Slow It Down, The Song Is Sacred

Pavement @ Rumsey Playfield in Central Park, 9/21/2010

Shady Lane / Frontwards / Heckler Spray / Ell Ess Two / Starlings of the Slipstream / Stereo / Kennel District / Grounded / Rattled By The Rush / We Dance / In The Mouth A Desert / Perfume-V / Unfair / Fin / Gold Soundz / Debris Slide / Range Life / Trigger Cut / Cut Your Hair / Perfect Depth / Fight This Generation / Box Elder // Date With IKEA / Shoot The Singer / Conduit For Sale! / Silent Kid / Heaven Is A Truck / Stop Breathin’

At this point, I have seen and heard a huge number of Pavement and Malkmus shows, in person and on recordings. I can confidently say with a fair degree of authority that last night’s Pavement show in Central Park was among the best shows they have ever played. They were on, they were playful, Stephen was in good voice and in an obviously upbeat mood. The set was long and full of wonderful songs, including two — “Perfect Depth” and “Heaven Is A Truck” — that made their reunion tour debuts. The former was a lovely surprise; the latter was gorgeous and extended into a brief meandering jam. The band was very sharp and together, far tighter than most people ever remember them as being, but still loose enough to have that tossed-off swagger and swing that is crucial to their appeal and impossible for other groups to replicate. I have three more nights of Pavement ahead of me, and now I’m wondering if they can top this performance.

Pavement “Shoot The Singer” (Live in St. Louis 10/14/1999)

This was the song at the top of my wishlist for these shows, and it didn’t disappoint. There is a delicacy to “Shoot The Singer;” it’s the closest Malkmus has ever come to approximating the crisp moonlit sound of R.E.M. circa Murmur. Actually, it might be the closest anyone has come! The actual subject matter is obscured, but the emotion of it is not — melancholy and slightly bitter, overwhelming romanticism pegged down by clear-eyed pragmatism. It’s the song where the drama fades, and the music at the end — particular in the live arrangement — slowly drifts down from fantasy back to earth. Stephen keeps telling us “don’t expect, don’t expect, don’t expect.” Yeah, yeah, we know. Easier said than done.

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