Pavement Bring Their Gold Soundz to Osaka, Japan: Recap, Photos and Video

Matt Kaufman

February 23, 2023 at 12:45 PM·8 min read

The post Pavement Bring Their Gold Soundz to Osaka, Japan: Recap, Photos and Video appeared first on Consequence.

On Saturday (February 18th), Pavement played Osaka, Japan, for the first time in 13 years, performing at the 1,500-capacity Namba Hatch that resembles a UFO from the outside. It had also been been nearly 30 years since the band’s first show in the city, a 1994 gig on the Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain tour. This was followed by Japan tours promoting Wowee Zowee in 1997 and Terror Twilight in 1999, just before the band called it quits. Their most recent Osaka show had been in 2010 to play the Summer Sonic festival on their first reunion tour.

Namba Hatch was packed to capacity with hardly any room to move. I met a diehard Pavement fan from Australia who said he attended the reunion shows in 2010 with his daughter when she was just a girl. She became a fan of the band after hearing her father play their songs nonstop. They couldn’t resist an opportunity to see the band together in Japan.

I also talked to a tourist in a Beastie Boys Check Your Head T-shirt who just happened to see the local listings for things to do in Osaka and discovered that Pavement was playing. He got to the venue early and snatched up one of the few remaining day-of-show tickets. A handful of fans bought tickets for entire Japan tour, which included two nights in Tokyo.

It was easy to tell who had been to the Tokyo shows because they were the only ones wearing the new tour shirts. I overheard a member of the staff telling a frustrated customer that all of the tour merchandise completely sold out in Tokyo. There were plenty of vintage tees on display, though, including one from the Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain tour that could probably fetch the price of a full meal at the most expensive sushi restaurant in Japan.

The show started promptly at 6 p.m. with a high spirited performance “Grave Architecture” from Wowee Zowee. This was followed by “Shady Lane,” which got a rousing ovation from the crowd, and was one of six songs the band would play from Brighten the Corners, including “Embassy Row,” “Starlings of the Slipstream,” “Stereo,” “Transport Is Arranged” and “Type Slowly.”

Spiral Stairs, aka Scott Kannberg, delivered a powerful version of “Kennel District” from Wowee Zowee. I think’s one of Pavement’s best songs and I was envious that fans in Tokyo got to hear another Kannberg classic, “Date With Ikea,” from Brighten the Corners. After the first Tokyo show, the band took to Twitter to ask fans what songs they would like to hear. If I had known I would have suggested the obscure Kannberg-penned gem “Painted Soldiers,” from the Kids in The Hall: Brain Candy soundtrack.

As a hype man, Bob Nastanovich is like the Flavor Flav of indie rock. His stage antics were appreciated by the audience, in a city that is known for its sense of humor. He was in his element on “Conduit for Sale” and “Unfair.” I know that Nastanovich is an avid horse racing fan who has attended horse racing fixtures at all 60 race courses in the United Kingdom. Horse racing, called keiba in Japanese, is also very popular in Japan with over 21,000 races held in a year. I bet Nastanovich would love to visit a race course in Japan and mingle with other fans of the sport.

Bassist Mark Ibold has a connection to Osaka. He was in Free Kitten, a supergroup made up of Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, Julia Cafritz of Pussy Galore, and Yoshimi P-we, of Boredoms and OOIOO, two legendary Osaka bands. Ibold was also a food columnist for David Chang’s now defunct Lucky Peach magazine.

Frontman Stephen Malkmus, who has also played Osaka twice with his band The Jicks, seems to have a special affinity for the city. He told the crowd that touring member Rebecca Cole was really enjoying her first time in Osaka. Then he said something that almost sounded like a Pavement lyric. Or maybe it was his attempt at writing a haiku on the spot: “When we pound the pavement of Osaka/ Eating, drinking, buying shit/ Looking around stoked.”

Some of the younger people in the audience told me they discovered Pavement through Stephen Malkmus’ solo work. Perhaps the song “I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus” by Beabadoobee played a role in introducing his music to a new generation of fans.

The crowd went wild when Pavement played “Summer Babe,” one of six songs they performed from Slanted and Enchanted. When the album was first released in Japan, it was advertised with the slogan “Ore wa Ganbatteru,” which loosely translates as “I’m trying” a line from the aforementioned song “Conduit for Sale.”

I was standing next to a rowdy group of Americans who kept shouting “Freebird,” “Cherry Bomb,” and, for some reason, “Family Mart,” a popular convenience store chain. One of them suddenly approached me and asked, “If Pavement were to do a cover song for the encore, who would it be?” I reluctantly replied, “The Velvet Underground?” He responded, “That’s a great idea, man, but what song?” Is this a pop quiz in the middle of a rock concert? “How about ‘Sunday Morning?’,” I continued, realizing I should’ve already ended the conversation. “Not a bad choice, man, but I believe you can do better. Keep on rocking in the free world, bro!”

I’m sorry to report that my drunken countrymen yelled “Velvet Underground!” at the top of their lungs just as the band began “Cut Your Hair,” the first song of their five-song encore.

Based on the reaction of the audience, “Stereo” may have been the fan favorite of the night. Unfortunately for me, an overzealous fan next to me warbled the chorus inches from my ear at maximum volume. I’m all for the audience joining in on the singing, but I came to hear the original, not the off-key karaoke version.

I was hoping to hear “Box Elder,” which Pavement performed in Tokyo, but they left it off the setlist. Instead, I was treated to one of my favorite songs, “Here.” I always get chills whenever I hear the first line of the chorus, “And all the sterile striking it defends an empty dock you cast away.”

Pavement closed the show with a cover of “Witchi Tai To” a 1969 song by Native American composer and saxophonist Jim Pepper. I don’t think anyone in the audience realized it was a cover because the band has only played it 11 times, but it was a nice way to end the show.

I hope I don’t have to wait until 2036 to see Pavement play another show in Osaka, but if it does happen that far in the future, I’m sure many of the same fans will be here, singing right along.

See our exclusive photos from Pavement’s show at Namba Hatch in Osaka, along with fan-filmed video and the setlist, below.

Photo Gallery – Pavement at Namba Hatch in Osaka, Japan (click to expand and scroll through):

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