Music
Pavement promised themselves a "no complaints, all compliments" reunion tour
by Ciaran Thompson
June 18, 2010
At the end of their 1999 tour in support of their last album Terror Twilight, indie rock pioneers Pavement called it quits on a career spanning the the entire decade and then some. Since reuniting for a world tour this past year the band have completed shows abroad and are finally making their way west.
AUX spoke with Pavement’s Bob Nastanovich recently and he gave us some insights as to how things have been going for the reunited band and what fans can expect at their upcoming gigs.
“It’s been pretty fantastic so far,” Nastanovich said. “A lot more relaxing than Pavement tours in the past in that we’re obviously not promoting an album. The shows are nearly two hours long, which I’m just concerned with people getting bored really. I have a hard time watching a band for more than 90 minutes myself.”
During their final Terror Twilight tour show at Brixton Academy in London, lead singer Stephen Malkmus had a pair of handcuffs tied to the microphone stand to symbolize what it was like being in a band for such a long time. According to Nastanovich, no handcuffs have been seen.
“Not yet, no. Some of the behavioral patterns of my bandmates is unpredictable so I’m not going to make any guarantees that there will be no bad behavior,” he said.
“When it first started out, one of the motto’s of the tour was that it was going to be the ‘no complaints, all compliments’ tour and I think people started complaining about a month ago. We managed to do the first 25 shows with that credo.”
Material wise, Nastanovich said the band were playing a good sampling of songs from every album except Terror Twilight, where they only play “Spit on a Stranger.”
This weekend the band have a scheduled performance on Toronto Island with Beach House, Band of Horses, Timber Timbre and Broken Social Scene. After the gig, Pavement will head back to Stockton, California for a show at the Bob Hope Theatre, their first hometown show ever. From there they’ll continue their world tour that includes appearances at Osheaga in August and a gig at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre on September 7.
