Pavement In Pomona

If you've ever read this blog, you may be aware of the fact that I am mildly fascinated by the American rock group Pavement. Last night I went to see them in Pomona, a 2 hour drive from LA in rush hour, at a nice little restored theatre called The Fox. First thoughts: seeing them live is every bit the experience it was 10 years ago in the 4o Watt, though I guess they sound a bit more like they're really trying (SM is a much more accomplished manipulator of the guitar than he was back then), and the venues are a bit bigger. But not much has really changed, which is for the best. They played a ton of Slanted, which was good, maybe not enough Wowee, but overall a good balance of everything. "Fight this Generation," probably my favorite Pavement live tune, was ridiculous. There were a few moments, when the band started the mid song jam and the blue green lights pushed forward through the band into the crowd that I thought the place was gonna lift off into the sky. The WTF moment of the night goes to seeing Latino guys hawking bootleg Pavement shirts outside the venue after the show. All in all, worth the wait. And now I have no real reason to make the mistake of going to Coachella.