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Anniversary tours come thick and fast. Can it really be 30 years since the JAMC\u2019s debut Psychocandy<\/em>? Evidently so. This band\u2019s early, short, chaotic, feedback soaked gigs are a thing of legend. It feels utterly wrong for them to play their incendiary album in full, in order, like a museum piece. But that\u2019s what they\u2019re here to do tonight.<\/p>\n For most fans, they never topped their debut, but the first part of tonight\u2019s show is there to remind us that they produced plenty of other fine material. The band did move on from the Phil Spector meets the Velvet Underground noise (more recently adopted by Glasvegas) that they specialised in, to a more classic rock sound. But they never lost that chunky, mesmerising melodic edge, which was fully evident tonight. They open with the glorious April Skies and it\u2019s clear that, with improvements in technology, the band have never sounded better.<\/p>\n The next number, the supremely catchy Head On, was such an influence on Black Francis that many Pixies fans think he wrote it. Then there\u2019s the wonderful Some Candy Talking, followed by the title track of Psychocandy (which was dropped from the album) and a show stopping Reverence, all white light flashing, with its \u2018I wanna die like Jesus Christ\u2019 refrain. It\u2019s so good that it might have been better saved for the encore, if this band did encores. Upside Down finishes the half hour \u2018hits\u2019 set and they leave the stage, only to return two minutes later.<\/p>\n The drum sounds of Be My Baby heralds the opening of Just Like Honey. The crowd go crazy for the band\u2019s first album, which is performed in full, in order, without any introductions, until the end, when Jim Reid says that he hopes we enjoyed the show and this is the last number.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s fine. Great, in fact. The strobes and smoke make the stage very atmospeheric. The album holds up well. In A Hole and Never Understand are particularly good. But there\u2019s no suspense about what they\u2019ll play next. The crowd\u2019s excitement dissipates after a few numbers, only to revive towards the end with the terrific Trip Me Up. Psychocandy was what people had paid to see and it\u2019s what they got, but, for my money, good though this evening was, a balanced set reflecting the band\u2019s whole career would have been better, more exciting. Too much reverence, maybe.<\/p>\n