Pavement Say Goodbye To Live Shows With Loose Deep Cut-filled Final Performance

photo from BrooklynVegan

One night, one band. That was the pitch for Pavement's concert in NYC on October 1st. It’s all my dad and I wanted–one last chance to see our favorite band. The morning tickets went on sale, I had four screens up, the correct logins, and my credit card memorized, but in the end–an empty cart. Pavement Reddit boards went up in flames as tickets sold out in seconds. I grieved by listening to longtime Pavement friend and former Silver Jews’ leader, David Berman, and his song “All My Happiness Is Gone.” A perfect fit for how I was feeling. I hopelessly kept refreshing; maybe they’ll release more, I figured. Then, 20 minutes after the tickets went on sale, I struck gold. I immediately called my dad. A Pavement fan since he saw them open for Beck in the mid-90s.

Scheduled a day before a documentary on the band, “Pavements,” premiered at the NYFF, it wasn’t clear what this show would be like until we entered the venue doors. Was it to sell movie tickets? Was it one last cash grab? Was it a farewell? Regardless, we knew it was likely Pavement’s final show. We arrived at the venue a few hours early to secure a good view of Stephen Malkmus, the lead singer, guitar god, and rock idol for a niche group of 90s misfits.

An hour or so before doors, my Dad left to get some slices; after twenty minutes or so, he returned with a picture of him and Malkmus. I couldn’t believe it—Stephen Malkmus–the king of indie slacker rock. My dad prompted me to say hi, as Malkmus was chilling at the end of the block, smoking a cigarette like no time had passed since the '90s.

I fearfully approached him, intending to share my admiration for his extremely underrated solo work. I walked up to him, hoping to avoid an awkward welcome-week-like interaction. We talked Pavement, his new band, The Hard Quartet, and a highlight was our discussion about Rutgers.

Pavement played their first show at Rutgers and has lots of NJ roots, so he was much happier to talk about Rutgers than any music-related subject that he has been badgered about for the past 30 years. At the end of our conversation, I snapped a pic with him, shook his hand, and as he walked away, he asked, “Are you in a band?” I shook my head, “It’s not too late!” He exclaimed as he trotted back to the venue.

The night sped up after that. “I met Malkmus?!” I kept repeating to my dad. Arriving early paid off again as we clinched a front-row spot–four feet from Malkmus. Thirty minutes after the show was set to begin, Pavement took the stage and sprung into their first-ever recording, “You’re Killing Me.” An extremely rare moment for Pavement fanatics as it was only the fifth time it was performed live since 1992. The crowd would soon figure out that the setlist was full of rarities.

The show felt like it was following an ‘Eras Tour’ mold for a second. The opening three songs were pulled from their debut EP, “Slay Tracks: 1933–1969,” followed by over half of their debut album, “Slanted And Enchanted” being played. Deep cut after deep cut, a surreal moment for fans who had never heard these songs performed live since the beginning.

Highlights included “Lions (Linden),” “Loretta's Scars,” and “In the Mouth a Desert,” three tracks from 1992 with more energy than anything out today. Clearly, Malkmus enjoyed playing the early stuff; however, at certain moments, Malkmus appeared to be done. Long pauses between songs and miscommunicating with bandmates, Malkmus was not afraid to share his frustration.

Pavement's livelihood always revolved around Malkmus’s perception of the band. His stage presence at times felt reminiscent of the band’s final show during their active years in 1999. The night of Pavement’s final show in 1999, Malkmus handcuffed himself to the mic, saying, “These symbolize what it’s like being in a band.”

Before Malkmus was done for good, they scrapped the ‘Eras Tour’ format and played an assortment of songs from the mid-90s. “Silence Kid” was the pinnacle of my night. The iconic opening track of their sophomore album with Malkmus’ high pitch scream ringing in the opening line, “Silent kid no one to remind you, You got no heel, no reels to remind you.” Like most Pavement lyrics, this doesn’t really mean anything, but that’s what Malkmus has always been about–interpretation.

The band dug into “Easily Fooled,” a B-side on the 1995 single “Rattled by la Rush.” It was the first time the song had been played since 1997, and the crowd was feral. I expected more rarities on the horizon until Malkmus strummed the first few notes of viral-hit “Harness YourHopes.” Undoubtedly a good song for most, yet not the one fans inside of Sony Hall needed to hear.

After the song wrapped, the crowd and most of the band were ready for more; Malkmus was not. The entire night, there was no setlist–they just played what they felt like, and after “Harness” played, Malkmus said, “Well, that’s the end of our career…good night!” He placed his guitar back on its stand, waved, and disappeared. My dad and I shared confused glances as the rest of the band did on stage. A sudden end to a show that only Malkmus was aware of. His remarks were a joke that went over the heads of the rest of the band.

After five minutes of confusion about whether the show would continue, Malkmus trotted back on stage, and Pavement played what could have been their two final live songs. They finished with “Fight This Generation,” a ten-minute jam off their third album, “Wowee Zowee.” A“fitting-end to Pavement,” fans around me agreed.

There was certainly a “final-show” energy on stage, or at least the last one for a long time. Malkmus recently started a new band, The Hard Quaret, and their debut album with the same name was released on October 4th. The Hard Quartet will be touring next year, and they have hinted at more than one album, decreasing the likelihood of a Pavement show in the near future.

Pavement embodied the slacker culture until the end, half-assing shows in the best way possible and always trying their best not to sell out. Their final show had some bizarre moments, all of which were true to who Pavement is. I hope to see them again, but I couldn’t be happier to have been there if that were it.