Review: Pavement at Perth Concert Hall

Pavement at Perth Concert Hall
w/ Pond
Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Mystery is dead. When a band with a big enough following tours, you can go on YouTube the day after a show and see a complete, albeit shaky video of the performance in its entirety and websites dedicated to setlist data will list all songs performed. When it’s your turn to catch the show, you might already know what songs will be played and in what order.

With Pavement you get none of that. Every night, the set is different. In Adelaide two nights after Perth, only a handful of songs were repeated. This suggests a curatorial approach and serious respect for the material, the audience and most importantly themselves. Pavement are simply incomparable when compared to their contemporaries. A cash grab would be so much easier, but they care too much, even though it looks like their main songwriter and singer is the most lackadaisical guy on the planet.

The Perth Concert Hall foyer was buzzing in anticipation on Wednesday night with a crowd that included middle-aged first gen fans, those who discovered the band long after they split in 1999, and ageing indie-kids who brought their..err… kids. Guilty.

Support band Pond strolled on stage to a warm applause and scattered cheer. The venue’s exceptional acoustics complemented the band’s years of musical telepathy with Jay Watson in particular shining through seamless interchanges between bass guitar and Moog synth. A mix of old and new, set highlights included the dependable gem Paint Me Silver and a blistering Human Touch from 2021’s 9 album. Oh, and let’s not forget Joe Ryan’s Perth-centric bagpipe joke.

It wasn’t long before the house lights went down, and Pavement made their customary nonchalant stage entrance with only percussionist/screamer Bob Nastanovich acknowledging and addressing the crowd at this stage. Opening with Grounded, as they have several times on this tour, the band sounded clear and focused, feeling out the venue and hitting the groove. Vocalist Stephen Malkmus began hesitantly before belting out one of the greatest rock choruses of all time accompanied by epic guitar bends. They followed with Frontwards, from the brilliant Watery Domestic EP, a song that opened many 90s shows. The 1992 release was further represented by the hardly heard Shoot The Singer, possibly a rest break if you weren’t a total obsessive.

Before launching into Kennel District, Pavement co-founder Scott Kannberg (aka Spiral Stairs) probably didn’t know what he was in for when invited the front row to (finally!) stand. Instead, he provoked a crowd rush to the front pit where diehards joined him for a transcendent singalong to his most loved track.

Standing far apart, with Malkmus an island of mute integrity, slightly apart from his bandmates, it was easy to switch focus from one band member to the next. Bass player Mark Ibold, looking incredibly youthful for a 60-year-old man, dancing in small steps centre stage with a fan blowing his adorable bowl cut. Tour member Rebecca Clay Cole, still apparently thrilled to be on stage with this legendary band, filled out the sound, covering keyboard overdubs only heard on the records themselves, never live, with her centrepiece being her melodica solo and synth riffs on Fight This Generation. Nastanovich kept a focused dual drum beat with Steve West for the most part until taking the mic on Serpentine Pad, baiting the audience with his customary discordant yet endearing screams. Kannberg and Malkmus are very different guitar players. With the former economically noodling and seemingly finding places in between Malkmus’ down-tuned riffs and chord progressions, belying his brilliant, and often overlooked solo work.

Malkmus finally opened his mouth to speak. Aside from some interaction with the first few rows, including an apology for a guitar fluff, he was rather subdued until he introduced the band with customary wit.

Simply put, Pavement never made a bad record, and every one of them was covered in this 28 song set. From the brilliant early-career instrumental Heckler Spray to Terror Twilight’s Major Leagues and Spotify-topping Tik Tok hit Harness Your Hopes, there was something for every type of Pavement fan. A predominantly mellow set overall, it may have confused the casual fan or anyone who thought they’d get to rock out for two hours on a Wednesday night, but who can complain when we get an extended jam version of Type Slowly, the musical hangover Fillmore Jive and the cathartic closer Stop Breathin'? There was not a single dud or pee break in this set. Unless you count I Love Perth which was indeed a pee break for Malkmus – his band playing a ramshackle instrumental version for the first time ever.

Pavement have retained their cool, ambiguous mythology for over three decades, defining one of them and playing better than ever. Please come back.

ADEM K

Photos by Adrian Thomson