Frank Black

Yes, the former Pixies frontman squints when he sings - even when he’s performing under his old moniker, Black Francis - but that doesn’t mean the man can’t hear you chitchatting when he’s explaining his top-notch new rock opera album, Bluefinger.

So it is with Frank Black who looking like a cross between a post-punk Blues Brother and a more sinister Kingpin in black suit shaved head and dark glasses graces us mere mortals with his presence in West London this fine evening.

Starr Hill Music Hall, Charlottesville, USA

What exactly happened to Charles Thompson's career? The Pixies the band he fronted in the late 1980s under the nom de plume Black Francis may well be the most important artists of their era.

Do you know who else performed with water and wine? Jesus Christ, Black was in a gracious mood for the large group of alt-rock survivors who gathered at the Grog Shop on Thursday night.

Nonetheless, the crowd was enthusiastic when a black-clad Frank Black gave them props between songs shortly after the set began.

An intense Frank Black preaches to the converted