Like a kid in a candy shop

Faith No More. Photo / Supplied

Having the Pixies, Faith No More and Massive Attack in town within weeks of each other would be just like the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Stones playing here one after the other, back in the day.

Followers of these older rock'n'roll greats might scoff at the comparison, but for some (the late 30-something generation like myself for example) these bands were as pivotal and influential in the late 80s and early 90s as the Beatles and Stones were in the 60s.

Along with Nirvana and Sonic Youth, the Pixies were the Stones and Beatles of my lifetime. With their mix of melody, chaos and carnal delivery, they changed the way I listened to and appreciated music. And people all around me were being converted and influenced in similar ways.

One of the best, and simplest things the Pixies did was make weird and twisted music popular. Well, luckily not too popular because back then, being the cool student that I was, if they had gotten too big I would have ditched them and moved on to something more obscure.

It was never going to happen with the Pixies though - they looked too plain and, in the case of singer and guitarist Black Francis, too plump, to be mega music stars. But man, could they play.

The Pixies, who split up in 1993 after seven productive yet turbulent years, never made it here first time around, which is why there was a clamour for tickets to their "intimate" Powerstation show on March 11 the night before they play Vector Arena. Like me, those after the exclusive tickets were keen to witness what could have been, 20 or so years ago. And judging by accounts from overseas they still have the grunt and yowl of old. We'll see.

While I was never a huge Faith No More fan the thought of jumping round to Epic and Surprise! You're Dead! tonight at Vector is enough to make me break out my Doc Martens, three-quarter pants (you know, long shorts?) and rap and roll. Faith No More cop some, er, rap, for influencing the awful late-90s nu metal period but as songs like Midlife Crisis and their cover of Sabbath's War Pigs show, they had a heavy yet dapper style that Limp Bizkit could only dream of.

Frontman Mike Patton and his cronies, although not as significant, were similar to the Pixies in that they were simply a band taking music in weird and wonderful directions while still writing catchy tunes.

Massive Attack did the same with their dark exotic songs of the 90s - and after a 10-year hiccup they're back on track with new album Heligoland.

Of the bands who made their name in the late 80s and early 90s, it was Nirvana who were the biggest of all. And what do you know? Just last month Dave Grohl was in town drumming with Them Crooked Vultures, which is about as close as you can get now to the real Nirvana.

It's been a hell of a summer and it's unlikely this many important bands will come to our shores in one year ever again. Bring it on.