There were notoriously frosty relationships between band members, while singer Frank Black seemed determined to put his past behind them.

Then, as if out of nowhere, the band was back on the road and it was a toss-up as to what was more surprising — that they were playing together once more, or how good they still sounded.

So, after their triumphant return last year, which included an appearance on the main stage at T on the Park, the organisers of T in the Fringe pulled a major coup in getting the band back north of the Border after their headlining slots at the Leeds and Reading festivals.

Fitting for a band, whose career started while the Berlin Wall was still standing, Meadowbank Stadium looks like it has been plucked from East Germany and dropped in the capital. With howling wind and the ever present threat of rain, it’s a grim and ghostly setting for a gig and but support Teenage Fanclub’s breezy pop keeps heads bobbing. Idlewild face more of a struggle to keep the crowd entertained but as darkness falls and The Pixies take the stage all thoughts of the surroundings and the stormy weather are banished.

Opening with a crunching version of Bone Machine they speed through their back catalogue like demons, barely stopping for breath.

Since their break-up, the band’s four and a half albums have assumed legendary status and every song is greeted rapturously, whether it’s their coruscating version of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Head-On or their own bona fide classics like Monkey Gone to Heaven or Debaser which prompt mass singalongs — which is a pretty strange experience considering the bulk of The Pixies’ lyrical content. The cheeky scamps also throw in two versions of Wave of Mutilation, one fast and punky, the other slower and weirder.

They finish their set by wishing each other good night like a strange mutant version of The Waltons before returning to encore with bassist Kim Deal’s Gigantic.

No band has ever sounded quite like The Pixies and, at their peak, they could lay claim to being one of, if not the, best in the world. Amazingly, they seem to be staking a claim once again.

Despite being a reunion tour, nothing sounds lazy or tired and all four members of the band actually seem to be having almost as good a time as the crowd and were as good as could be hoped — if not better.

“I learnt the violin when I was three and it comes as naturally to me to use it as most rock musicians would use a guitar. The thing is, the violin as a lead instrument hasn’t been explored like guitar has.”

Despite being lumped in with the rest of the post-Coldplay crowd, Story One are stand-outs for more than just frontman Tom Evans’ instrumentation.

Big things are being expected of a band who, on the verge of releasing a first EP, have already experienced more than most of their peers will over an entire career.

But while they profess an ambition to “be the best,” there’s also a level-headedness which comes from three years busking in Nottingham.

“The only way you learn what you’ve got is by playing toilets,” said drummer Mike Woolf. “We played the Viper Rooms in LA and then flew back to play a pub in Mansfield. Character-forming, I think they call it.”

Actually the show at the legendary Viper Rooms went down so well they played the next night as well, starting a scramble among American labels.

The band was offered the gigs after an English DJ with LA radio station Indie Key 103 walked into a London rehearsal and left with a tape.

It was just one twist in the Story One story, which has all the scenes, characters and credibility of a Harry Potter novel.

As they prepared to record an album, big name producers were passed up in favour of a 21-year-old with a penchant for dressing as a duke, complete with purple satin gown and chain mail.

The band were whisked off to a castle near Bordeaux for a three day try-out, which in the end lasted three months, punctuated with trips home for gigs.

During their time in France, Story One refined a sound influenced by the likes of Radiohead, Elbow, Dylan and Van Morrison. Inevitably, Coldplay are also mentioned.

Added Tom, “The great thing about having rehearsed and played together for so long is that you start to think as a single organism. We’ve got so many ideas we feel we can do anything.”

n Story One play King Tut’s in Glasgow on Tuesday. Their debut EP is released on September 26 through Shy Records.