Pavement have been working their way across America over the past week and a half, playing a short summer tour that suggests their reunion will continue on a small scale in perpetuity, which rules. That tour coincided with my family vacation, which does not rule, especially since they broke out a treasured rarity at the show closest to my home base.
When we last checked in on Pavement, their travels were just beginning. They kicked off their tour nine days ago with a very unserious but very fun "Stairway To Heaven" cover at Oakland's Mosswood Meltdown pre-party. They reprised the "Stairway" cover in Portland, turned it into a medley with Neil Young & Crazy Horse's "Down By The River" in Seattle, and went back to "Stairway" only in Chicago. That brings us to their show in Cleveland last Thursday, where there was no Led Zeppelin to be heard.
Instead, at the Agora Ballroom, Pavement broke out "Greenlander," an outtake from 1992's Watery, Domestic EP that appeared on the 1993 charity compilation Born To Choose and later recurred among the wealth of bonus tracks on Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe. It was their first performance of the song in 34 years, though Stephen Malkmus played it at a couple solo gigs last year.
Later that night, they added part of Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam" after "Half A Canyon." In the full-show footage below, you can find "Greenlander" at the 54m49s mark (it should automatically cue up there) and "Lucifer Sam" around 1h4m.
In Philadelphia Friday, Pavement did "Lucifer Sam" again, plus a little bit of Faust's "Rainy Day Sunshine Girl" to begin "Trigger Cut." Saturday in Richmond, they played "Greenlander" again and ascended "Stairway" once more. They'll wrap up their tour with two shows at the Ryman in Nashville tonight and tomorrow, and if you can't make it to Music City, they'll play the Shaky Knees festival in Atlanta on Sept. 19.
