Live music review: Pavement delivered the goods at ACL Live Tuesday

October 16, 2022 Michael Maly 751 Views ACL Live, garage rock, indie rock, live music, Pavement, punk rock, Review, Stephen Malkmus

“This is good…” Three simple words that rang true for everyone in attendance for the Pavement performance at ACL Live at the Moody Theater on Tuesday night in Austin. The last of three performances in the Live Music Capital of the World which included an Austin City Limits taping the previous night indicating the band’s cultural significance as musical artists and their popularity within the music industry despite a very brief brush with mainstream notoriety. Those three words muttered late in the band’s set by front man Stephen Malkmus felt…honest.

If there’s a place in the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame for bands that come along, unconventional, quirky, sloppy, and sometimes just downright messy, laying down mountains of slacker rock that incorporates a myriad of genre styles, Pavement owns that spot. Hell, they should create that spot just for them and any other band that comes along that can repeat what this group of indie-rock misfits has managed despite exiting their full-time gig as the band Pavement in 1999. The band’s two reunions, one in 2010 and this current tour have only cemented the fact that Pavement were, in fact, ahead of their time and still may be one of the most creative, weird, genre defying bands to ever exist.

However you struggle to define Pavement’s sound, it’s a beautiful blend of edgy garage, disjointed indie, tinged with heavy guitar jams, an occasional touch of bluegrass and served with Malkmus’ signature cynical, observational lyric style. And let’s not forget the auxiliary voice, percussion, and random noise of Bob Nastanovich that certifies the Pavement sound. And that doesn’t really do it any justice. It’s a special thing that many of us have had the privilege of experiencing in our youth while in its creative peak, while the youth of today are just now coming into their music’s awkward charm.

As the band took the stage for the sold-out performance, they quickly swept their brief mainstream success moment under the rug, beginning the set with “Cut Your Hair” the hit track from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain that found footing on alternative radio stations when released in ‘94 while the video graced the MTV airwaves for a minute.

The six member band, consisting of founders Malkmus and Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg, along with constants since ‘94 and earlier, Mark Ibold, Bob Nastanovich, Steve West along with current tour addition, Rebecca Cole launched into an extensive set that showcased the durability and the sustainability of of Pavement’s signature sound. Each track led the audience on a strange, beautiful journey through their extensive catalog of songs that despite their under three minute running time on record, found tracks fleshed out and explored with the experience of a band that writes complex material that leaves room for expansion in a live setting. Whether Malkmus’s decades of performing as a solo artist on stage contributed to the robust sound produced live on this stage, or the addition of Cole on keys and vocals allowed for a deeper dive, in the end the band delivered a stunning set of twists and turns through seminal 90s indie-rock history.

The only hits delivered on this night were the ones that each fan has held close to their heart for decades, or has just added to their collection as a newcomer. “Gold Soundz” provoked the first lung busting sing-along of the evening soon followed by “Box Elder,” a rare offering from the band that rewarded their hardcore fans. “Date with Ikea” included in the set list seems almost predictive for a track released in ‘97 and goes to show Malkmus’s intuitive observational skills were refined early. Arriving late in the set Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain’s slower-paced “Stop Breathin” indicated what may be the end of our journey but inspiration was reignited with the groove riddled “Grave Architecture” followed by what felt like the perfect ending to our story. “Here” from Slanted and Enchanted followed by another CRCR familiar “Fillmore Jive” slipped the audience into the night filled with new memories to add to our already decades long love affair with Pavement. A fine closing for the band’s final date on their US Tour.