwriter Black Francis deliver his surreal, poetic lyrics with timeless passion and vocal range, complimented by cofounder Joey Santiago’s lyrical lead guitar. Drummer David Lovering still drives the rhythm with enough force and technique to propel the music full speed ahead with the help of bassist Emma Richardson, the newest member of the quartet. Since joining the band last year, Richardson has carved her own place in the musical mold with a thundering bass sound and evocative, mellifluous vocals.

Known for a diverse catalog, Pixies have consistently touched upon all eras of their career during their extensive sets. For their current tour, they are posting up in each city for a two night “residency”, the first night consisting of 1990’s Bossanova and 1991’s Trompe Le Monde, each performed in their entirety. On the second night, fans are treated to a career spanning setlist including a generous helping of their latest LP, last year’s The Night the Zombies Came.

On Friday night, anticipation was high at MGM as Pixies took the stage and Black Francis stepped to the microphone. He invited the crowd back to 1990 “when the sun shined on the college rock era” and Pixies recorded Bossanova after relocating to Hollywood. The band launched into track one, their atmospheric cover of The Surftone’s instrumental “Cecilia Ann”. Sixties surf and pop rock sounds have always been a strand in Pixies musical DNA and Bossanova particularly showcases this side of their unique musical equation. On both nights at MGM, the band walked out to The Beach Boys instrumental “Pet Sounds” from the legendary album of the same name, a clear tribute to the recently departed Brian Wilson.

The second track “Rock Music” lived up to its title as one of Pixies heaviest musical moments, exhibiting the power of their rhythm section and Black Francis’ melodic scream, still as effective as it was when the eighties turned into the nineties. “Velouria” and ‘Alison” again show off the band’s innate melodic aptitude and whimsy inspired by the previous generation of rockers. The wide breadth of sounds the Pixies could deliver even across just one album side was one of many reasons that a large portion of concertgoers at MGM attended both shows of the weekend.

Although most fans knew the album’s running order by heart, familiarity did not diminish the enthusiasm of hearing the songs come to life onstage. Before last year’s Bossanova/Trompe Le Monde shows in Europe, many songs from the two albums had not been played live since the early nineties before Pixies went on a twelve-year hiatus. Therefore, an entire generation of fans heard songs such as “Hang Wire”, “Trompe Le Monde”, “Palace of the Brine” and “Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons” for the first time in a live setting. Even “Dig for Fire” a single from Bossanova had not been played since 2011 before last year’s tour.            

As the band put Bossanova back on the shelf and took Trompe Le Monde out of its’ sleeve, the glowing orbs onstage transformed from the planets from the former albums’ cover to the eyeballs which adorn the latter. If Bossanova represents Pixies’ spacier side, Trompe Le Monde has moments of punkish intensity, perfectly capturing the zeitgeist of alternative rock in 1991, just as grunge started to hit mainstream airwaves, another door opened by the Pixies. As Black Francis introduced the album, he noted that the sun was now setting on college rock, and the musical landscape had changed in just a year’s time.

Concert staple “Planet of Sound” encapsulated the fire of the album in an explosive rendition driven by Richardson’s pulsating bass. The famous Pixies dynamics were front and center on “The Sad Punk” with a ferocious start flowing into a melodic bridge that recalled the early work of The Velvet Underground. Fan-favorite rocker “U-Mass” had the crowd on their feet, singing along to the “University of Massachusetts!” shout out and the infectious “it’s educational!” refrain. Of course, U-Mass Amherst looms large in Pixies history, as Black Francis (born Charles Thompson IV) and Joey Santiago met there as students and began writing songs together. They moved to Boston, joined forces with Lovering and original bassist and accomplished songwriter Kim Deal, and within five years, cemented a legacy of inimitable songcraft and incendiary live performances. The band was clearly feeding off the crowd’s energy and passion for their hometown heroes.

Supportive applause accompanied Black Francis’ decision to restart the rarely played “Lovely Day”. “We sound like shit!” he proclaimed to the crowds’ good-natured laughs and forgiving applause. When a band and their fanbase value authenticity, they can relate to the desire to do things right, for the sake of the song. “Motorway to Roswell”, the penultimate track of Trompe Le Monde harkened back to the celestial themes of Bossanova in an ethereal rendition.

After the album’s closing cut, “The Navajo Know”, Pixies showed no signs of slowing down. The encore set began with Richardson taking the lead on “In Heaven” from the David Lynch classic Eraserhead, a setlist staple since the early days of Boston clubs and BBC radio sessions. “Here Comes Your Man” and “Where is My Mind?” arguably the band’s most well-known tacks followed with the audience still on their feet. When Richardson returned to the mic for the recently resurrected 1989 B-side “Into the White”, the houselights slowly rose as the band barreled towards the song’s psychedelic climax. Originally sung by Kim Deal in the band’s first phase and initial reunion tours, the showstopper seemed to be the perfect end for an exceptionally energetic gig. As the quartet put down their instruments however, the audience applauded and cheered for what seemed like five minutes straight. The reaction grew more rapturous when the band took the stage again for a spontaneous encore of “Debaser” from 1989’s Doolittle. The relentless firepower from the stage brought time to a standstill and made the crowd even hungrier for Saturday night’s gig.

At seven o’clock on Saturday evening, the atmosphere on Landsdowne Street was buzzing. Crowds gathered for events at Fenway Park and the surrounding bars, accentuating the eclectic nature of Boston’s musical tastes. After all, only a city with diverse artistic influences could spawn a band like Pixies. Pixies shirts and hats dotted the large gatherings around Fenway, attracting knowing glances from those headed to MGM for a second helping of alt-rock thunder.

The second night served as the perfect complement to the first in showcasing all of Pixie’s strengths as a live act. Where the band delivered passionate readings of fan-favorite LPs on Friday with structure and musical discipline, Saturday’s performance was pure dynamite, the most cathartic kind of rock ‘n roll abandon. The set opener, another version of “In Heaven” took on an even more driving tone as the band built up to a rumbling crescendo. During a fiery version of “Vamos” early in the set, Joey Santiago showed off his wildest guitar theatrics of the weekend. From the song’s cutting staccato verse riff to a wall of feedback and effects in the break, he dazzled the crowd by unplugging his Gibson Les Paul and waving the guitar cable to create a unique buzz, setting the tone for a night of intensity and thrilling tones.

”Mr. Grieves” “Gouge Away” and “Hey” all from Doolittle kept the energy going and proved that this band is still at the top of their game onstage. As one of alternative rock’s foremost albums’ Doolittle was well represented in the set with nine songs performed including both versions of “Wave of Mutilation” the album version and the slower “UK surf” version (released as a B-side) toward the end of the set.

After blistering versions of “Head On’ and “Isla de Encanta”, the audience got a glimpse of twenty-first century Pixies with a block of songs from last year’s The Night the Zombies Came. “Chicken” and “The Vegas Suite” both show off the acoustic textures of the band with the former being a perfect example of Black Francis’ engaging dark humor. “Motoroller” proved that the supercharged rock of the Trompe Le Monde days is still a major component of the Pixie’s musical palette. The hometown audience lived up to their reputation as Pixies faithful and remained enthusiastic for the newest entries into their favorite band’s catalog.

MGM Music hall is simply the perfect venue to showcase forty years of rock power and melodic texture. Pixies have played nearly all of Boston’s legendary venues throughout their career, but at the recently constructed hall, their sound was unparalleled. Without exaggeration, one could hear guitar pickups being switched, various effects pedals activated and each lyric sung loud and clear. Lovering’s drums had a studio-like clarity and Richardson’s Fender Precision bass cut through the mix with stunning depth.

For the grand finale, “Where Is My Mind?” brought crowd surfing on the floor which intensified with another flaming rendition of “Into the White”. The scene looked and sounded like a vintage Pixies gig from thirty-five odd years ago. Pixies however are not a nostalgia act. They continue to be a vital force in rock music for those who grew up with them, those who are discovering their music and those for whom last weekend was their introduction. The range of the audience from early teens to those in their sixties or seventies is a testament to the staying power and excitement of the Pixies’ artistry. Bostonians have a reputation of intense pride in their city. After all, what music lover wouldn’t be proud to share a birthplace with the mighty Pixies?