Pavement reunited for their live return (not counting their LA warm-up gig), headlining the gigantic Primavera festival in Barcelona on June 2. Now the festival has shared pro-shot footage of the full show.
Pavement’s reunion appearance had originally been scheduled for the festival’s 2020 event but was delayed thanks to the arrival of Covid.
The band had subsequently put in a, frankly uncharacteristic, level of preparation for the show and treated audiences to a 26-song set that included the first performances of Father To A Sister Of Thought, Zurich Is Stained and Stereo since 2010.
Late-blooming hit Harness Your Hopes – which was initially released as a B-side in 1997, but has since taken off on TikTok – also made it into the set.
The 2022 Primavera festival received criticism and subsequently apologized to attendees for organizational issues, but thankfully the A/V team seems to have had it together – the video and audio quality in the above clip are great.
Across the set, Stephen Malkmus played his hardtail '70s Strat, for the most part, but alternated frequently with his well-used Guild S-100 Polara. Co-guitarist Scott Kannberg, meanwhile, used a Fender Telecaster Deluxe and a Gibson SG Special throughout the set.
Speaking to Loud And Quiet ahead of the show, Kannberg revealed he’d gone off Pavement’s material until he picked up his guitar to relearn the songs at the end of 2021.
“Whenever I heard Pavement songs, I just didn’t enjoy them. It all just seemed so far away to me,” Kannberg said. “It wasn’t until about six months ago that I realized that I would have to actually sit down and relearn all the chords and stuff. I went on YouTube and started watching someone play a Pavement song and just started playing along with them, slowly getting back into the chord structures, and even singing along like Steve used to.
“Then, suddenly, I was like, ‘Man, these songs are great.’ It’s kind of embarrassing to think it took some guy on YouTube to make me realize how great our songs are.”
Next time Kannberg forgets, at least he’ll have the Primavera footage to prompt his memory.
If you didn’t manage to make it to Barcelona for Primavera, you can catch Pavement on a full North American tour, beginning next month. European dates will follow in October.
For tickets and information on the forthcoming tour dates, head to Pavement’s site.
