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Pavement Reunion Tour Lands at Toronto Island Festival

Pavement, Stephen MalkmusReunions are a tricky thing -- after all, bands break up for a reason and those reasons aren't easily forgotten. Pavement's recent reunion has drawn universal approval, but it's easy to see where the cracks used to be.

The lo-fi godfathers followed an all-star cast of festival openers on Toronto Island on Saturday afternoon -- the lineup included concert organizers Broken Social Scene, as well as Band of Horses, Beach House and Timber Timbre -- but after a day of anticipation it was clear who the main draw was.

The hero worship began on stage, where the current indie superstars each mentioned the huge role Pavement played in their lives, musical and otherwise, and radiated out through the audience. Walking through the crowd you could feel the excitement in the air, as die-hard fans of a long-defunct band could barely contain themselves at the promise of seeing Pavement, a group most thought would never share a stage again.

But as pumped as everyone else was, the band themselves initially seemed unenthusiastic -- particularly leader Stephen Malkmus, who through the first handful of songs seemed to be unsure whether this was all a good idea. The notes were all there on set-opener 'Cut Your Hair,' easily the band's most recognizable hit, but they were missing a sense of fun.

By the time the band invited Broken Social Scene frontman Kevin Drew and Band of Horses singer Ben Bridwell on stage to sing along on 'Kennel District,' the band seemed to settle in and start enjoying themselves. Malkmus' deadpan muttered thanks between songs were traded for a self-deprecating "thanks for sticking around" and a funny aside by Bob Nastanovich about an instrument he brought along that he claimed was "worse than a vuvuzela" (but which sounded exactly like the African horn when he played it for the crowd).

As they wrapped up their encore and fans headed towards the dock to catch the ferry back to the mainland, there was a satisfaction in knowing that, despite their differences, Pavement could still put together a good rock show.

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Michelle

Just found this video of Cut Your Hair on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpqnM_xF9Pc

It was the first song they played, and they were way into it! Watching that video (and remembering the show itself), I definitely didn't see any of the tentativeness and lack of enthusiasm mentioned in this article.

Anyway, concert of the year, for sure.

June 21 2010 at 2:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ryan

I agree 100 percent with Graham and John. I'm a long-time, diehard Pavement fan, and Malkmus was in absolutely top-form...electrifying guitar work and spot-on vocals.

June 20 2010 at 9:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Graham

Pavement actually looked engaged and interested in being there. I think being with Band of Horses and Broken Social Scene was about the best combo there could be.
I think Broken Social Scene and Pavement should make this festival annual even if its the only show they play all year.

June 20 2010 at 6:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John

Were we at the same show?

I've never seen Malkmus and the guys so happy to be on stage before. He came out pumped and absolutely nailed every single song like I've never seen.

He played the opening song with a beach ball for Christ's sake.

June 20 2010 at 4:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply