Live Review: Pavement & The Lovely Eggs at Manchester Apollo 20/10/22

There's a sense that things are coming to a head. Prices are spiralling as inflation hits a 40-year high and we're only three more Chancellors away from Christmas. As I write this, the hapless Liz Truss has become the latest casualty of the chaos engulfing British politics, becoming the shortest tenant of 10 Downing Street in the history of the UK. Her Government's reckless mini budget just a week or so into her time in power tanked an economy that needed everything but. Another one bites the dust. 

Live music is in just as precarious a position as the rest of the economy. Tours of the UK from outside bands and artists are becoming more and more expensive with NNWNF favourites like Tomberlin requesting fans to put her up to lower costs, seasoned veterans ..Trail of Dead playing just one UK show on a full European tour and Animal Collective pulling a whole tour entirely. It's not quite a crisis, but it's beginning to look a bit ropey. After the gig, we find out the band's have been charged a whopping 30% commission by the Apollo for merch sales, forcing them to sell at extortionate price. The Apollo most definitely, ist not rad. 

It's a good job then that Pavement is at an ark in their career where demand to see them is at its peak - but more on that later.

Support act The Lovely Eggs arrive bang on 8pm to warm applause and blast immediately into heavy psych rocker 'Witchcraft', which threatens to blow the roof of this famous old theatre. For those of you unfamiliar with their work, The Lovely Eggs are a married couple Holly and David Blackwell from Lancaster and have a reputation as a fearsome live act. The band are also incredibly proud of its DIY model, which has cut out the middlemen altogether. 

Taking the role of support and 'official party starters' for the "Best Band in the World" seriously, Holly wisecracks that they've arranged for a shower of MDMA to cover the crowd for the good of the gig;  The joke lands and the crowd begin to loosen up as the set progresses. Changing the words to 'You Can Go Now' to incorporate the day's political events gains vast approval: 

Tory shitshow/You can go now.

The night's first big sing-along is reserved for The Eggs' mantra 'Fuck It', which rings around the venue with spontaneous abandon; it feels almost as much an exasperated attack at the current state of affairs than a care-free call to arms. We're ready for the main event. 

There's a sense of excitement then when Pavement enters stage left; this is their first time in Manchester since the dying embers of the band in the late 90s. That ill-fated night at The Academy - touring their last album Terror Twilight - all those years ago was when tensions in the band reached their height. It's fitting then that they start with a single from that album; the sublime 'Major Leagues'  - a subdued start, but perfect nonetheless.

It's not long before rowdier songs from the band's early days come to the surface, with 'Perfume V'  and the ever-popular 'Summer Babe' going down a storm with the crowd. Pavement has become a band that is now at ease with its vast back catalogue, where once there was doubt and derision from within the band itself. 

It's at this point that I realise that the appeal of Pavement is more generationally spread than it ever has been. Looking around the crowd, it's not just those who were there when the band were in their pomp; the age range includes a much younger appeal, even from when I first saw them in 2010. Not only are children of fans now coming to gigs, but so are young people who have found the band on their sonic adventures. 

A song that wouldn't have been played by the band on their 2010 tour would most certainly have been 'Harness Your Hopes' - a B Side that was only released on the CD version of the Spit on a Stranger E.P. The song has taken on a life of its own in the streaming age and is now their most played song with over 84 million streams to date. It seems the success was down to the peculiarities of the algorithms that Spotify uses to add songs to similar-sounding playlists. However it happened, it's great to hear it live and is rapturously received. 

The set isn't always a joyous romp through the hits as perhaps other bands would be tempted to do - this is Pavement after all. The deep cuts are peppered throughout the set ensuring that even the most hardcore of fans are catered for. Practising over 50 songs for this world tour allowed the band to switch up the setlist every night and create a bespoke experience for every gig. The impact of songs like 'Heckler Spray', 'Shoot The Singer' and 'Linden' may be slightly more muted compared to say 'Unfair' or 'Starlings in the Slipstream', but they add an extra dimension to the set that doesn't waver in quality. 

Crowd favourites are not completely left to one side though and the balance between the hits and obscurities is restored as the set progresses. 'Range Life' is met with a clamour of adoration from the crowd, 'Gold Soundz' allows the collective vocal cords to stretch to their limits and a large mosh pit for a rowdy version of 'Cut Your Hair.'

As the gig concludes it is clear to many that the joy of live music is a great and much-needed reminder, that life can be much more than the gloom that seems to be engulfing us all. We may need to fight this generation to ensure this is the case.