Hey again. It's been a while (I feel like I say that a lot). But big news...
Pavement, yes THE Pavement, is reuniting for a series of benefit shows in New York's Central Park in September 2010, tickets for which sold out immediately upon going on presale earlier this week (this a full year in advance of the shows). You think people are a little excited about the reunion?
Well they fucking should be. Much like the Beatles in the 60s or U2 in the 80s, Pavement, albeit in a far more hush and subdued fashion, have become poster children of the 90s alternative/indie/punk rock boom alongside Nirvana and Pearl Jam. No they didn't have the hits their 90s-era counterparts did (hell, they were too busy slandering them in song, check out "Range Life"), and at points they were about as accessible as a brick wall, but what the band had over all of the alternative crop was spirit. Pavement made music that you knew only these five guys could play. It was lo-fi and lumbering, hazy and often times discordant in a perfectly ramshackle rock n roll way. But it was also, more often than not, great. Stephen Malkmus' lyrics were equally free associative and strikingly poignant and heartfelt, and the music locked right in. They were a beautiful mess.
And now they're back, and according to guitarist/co-founder Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannenberg, more shows could be on the horizon. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he said the idea of a reunion, as improbable as it sounded to most fans, was something that had been discussed amongst the band members for years. Now they're looking ahead to the Central Park shows and are testing the waters of next summer's festival circuit, namely Coachella.
Now there's no question that any one of these festivals are, likely at this very moment, salivating at the thought of booking one of the most prized and arguably most sorely missed bands of the past decade. I mean, let's not forget these were the same people that offered the Smiths a cool $5 million for a one off performance, so these guys love to stir the pot with promises of a reunion. That being said, I for one can definitely see Malkmus and friends being the toast of the 2010 summer festival scene, and i hope they do. Never got to see them when they were around, so I'd welcome the opportunity to watch these dudes in the the back of a deli,let alone at say Lollapalooza.
But part of me hopes they leave it there. Doubling back to a previous post I made about the dangers of reunions, I hope its a one and done thing: no prolonged touring, definitely no new reunion album. Just treat it like a test drive, once around the block and back to the dealer.
Anyway, definitely the best news I've heard in a while.
