Pavement:
Like many music fans, I frequently seek out opportunities to enjoy live music. I see a lot of shows at
venues across the Wasatch Front, from stadium events to summer outdoor concerts to smaller club
shows. I also proactively keep my eyes open for good live shows to attend when I travel out of state for
work or personal reasons. Last month brought several chances for me to see several shows by artists
and bands that I was very excited to see. Inevitably, the live music I see influences the music I listen
to—I like to prepare for shows in advance by brushing up on a band’s catalog. Following a show, I will
then revisit highlights from the shows, especially songs that I maybe hadn’t appreciated as much before
that made a different impression on me in a live setting.
Early in September, my work travels took me to Southern California the same week that beloved 90s
indie rock legends Pavement began their first US reunion tour in over a decade. Pavement were an
extremely influential band in indie and alternative music circles in the 90s as perhaps the primary
example of “slacker indie rock” during that decade. Frontman Stephen Malkmus embarked on a
successful career shortly after the band’s breakup in 1999, releasing both revered solo records and
building a strong catalog with his new band The Jicks.
I’d seen Pavement on their first reunion tour back around 2010 and left slightly disappointed by a live
performance that seemed excessively sloppy and lackadaisical. However, the consecutive shows I saw at
the Orpheum Theater in downtown LA last month featured an energetic and polished Pavement who
put on two fun, professional shows that genuinely felt like a celebration. Stephen Malkmus, in
particular, offered an inspiring performance both in terms of vocals and guitar expertise.
I was also really pleased at the variation between the two night’s setlists. It is often the case that bands
will play the same setlists every show, making seeing a band multiple times on a tour pointless. I really
appreciate that Pavement are playing unique sets each night that span their entire catalog of recorded
music, including obscure b-sides and unsung album tracks. At the end of the second night’s show, I was
a bit sad to be missing the third and final LA show taking place the next night. Sure enough, that show
featured a handful of tracks not played at the first two LA shows that I was sad to miss! If you have a
chance to catch Pavement live in the coming months, I strongly recommend you take it!
Standout Live Tracks: Blue Hawaiian; Range Life; Summer Babe; Gold Soundz; Cut Your Hair
Nine Inch Nails:
The following weekend I was back in LA for the sole purpose of attending the Primavera Sound LA music
festival. Primavera Sound has long operated a world-class music festival each summer in Barcelona and
held their first US festival last month (postponed from an original 2020 date) near Dodger Stadium and
Chinatown in downtown LA. For the past decade or so, I’ve tried to attend at least one music festival
each year with fellow music fan friends. This year, we decided to attend Primavera Sound LA based on
two of the headline acts: Nine Inch Nails and Arctic Monkeys.
I’ve been a fan of NIN and Trent Reznor since the early 90s (cut to flashback of my teenage self listening
to Pretty Hate Machine far too earnestly), but had shockingly never seen them perform live. The show
far exceeded my fairly high expectations. First of all, it is unclear if Trent Reznor has aged much at all
since the release of Pretty Hate Machine. The ageless Reznor impressed with a fully committed physical
performance of a continuous string of propulsive, energetic hits leading up to the intense and cathartic
release of set closer Hurt. As expected, the production and sound quality of the show was perfect—truly
impressive for music that loud and complex.
Standout Live Tracks: Hurt; Head Like a Hole; Sanctified; The Perfect Drug; The Hand That Feeds
Arctic Monkeys:
The other big draw of the Primavera Sound LA Festival was one of only three US performances the Arctic
Monkeys have scheduled for 2022. The Monkeys also have a highly-anticipated new album The Car
scheduled to be released this Friday. Frontman Alex Turner remains one of the most compelling
performers in music. With all of that in mind, our group decided to attempt the turn back the hands of
time and stake out a front and center spot to see AM from a prime location. We could barely walk
afterwards, but we had lasted around 7 hours (!) in the same spot waiting for the show to start. The
Monkeys’ performance was worth it, although I’m not sure how many more years I have such festival
exploits in me!
Only one new song was played, and it was not the excellent advance single There’d Better Be A
Mirrorball. The new music points to upcoming album The Car being very similar in vibe to previous LP
Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, a great record that was a bit divisive amongst the fanbase. I am a big
enough Arctic Monkeys fan that I am happy to go on whatever musical journey they want for me.
However, there is a part of me that does pine for their more happy go lucky, hard-rocking days of almost
a decade ago. They will be touring all across America next fall, including a September 20, 2023 stop at
the Vivint Center. I’ve now seen the Monkeys several times, and I plan to see them multiple times next
year. Their career-spanning live shows are just too thrilling to ignore, even if their late-era albums don’t
inspire quite as much enthusiasm.
Standout Live Tracks: R U Mine?; I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor; Tranquility Base Hotel and
Casino; Crying Lightning; Brianstorm
King Krule:
Another big draw of the Primavera Sound LA lineup for me was the inclusion of King Krule, one of my
absolute favorite indie music acts of the past decade. I am pretty much a fan of everything musical
genius Archy Marshall as ever done. Still just 28 years old, the London-born Marshall has already
released four stunningly accomplished records and is due to release another one any day now.
King Krule’s set at Primavera Sound Barcelona in June featured three promising new songs and I was
hoping to hear those in LA. Unfortunately, Archy stumbled onto the stage a bit late due to illness
(probably dehydration and heat exhaustion), so we were treated to an abbreviated set of most of his
“hits”. It was a bit of a buzzkill, but the set still sounded amazing and only heightened my anticipation
for the upcoming, yet to be announced, new record.
Standout Live Tracks: Dum Surfer; Easy Easy; Out Getting Ribs; Cellular; Alone, Omen 3
Khruangbin:
Houston-based funk band Khruangbin put on an awesome show right before NIN performed on the
main stage at Primavera Sound LA. They are a phenomenal live band—their music style lends itself
naturally to some loose festival vibes and they now have a high enough profile that most indie music
fans are familiar with their singles. The highlight of their set is when they perform a lengthy medley of
crowd-pleasing cover songs, mostly catchy 90s hip-hop and rap classics. I will likely seek out seeing them
again live just to experience that again.
Standout Live Tracks: So We Won’t Forget; Pelota; Time (You and I); People Everywhere; Medley
Gorillaz:
I returned home from LA on September 19 th and had tickets to attend another high priority show at
Vivint Center that very next night. I’ve been a Damon Albarn fan since the peak-Britpop Blur era of the
early to mid 90s. It has been fun seeing Gorillaz grow from a novelty side project for Damon to scratch
whatever itches didn’t fit within the Blur paradigm to a basketball arena-headlining band with a far-
higher profile in the US than Blur (or just about any other UK guitar band) could ever have hoped to
have more than two decades later.
The Gorillaz show happened to fall on my oldest daughter’s birthday and luckily for me she is a fellow
fan and was happy to spend her birthday evening at teppanyaki and then Gorillaz with her parents and
siblings. It did strike me as pretty remarkable that all of my family member’s music tastes overlap
enough to include Gorillaz. That we all had a great time speaks to just how deep, varied, accessible, and
crowd-pleasing the Gorillaz discography is at seven studio albums in, with an eighth announced for early
next year. Damon Albarn is a musical maestro and Gorillaz’ well-deserved success makes me very happy.
Standout Live Tracks: On Melancholy Hill; New Gold; Clint Eastwood; Dirty Harry; Empire Ants
The Avalanches:
My final live show of September was The Avalanches at The Depot. This Australian duo released a classic
electronic album in the early 00s and then disappeared for well over a decade. They returned in 2016
with a solid comeback album Wildflower, followed by another great record We Will Always Love You in
late 2020. Their live show is a fun clubby dj set featuring all of their best songs and samples. The crowd
was pretty modest at The Depot, but the show sounded amazing and the atmosphere was carefree and
relaxed.
Standout Live Tracks: Because I’m Me; Subways; The Divine Chord; If I Was a Folkstar; Music Makes
Me High
To listen to the standout tracks from these recommended artists, please check out the most recently
added songs in the Spotify playlist found below:
