Pixies, Roundhouse, London

When Pixies reformed in 2004 their four-day stint at Brixton Academy was the fastest selling in the venue’s history. 14 years later they revisit debut EP-and-album ‘Come On Pilgrim’ / ‘Surfer Rosa’ during five concurrent shows at the Roundhouse, and tickets are lapped up with a similar kind of fervour. Those who managed to bag one won’t be disappointed - the band still sound absolutely… gigantic.

The first sold out show begins with seven screens of scrambled VHS-style visuals forming a curve around the stage of the bustling venue; the band eventually walk on stage as a stunning strings rendition of ‘Where Is My Mind?’ plays over the tannoy. Without a word to the audience, Black Francis picks up a guitar and strums into a momentous rendition of ‘Caribou’. He coos gently for a verse or two before hurtling the track’s signature screams of “Repent!” at the crowd. It’s loud. And he sounds every bit as wicked as he did in 1988.

Technicolour strobes and plenty more shrieking accompanies ‘Vamos’, which appears twice tonight (owing to it being included on both records). Guitarist Joey Santiago, riding a pedalboard as big as him, casts thunderous noise over Dave Lovering and Paz Lenchantin’s driving rhythm section. By the time the band reach ‘The Holiday Song’ the initially small group of energetic moshers in the centre of the crowd has grown to include a horde of grey-haired and balding men - while a handful of young women near the barriers have started a kind of twirling dance party. ‘Nimrod’s Son’ only continues to incense the lively atmosphere.