Riding a wave of nostalgia for a movement based, in part, on a rejection of nostalgia, the reunited Pixies played two very different roles at the Chevrolet Amphitheatre Thursday -- one for those who grew up on the Pixies in their college-rocking youth and one for those who grew up on the legend, hearing from the likes of Kurt Cobain and aging hipsters at the bar that this was an important band that paved the way for any number of their favorite groups.

And even if you ultimately can't go back to 1989, the Pixies did their legend proud while inadvertently making the case that, in the end, there's nothing wrong with oldies shows if you're into the band and they're up the challenge. Which the Pixies clearly were.

Frank Black was so committed to the howling madman role, it often seemed as though his head could very well explode all over lead guitarist Joey Santiago, whose bid for most valuable Pixie may have peaked on the outburst of chaos he brought to the solo of "U-Mass." Kim Deal's vocals were just as inspired, anchoring a shrieking Black performance with child-like sweetness on "Bone Machine" and taking center stage for a triumphant thrashing of "Gigantic."

Meanwhile, she and drummer David Lovering nailed the throbbing essence of the Pixies' greatest hits. And any case for the Pixies as one of the more consistent hit machines in the formative days of alternative rock could begin with the number of gems they were able to squeeze between two vastly different takes of "Wave of Mutilation," from "Gigantic" and "Here Comes Your Man" to "Monkey Gone to Heaven," "Cactus," "U-Mass," "Tame," "Debaser," "Caribou" and "Where Is My Mind?"