Pavement at the Paramount, 9/5/10

(Sorry, I didn't take photos. I ought to become more of a real journalist and carry a goddamn camera.)

When I was a teenager (16, 17?) one of my friends from Youth Symphony (yep, that.) made me a cassette tape for my car of her favorite album by one of her favorite bands. (I think a previous incident where I had to explain that ripping didn't actually involve damaging the CD didn't sit well with her, and I was in cassette-land from then on.) She was out of real cassette tapes, so she was left trying to cram it onto one of those absurdly uncool 30-minute-per-side jobs, and the math didn't add up - so in order to fit the album on the tape, without a song getting cut in the middle by a tape flip, she removed all of songs she figured I wouldn't like. I don't remember the exact list of songs that ended up on my Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain cassette tape, but I do remember that I *wore that shit out*. And I also remember that for all of the songs that were on the tape (5/4 = Unity? Stop Breathing? Hits not to be missed apparently?) Gold Soundz was NOT on it.

(For reference, check out Pitchfork's Top 500 songs of the 1990s.)

She also didn't exactly tell me she edited the record, so I was really confused 5 years later when I heard the album in full. (Thanks Bittorrent!)

(And what do I project that says 'She probably won't like Gold Soundz', anyways?)

Yes, like all of us, presumably, I worshipped at the alter of Pavement until long after it was relevant, and immediately bought not one but FOUR tickets to their show minutes after they went on sale, and almost traveled to NYC to see them in Central Park. Which makes it extra confusing to me, that between earlier this summer and NOW, seeing Pavement went from being the MOST IMPORTANT THING I WOULD DO ALL SUMMER to something I completely forgot about and scheduled conflicting dinner plans.

Um.

I'm glad I was reminded, and I'm glad I went to the effing Paramount saw them play. There's always two ways reunion shows can go: Bands come across as washed up, struggling for money, playing pre-packaged hits (I'm looking at you, Black Francis), or they can be clearly *awesome*. Pavement was awesome.

I don't want to ramble on like a drunken teenager here (omg they wer sooo gooood), but I loved how they played some really tight versions of songs which would amble about aimlessly on record, and ended their most aimless songs with dramatic crash bang thuds (let's all talk sometime about how my favorite way that songs can end is to have no ending.) And The Hexx - a favorite song of mine for drinking tea and reading magazines like a civilized person, was the loudest song of their entire set.

Even though I almost forgot to go (oops) and even during the opening band felt a little grumpy and bitter about having to bail on my dinner plans (oops) and maybe I forgot to tell my dinner plans I bailed on them (extra oops) - I made the right move. Sorry friends, I'd bail again on you without notice all over again.