Pixies sell out surprise Manchester gig in record time

A surprise gig from Pixies at Band on the Wall has sold out in minutes. The iconic rock band are all set to hit the stage at the newly refurbed venue tomorrow night.

But the tickets - at £30 each - were gone 20 minutes after news of the show went up on both the band and the venue’s social media. “MANCHESTER... we love you and we miss you,” read the post on the band’s Facebook page.

“So we've decided to drop by Band on the Wall TOMORROW night to play a hot and sweaty show.” Tomorrow is indeed set to be one of the hottest since records began.

The band, fronted by Black Francis, were only in Manchester earlier this month, playing a headline show at Castlefield Bowl as part of the Sounds of the City season of gigs, supported by Manchester’s own Slow Readers Club.

Pleasingly, proceeds from the show will all be donated to the Band on the Wall’s World of Music learning programme. The initiative uses the venue’s new teaching facility and encompasses all kinds of music classes for young people, from youth choirs to jazz workshops.

Pixies will play shows in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle next month, along with a show at The Bingley Weekend, alongside Slow Readers Club once again and White Lies, on August 7.

The band is currently touring Europe ahead of new album Doggerel, due for release on September 30. Speaking about the new set, Black Francis said: “We’re trying to do things that are very big and bold and orchestrated. The punky stuff, I really like playing it but you just cannot artificially create that s**t. There’s another way to do this, there’s other things we can do with this extra special energy that we’re encountering.”

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