Photos: Pavement @ Studio Coast / Tokyo, JP [04.08.10]

Pavement seem to be enjoying their reunion as much as their fans. The indie rock heroes were all smiles and “arigato”s on the second of two Tokyo dates at Studio Coast. As ever, Stephen Malkmus and Co. were loose and scrappy, trading off in-jokes and chiding each other throughout the night. Every member seemed to be having a great time, with multi-instrumentalist/impromptu hypeman Bob Nastanovich and drummer Steve West providing upbeat banter for the majority of the night.

The band stuck closely to the hits featured on the recently released retrospective compilation, Quarantine The Past, but brought out the deep cuts in the first and second encores. Surprises included “Father To A Sister Of Thought” (sans lapsteel, unfortunately) and the one-two punch of slacker rock anthems “Stop Breathin’” and “Here.” It may be early on in their year-long stretch of reunion gigs, but Pavement seem to love being back together more than the past ten years of debunked reunion rumours would lead you to believe. Tessa Liem has some crowd-level photos of the evening.