Pixies Show the Kids How It's Done at V Fest Ontario

Sometimes youthful exuberance outweighs experience -- but not when it comes to the Pixies.

Taking the stage just before dusk on Day One of Toronto's Virgin Festival, the legendary indie band -- who influenced everyone from Husker Du's Bob Mould to Kurt Cobain -- showed exactly what makes them so special. There was no glitz or flash to be found, aside from occasional puffs from the smoke machine that had been dousing the crowd all afternoon, so nothing could distract from the obvious power of a band that spent 11 years disliking each other. The stage was set up with a veritable wall of Marshall amps beside David Lovering's drum kit while Kim Deal's towering bass setup dominated stage-left.

The band hardly spoke between songs, aside from Deal offering a couple of "thank yous," preferring to blast through mainstream hits like 'Here Comes Your Man,' fan favourites like 'Debaser' and rapid-fire relics like 'Broken Face.' And on each song, Deal and Black Francis' boy-girl harmonies sounded as fresh as when they were first recorded in the early-'90s.

They crammed two dozen songs into a little over an hour, peppering the set with tunes both familiar and lesser-known. Every corner of the Molson Amphitheatre, from the front of the stage to the farthest reaches of the lawn seating area, was packed with people pogoing and moshing like it was 1991 all over again. While many of the energetic fans looked like they were just learning to read when the Pixies broke up back in 1993, their youth certainly didn't get in the way of this experience.