It Happened

At the end of Pavement's rendition of "Unfair" during its show Saturday at Agganis Arena -- as the band's wild card, Bob Nastanovich, lunged at the crowd shouting, "I'm your neighbor / And I need favors," the rest of the band ripped through their parts, and the surprisingly professional light show flashed -- I thought for the first time about Pavement, They sound like a really big, professional, muscular rock band that could've been huge.

Pavement's publicity has rocketed the past week. Not coincidentally, after six months of shows across the globe, their reunion tour reached the East Coast. They've played on "The Colbert Report" and Fallon's show, been teased on the Times' front page, and are in the midst of five consecutive sold-out shows in Central Park and Williamsburg, which have been gigantic and lovingly reviewed exclamation points. Most of the comments note how loose and happy the band seems, which apparently couldn't have been said for their previous tours (I don't know; I was too young when they broke up in 1999), and that these shows feel like a long victory lap.

Maybe Pavement's victory is convincing everyone that they could've been huge if they wanted ... but they never wanted to take that route. If they first emerged in present-day, they likely would be huge, even over their objections, because the music industry has changed so profoundly that great Internet buzz quickly builds a national fan base and sends groups skyward. For example, see the present positions of the National, Sufjan Stevens, Vampire Weekend, et al, though admittedly they will always be much more palatable than Pavement, and then compare them to those of Yo La Tengo, Guided By Voices, Sunny Day Real Estate, et al in the 1990s.

Then again, Pavement's sound and culture never would've flowered in the 21st century. When Stephen Malkmus told Stephen Colbert that his musical inspiration was Ronald Reagan, I don't think he was joking. Pavement sprouts directly from -- and in opposition to -- the monoculture of suburban California where he and guitarist Scott Kannberg were raised and was nurtured by the Clinton era's slacking full employment.

Maybe my final word should be, Who cares? Saturday's show was the best I've ever seen. The songs were great, the band was proficient and funny, the crowd was excited, and seeing them fulfilled every expectation and my 10-year-long yearning to see them. This blog is now more complete. Here's their performance there of "Cut Your Hair":