Pixies to play three Australian cities with new album Head Carrier in March 2017

ALT-ROCK legends Pixies will play in three Australian cities in March next year on the back of a new album — their first without Kim Deal.

James WigneyNational Hit Editor

@JamesWigney

2 min read

August 25, 2016 - 7:00AM

News Corp Australia Network

US rock band Pixies (from left) Paz Lenchantin, David Lovering, Joey Santiago and Black Francis.

US rock band Pixies are headed to Australia on their first major tour in six years.

The seminal alt-rock band, which heavily influenced the likes of Radiohead, Nirvana and The Strokes, will play arena sized shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne next March on their Head Carrier tour.

The album of the same name, the first made entirely without original bassist Kim Deal, will be released on September 20.

Deal’s replacement Paz Lenchatin, who has been touring with the band since January 2014, is now a permanent part of the Pixies’ line-up, alongside original members vocalist/guitarist Black Francis, drummer David Lovering and guitarist Joey Santiago.

“Paz is a joy to be around,” said Lovering. “She’s very funny, and we’re having more fun than we’ve ever had as a band; we all have a blast together, on and off stage.”

Pixies (from left) Paz Lenchantin, David Lovering, Black Francis, Joey Santiago

While setlists from recent UK shows have been a mix of old and new, picking from their 1987 debut all the way to tracks from the forthcoming Head Carrier, singer Francis (aka Charles Thompson) said he’s not sure how the Australian setlist will look yet.

Pixies at the Sydney Opera House during the 2014 Vivid Festival.

In an exclusive interview with News Corp AustraliaFrancis said: “It’s sort of up to the audience. We don’t pander totally to the crowd — we’re somewhere between difficult artists and pandering kiss-asses. We respect both perspectives for shows — they are both noble in their own way.”

He added he is leaning towards incorporating most of the new album.

“We were playing about four of the songs on the last tour we went out on and they seemed to go over pretty good for songs people hadn’t heard yet. So I am hoping that after release people will be excited to hear the new material — because I would like to play the whole record.”

Although this will be the band’s first multi-city tour since 2010, when they sold out 13 shows across the country playing their revered 1989 album Doolittle in full, the Pixies did play the Vivid Festival in Sydney in 2014.

“That run of shows we did at the Sydney Opera House was like playing Carnegie Hall or something,” said Francis. “It definitely felt like a feather in our cap and we love going to the country.”