honey i'm a prize and you're a catch/ and we're a perfect match (pavement's back!)

Pavement has a powerful grip on my musical attention. And also my heart. In fact, they were my "rabbit hole" band. The band that I loved so instantly and so intensely that I knew my relationship with music just had to keep going deeper. So I followed the rabbit hole. What started with tweaked Jan and Dean guitar licks and infectious, bursting golden melodies, has led me here.

Now, I've enjoyed Stephen Malkmus' solo projects and his forays with the Jicks, but I can't stop being absolutely devoted to Pavement. I remember when I first bought Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain when I was visiting friends in Sacramento. We drove through the breezy California night while I lay in a state of newfound bliss in the back seat, ignoring my friends' complaints that this music was weird.

So you can imagine the breathtaking excitement that accompanied the fall announcement of a Pavement reunion tour to support the release of their definitive Greatest Hits collection, which is officially named Quarantine the Past:The Best of Pavement and will be released March 9. There's even a contest to see who can guess the 23 track listing. Gold Soundz has already been re-released as the first track, so that narrows it down...my several attempts at guessing since the contest began are no more confident the more time I spend on them. Maybe you will have better luck!

I know I've made this claim before, so please don't stop taking me seriously. But based on the tour schedule, some US summer festivals are bound to be included in the totally blank summer space. So once more...I will be selling all my belongings and following along. What? Am I the girl who cried vagabond? I will. You'll see.

Pavement Reunion Tour

03/01 Auckland, New Zealand @ Town Hall
03/04 Sydney, Australia @ Enmore Theatre
03/05 Sydney, Australia @ Enmore Theatre
03/06 Meredith, Australia @ Supernatural Amphitheatre (Golden Plains Festival)
03/07 Adelaide, Australia @ Thebarton Theatre
03/08 Perth, Australia @ Metro City
03/10 Brisbane, Australia @ Tivoli
03/12 Melbourne, Australia @ Palace Theatre
03/14 Melbourne, Australia @ Palace Theatre
04/07 Tokyo, Japan @ Studio Coast
04/08 Tokyo, Japan @ Studio Coast
04/10 Osaka, Japan @ Zepp Osaka
04/12 Nagoya, Japan @ Zepp Nagoya
05/04 Dublin, Ireland @ Tripod
05/05 Glasgow, Scotland @ Barrowland
05/07 Paris, France @ Le Zénith
05/08 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
05/10 London, England @ Brixton Academy
05/11 London, England @ Brixton Academy
05/12 London, England @ Brixton Academy
05/13 London, England @ Brixton Academy
05/15 Minehead, England @ All Tomorrow's Parties
05/18 Brussels, Belgium @ Ancienne Belgique
05/19 Berlin, Germany @ Astra
05/20 Prague, Czech Republic @ Palac Akropolis
05/21 Vienna, Austria @ Arena
05/22 Munich, Germany @ Muffathalle
05/24 Rome, Italy @ Atlantico Live
05/25 Bologna, Italy @ Estragon
05/27 Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Festival
05/29-31 Quincy, Washington @ Sasquatch! Festival
07/01-04 Roskilde, Denmark @ Roskilde Festival
09/21 New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage
09/22 New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage
09/23 New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage
09/24 New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage


To get myself hyped (along with the millions of other fans who collectively passed out with me when this was announced this fall), I thought including a live recording of one of the Pavement songs that fills me up the most would be appropriate. Recorded in 1999 at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis, these boys had a mighty good time. Can't wait to hear them do it again.

Spit on a Stranger (Live 10.14.99)- Pavement

Do so love the looping of that very distinctive opening.

However you feel,
whatever it takes,
whenever it's real,
whatever awaits,
whatever you need,
however so slight,
whenever it's real,
whenever it's right.

I've been thinking long and hard about the things you said to me,
like a bitter stranger,
and now I see the long, the short, the middle and what's in between,
I could spit on a stranger,
(pull me out)
you're a bitter stranger.
(pull me out)

Whatever you feel,
whatever it takes,
whenever it's real,
whatever awaits me,
whatever you need,
however so slight,
Wherever it leads,
whenever it's right

Honey I'm a prize and you're a catch
and we're a perfect match,
like two bitter strangers,
and now I see the long,
the short of it and I can make it last,
I could spit on a stranger,
(pull me out)
you're a bitter stranger,
(pull me out)
I could spit on a stranger,
(pull me out)
you're a bitter stranger.
(pull me out)
I could spit on a stranger,
(pull me out)
you're a bitter stranger.

I see the sunshine in your eyes,
I'll try the things you'll never try,
I'll be the one that leaves
you high...high...high