Pixies: P40 Celebrating 40 Years

Pixies bring P40 Celebrating 40 Years to Aviva Studios in Manchester on 25 May 2026. Formed in Boston in 1986 around Black Francis, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal and David Lovering, the band wired a new grammar for alternative rock with sharp quiet-loud dynamics, left-field imagery and a taste for sudden cuts and collisions. Surfer Rosa and Doolittle set the tone, with songs like Where Is My Mind?, Debaser or Monkey Gone to Heaven shaping a catalogue that still hits with its mix of melody and abrasion.

On stage today, the core of Black Francis, Santiago and Lovering keeps that tension alive, moving from surf-tinged riffs to jagged noise and back to unadorned hooks in a blink. This anniversary show looks across four decades of writing and reinvention, from the early underground bursts to later chapters after their 2004 return. Expect a set that threads the essentials with deeper cuts, driven by Francis’s bark-and-whisper delivery, Santiago’s incisive guitar lines and Lovering’s steady pulse. A chance to hear how these songs have grown and how their edges remain intact, in a room built for volume and detail.