Pavement Recap: Are Former Greats Still Great?

Pavement have the reputation as one of the most influential lo-fi bands from the Nineties – encapsulating the slacker college-kid vibe of the post-grunge Gen X era. Their recent slate of shows in Australia have received a mixture of responses.

Singer Stephen Malkmus used to write lyrics about bands that ‘sold out’ (“Cut Your Hair”) and opined anti-consumerism (“Shady Lane”), and at last weekend’s show in Sydney he waxed lyrical and lengthy about the joys of golf and also said “I love sports” – which seems a kind of ironically ‘anti-Pavement’ sentiment.

Naturally, now that they’ve hit middle-age, the band and their songs (that represented a very specific moment in time) may not be particularly relevant to the new generation of radio listeners; but, to the folks that grew up listening to Pavement at the height of their popularity, albums like Slanted And Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain are the albums that soundtracked the first joint smoked, awkward teenage sex, and making real cassette-tape mixtapes for your friends or latest crush subject.

One person who subscribes to the latter school of thought is Alex Grigg, singer and guitarist for Sydney band Red Riders, who provided us with his own thoughts on the show:

“It is completely rare that you can walk away from a show and say you were 100% satisfied, that it was everything you wanted it to be, but that is exactly how I felt after seeing Pavement on Thursday night.

Reunion tours should always be approached with a tonne of skepticism, no one wants to see their favourite band going through the motions for the sweet $$$. I think what made the show so good was that it was as much about closure as cash (you gotta remember Pavement just sort of faded out with no fanfare at the end of the 90s). So it kinda felt like a celebration.

And the best thing? It was gloriously shambolic (and funny). They were loose and sloppy, and muddled some of the words, stopped songs mid intro to start over, played stuff too fast… It felt like a real Pavement show, like they were still (they are!) vital, not like some over rehearsed snoore-fest reliving of past glories.

Other great things: The set list was perfect. Malkmus still looks like he’s 20 and has all the laconic charm you imagine he would. Bob Nastanovich looks like that crazy guy that sells you his poetry – not the aggressive one – the nice red haired one that asks for feedback. Basically I’m still buzzing from it. When does that happen anymore?

Maybe it’s summed up by the fact that I had to text my housemates during the show to say: Dear Tom and Lisa, you need to learn to love Pavement. They truly are great. Love, Al.”

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