Thoughts on the 'Pavement reunion'

For those of us of a certain age (mid 30s) and a certain musical taste, hopes were raised yet again, earlier this week, when the NME announced that a Pavement reunion in the near future looked likely. The article even featured quotes from Scott ‘Spiral Stairs’ Kannberg.

Closer examination of the story and quotes, though, revealed nothing new. Malkmus and Kannberg have been saying for years that a reunion tour probably will happen, there is no animosity between the band members – they have all worked on the series of Pavement reissues. When it will happen is another matter. Despite what NME, The Guardian and many others who have reported this story say, Stephen Malkmus’ solo career is successful and in last year’s ‘Real Emotional Trash’ LP he produced probably his best record for ten years. What’s more, with The Jicks, he has a band structure that has sparked great creativity and he is already working on songs for a follow-up album.

It seems to me, as a fan of Stephen Malkmus, that he is more likely to make a great album with The Jicks than he is with Kannberg et al as part of a Pavement reunion. What I would love to see though is a reunion tour, a chance for everybody concerned to enjoy some of our favourite songs again. What makes this all the more desirable is that most of these songs haven’t been played live for a decade. Aside from one legendary show, Malkmus does not play Pavement songs live, I’m sure he would get a kick out of doing so again. The other factor, of course, is money. Pavement are likely to be offered quite serious money to do a tour plus festivals this year or next. Considering they were one of the finest bands of the 90s, hugely influential but never sold out and never achieved huge success, nobody should begrudge them taking this.

I think if you’re a Pavement fan, this is going to be a very exciting couple of years. If you listen to the live Shepherds Bush show recently released as part of the ‘Brighten The Corners’ reissue it is a reminder of what an amazingly innovative live band they were. It is too much to expect the reunion shows to be as exciting and loose as the old shows were, but they will be a lot of fun. I’m guessing we may have to wait til 2010 though…