Stumbling on Pavement (a Concert)

Last night, on a random walk in Hollywood, I came across Pavement’s first concert in 12 years.

After pausing at the ticket price,^[1]I was told there were “two tickets left” (have they said that before?) at $105 per. That’s a bit more than the $15 I paid to see them in the late ’90s at a bar in Towson, MD. … Continue reading I said, much like I do when guiltlessly indulging In-N-Out, “fuck it.”

Pavement is known for several key indie rock albums, most notably their first, Slanted & Enchanted (1992), followed by Crooked Rain Crooked Rain (1994) and the underrated Wowee Zowee (1995), the last of which potently engages their range of influences.^[2]There are too many to name, but some would include The Fall (Mark E. Smith), the Frogs, Sonic Youth, Can, Wire, the Velvet Underground, Television, Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart.

Slanted was loved in no small measure for its mix of angst and a musical fragility. Each song felt like it could fall apart at any second and listening made you feel alert and grateful for the small miracles of slacker euphoria it provided. On Crooked the band would proclaim “goodnight to the rock n’ roll era”—all the while infusing its own very small era with a fresh air.

If there’s a weakness to the band it’s in their lyrics. Save for some occasional deftness,^[3]We might consider: “Freeze, don’t move/ You’ve been chosen as an extra in the movie adaptation/ Of the sequel to your life” and “Empty homes/ Plastic cones/ Stolen … Continue reading too many are a Dada-esque mishmash that don’t age well. The lyrics at one point served part of the band’s appeal, which was how normal looking guys could remain cryptic and cool.

Twenty five-plus years on, the band’s appearance showed them hitched to lead singer Stephen Malkmus’s taut guitar and vocals that ranged from angular to pliant. Malkmus has evolved over the years with his band the Jicks and his skill is vastly greater than in Pavement’s prime lo-fi years. Via his lead the band no longer feels like shaky disparate parts.^[4]At one time the band, rather than entering the studio together, created their work by sending their recorded tracks back and forth between members who lived on opposite coasts.

In fact, some of the strongest moments of the night were when the band jammed. Yes, Pavement jammed. Malkmus, working largely with a Guild S-100, created clear melodic lines, coated with shimmer and vigor that roamed and foraged, expanding the band beyond its usual borders. More jamming would be welcome in future shows.

In its heyday the band never had a hit. The closest it got was “Cut Your Hair” (concert take below). Yet proving that hits are not a measure of greatness the band worked through a ton of songs from its catalog. Highlights included “Our Singer,” “Frontwards,” a blistering “Embassy Row,” “Unfair,” “Summer Babe,” “Grounded” and “Here.” (“Stereo” and “In the Mouth of the Desert” were intended but kept off due to time constraints.)

Fans, it seems, won’t have to wait 12 years for the next one.