Pixies to Sell Live CDs on North American Tour
Steve Albini to be "blandly entertained" by band at "their top dollar best"

Looks like the Pixies have found another unique way to maximize profitability on their upcoming reunion tour: Billboard reported Friday that the band will be touring with a mobile studio, courtesy of DiscLive, which will allow them to record each show and sell the results on limited-edition CDRs roughly 10-15 minutes after the concert ends, though vouchers will be made prior to the shows. The discs from each concert will reportedly be limited to 1,000 copies, with 2,000 being pressed for the band's performance at Coachella on May 1st.

DiscLive's website reveals that their methods for recording concerts involves "a patent-pending proprietary technology" within a "mobile mastering and manufacturing facility" that allows them to create 800 CDs in 20 minutes-- the first 200 of which are finished less than five minutes after the show ends. All recordings are captured off a soundboard feed using ambient microphones, which allows for a professionally mastered recording. On Thursday, DiscLive's website began taking pre-orders for each show at $25 a disc, with the band's first stop in Minneapolis on April 13th having already sold out. The site claims these discs will not be repressed. (Until 4AD needs funding for the inevitable Colourbox and Wolfgang Press reunions in 2006.)

With that concert now just one week away, guitarist Joey Santiago talked to MTV about what it's like having the band back together: "It was pretty weird, but it was literally only weird for a little while. Once we started playing, it was fun... When we started getting back together, in my perspective anyway, I wanted to see if it would be embarrassing to do... But it turns out it's really fun, really good." Which is probably best, since the Pixies have already committed to an insane 46-date tour itinerary. After their so-called North American "warmup tour", the band will jet off to headline South America, Iceland, Spain, The Netherlands, and England. After that, they're all over the fucking place to hit any festival that'll have them. For Christ's sake, they're playing a monastery in Ljubljana, Slovenia! And yet, no Chicago, New York or Los Angeles. America sucks. Here's a newly revised, complete list of all the band's presently scheduled tour dates, for your ravenous envy:

04-13 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe
04-14 Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theatre
04-15 Regina, SK - Doris Knight Ballroom
04-17 Saskatoon, SK - Prairieland
04-18 Edmonton, Alberta - Red's
04-19 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Hall
04-21 Victoria, British Columbia - Victoria Curling Club
04-22 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
04-23 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
04-24 Spokane, WA - Big Easy
04-25 Boise, Idaho - Big Easy
04-27 Eugene, OR - MacDonald Theatre
04-28 Eugene, OR - MacDonald Theatre
04-29 Davis, CA - Freeborn Hall
05-01 Indio, CA - Coachella Festival
05-08 Curtiba, Brazil - Curtiba Pop Festival
05-26 Hafnarfjordur, Iceland - Ghostigital Opening
05-28 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
05-29 Madrid, Spain - Festimad
05-30 Langraff, Netherlands - Pinkpop Festival
06-02 London, England - Brixton Academy
06-03 London, England - Brixton Academy
06-04 London, England - Brixton Academy
06-05 London, England - Brixton Academy
06-07 Paris, France - Le Zenith
06-10 Vienna, Austria - Aerodrome Festival
06-11 Lisbon, Portugal - Super Bock Super Rock
06-12 Dublin, Ireland - Phoenix Park (w/Red Hot Chili Peppers)
06-14 Paris, France - Le Zenith
06-15 Paris, France - Parc des Princes (w/Red Hot Chili Peppers)
06-17 Hultsfred, Sweden - Hultsfred Festival
06-19 Bologna, Italy - Heineken Jammin' Festival
06-20 Ljubljana, Slovenia - Krizanke Monastery
06-21 Athens, Greece - Rockwave
06-26 Scheeßel, Germany - Hurricane Festival
06-27 Geneva, Switzerland - Geneva Arena
06-29 Berlin, Germany - Wuhlheide
07-02 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-03 Belfort, France - Les Eurockéennes Festival
07-04 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
07-08 Kristiansand, Norway - Quart Festival
07-11 Glasgow, Scotland - T in the Park Festival
07-30 Naeba, Japan - Fujirock Festival
08-21 Staffordshire, England - V Festival
08-22 Chelmsford, England - V Festival
09-06 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival

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