Wednesday, 23 Jun 2010
It’s hard to hide our excitement behind the Pavement reunion tour dates. I’m personally holding tickets for their appearance at the Pitchfork Music Festival next month as well as their Chicago (9/13) and Milwaukee (9/14) dates in September.
Pavement is a special band for a lot of people. Their albums remain the cornerstone of the record collections harbored by those who cut their teeth on independent music during the 90′s. Pavement’s has a unique Milwaukee connection that, outside the die-hards, uttering “The Milwaukee Show” in close company will probably get you some strange looks in close company. For those out of the loop, the now famous “Milwaukee Show” took place back on May 23, 2003. It went down like this: Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks were scheduled to play Milwaukee, but instead of rolling out new Malkmus + Jicks material, the band chose instead to tear through Pavement material in chronological order. That was the first and only time said occurrence took place. “Why not Milwaukee?”
In our continued excitement, and by good suggestion from Dan, I’ve posted “The Milwaukee Show” set list below with links to the videos of said songs in the event that anyone out there needs a little history lesson on the band or would just like to join us in an YouTube walk down memory lane. Just click each song title below to watch/listen.
Stephen Malkmus & Jicks – “The Milwaukee Show” – May 23, 2003
1. “Summer Babe” (from Slanted & Enchanted
2. “In the Mouth a Desert” (from Slanted & Enchanted)
3. “Zurich is Stained” (from Slanted & Enchanted)
4. “Here” (from Slanted & Enchanted)
5. “Two States” (from Slanted & Enchanted)
6. “Frontwards” (from the Watery, Domestic EP
7. “Shoot The Singer” (from the Watery, Domestic EP)
8. “Elevate Me Later” (from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
9. “Gold Soundz” (from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain)
10. “Range Life” (from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain)
11. “We Dance” (from Wowee Zowee
12. “Rattled By The Rush” (from Wowee Zowee)
13. “Brinx Job” (from Wowee Zowee)
14. “AT & T” (from Wowee Zowee)
15. “Stereo” (from Brighten the Corners
16. “Starlings Of The Slipstream” (from Brighten the Corners)
17. “Fin” (from Brighten the Corners)
18. “Spit on a Stranger” (from Terror Twilight
19. “The Hexx” (from Terror Twilight)
Encore:
20. “Phantasies” (from Stephen Malkmus
21. “Jenny And The Ess-Dogg” (from Stephen Malkmus)
22. “Water and A Seat” (from Pig Lib
23. “Dark Wave” (from Pig Lib)
24. “Us” (from Pig Lib)
Facts: There is a bootleg circulating the internet of this show. A signed poster (with set list) from this show proudly hangs within the 91.7 WMSE offices.
Discuss: Were you at “The Milwaukee Show?” Have you seen Pavement on the reunion tour? Are you planning on seeing any of the upcoming shows? Drop a comment letting us know your favorite Pavement album(s) and what songs you’re hoping to hear on this tour.
June 23rd, 2010 at 10:48 pm
This is just the kind of post I needed tonight.
June 23rd, 2010 at 11:55 pm
I remember this all too well. I got marrid the next day, making the rehearsal dinner the night before (the night of this show). I remember begging my now wife to move the rehearsal up but…I looked at the setlist and reviews the following week and freaked. Can’t wait for pitchfork and the Pabst!
June 23rd, 2010 at 11:59 pm
Who’s got the bootleg???
link us up!
June 24th, 2010 at 2:29 am
Hey, I’d like to set a couple things straight about this show. I made the only known recording on my Sony Clie (not a device made for recording music) Summer Babe was at best the 3rd song played. She Believes opened then he said”this is off our first record” and I think Box Elder was next. That’s when it dawned on me I was seeing something unbelievable and realized NO ONE would believe it happened (let alone in Milwaukee) so I dug out my work issued Clie and turned on the voice recorder. Since the first song I recorded was Summer Babe the myth is that’s how it started. I was there with my then boyfriend to whom I gave the Clie to hold when my arm got tired. He put it in his shirt pocket and that’s when the sound got severely muffled. We thought someone plugged a minidisc recorder into the board but as far as I know, no other recording has circulated. Within days of the show I posted the whole .wav file to the then Pavement Message Board. It has since been cleaned up and thankfully much of my in-between gabbing is gone
but a dude didn’t record it and summer babe didn’t open it. I just took me a couple of songs to realize I was seeing history 
June 24th, 2010 at 3:08 am
Not to sound like LCD’s “Losing My Edge” but “I was there…May 23, 2003 in Milwaukee at the Todd Weir Auditorium…”
It was an awesome surprise and probably one of the most memorable and meaningful concerts I’ve attended. I also got a set list from the show that I had signed by Malkmus & the Jicks. I didn’t know what to say to Malkmus after the show except being astonished and mumbling “thanks,” “Can you sign this?” and shaking his hand. I do remember other attendees asking him why he didn’t play certain Pavement songs…he was waaaay to polite to them.
Enjoy some Pavement Milwaukee history and we’ll see you in September:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/3sw0mw
Are there still shows at Todd Wehr Auditorium?
June 24th, 2010 at 3:11 am
No, I wasn’t at The Milwaukee Show (of course). But I saw the reunion tour in Prague. Now, I am waiting for them in Brazil. I like to dream about it.
June 24th, 2010 at 3:43 am
Nobody remembers him playing She Believes without the band backing him? I could be wrong about Box Elder though he plays that solo too I just remember giggling about the first “album” comment since the song wasn’t off S&E but maybe he said that after She Believes. This doesn’t ring any bells?
I had been tipped off the night before in chicago 1 pavement song would played so I schlepped to Milwaukee feeling like a junkie. When he opened with She Believes a few thoughts went through my brain 1) didn’t have to wait long 2) wow! He didn’t even plays this much when in Pavement 3) nobody will believe this.
I saw Pavement 20 times btwn 92-99. She Believes was rare in those 20 shows, so I was surprised it would the one song.
No one believed me that this really happened until I posted the recording. My ex remembers it this way so I’m surprised no one else does. Oh well, I’m used to it.
June 24th, 2010 at 11:15 am
“Summer Babe” for sure opened. “She Believes” was not in the set. The band came on stage and Malkmus said “This is the first song off of the first album.” I remember thinking “oh, he’s going to play “Black Book” off his first solo album.” Instead, it was “Ice Baby I saw your girlfriend…”
He did play “AT&T” without the band backing him. Also, a few members of Silkworm came on stage to play “The Hexx.”
June 24th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
@Andrew
Thanks for the link (i assume this is Jen Echo’s recording?)
@ Jen Echo
If this is your recording, Thanks! It’s great to hear it again.
-
btw-I remember them opening with “Summer Babe” as well
June 24th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
I’ll see what I can do to definitively prove or disprove this. They didn’t follow these signed setlists. for instance they go from Here to Frontwards without Two States. They played Gold Soundz before Elevate Me later – or is the order above not from the setlist hanging in the radio station?
I’m glad to have my original .wav back THANK YOU and it honestly sounds better to me now then it did in 2003. Someone has cleaned it up since I posted it originally. Anyone want to own up to the deep voice who said my clie was gonna be confiscated after “in the mouth”? Facing the stage we were standing on the left near the wall. I moved back since that guy seemed like a tattle tale
I’ll own up to the high pitched WOOO! after each song and the snarky commentary at those who didn’t pick up the chronological order and were asking for songs on albums long since passed and justify “Grounded” after Stereo since Stereo was being played on the WZ tour but in hindsight Grounded was being played on the Crooked Rainx2 tour so logic= fail..In this cleaner version someone figured out how to mute my commentary which originally was louder than anything since it was a “voice” recorder. It recorded the closest voice 
I caught the last US pavement show in Cincy 10.16.99. The band told me they were breaking up after that tour the night before in Chicago and so if I wanted to see 20 shows I’d need to make to Cincy. I was 25, no car, no credit card and less than 24hrs to get to Cincy from Chicago -THAT was an adventure. After that show I lamented seeing pavement for the last time the next day on the that Pavement board and all hell broke loose no one believed me. Only from that debacle of disbelief did I have the wherewithal to record this show – as i’m heard saying at the outset – no one would believe it.
So far this reunion I’ve seen the 1st US since 1999- Pomona. There’s a shout out to Jen Echo before “Box Elder”. I was in the lobby so I didn’t hear but it’s been confirmed by reliable sources
Saw Coachella and if I never go to another festival,that’s ok by me. Seeing Pavement as I stand crammed between disinterested Gorillaz fans waiting for THAT band to take the stage was borderline miserable and pavement didn’t come back for an encore or anything I hear it was better if you weren’t standing up front- sound and comfort-wise. Disappointing compared to the amazement of the Pomona show.
I catch a plane in a couple of hours and I’ll see the first ever show in Stockton with the return of Gary Young!!!! (only saw them once when Gary was in the band) Tomorrow in Berkeley. I have tickets to all days in NY but may sell them to do a mini mid-west tour the week before and finally, I have tickets to the Hollywood Bowl. I should have a total of 30 pavement shows when this all done
I am stoked for Stockton and Berkeley, if I can figure out the logistics of the mid-west mini tour, perhaps we can all meet up and talk this out in person 
some recently sent me this file where the songs are broken up instead for one long .wav
http://www.mediafire.com/?mkognmmmnby
This show was truly a surprise I expected 1 song, maybe in the encore. I had hoped there was a board tape made but I don’t know of one that surfaced. Thank goodness that dude at the beginning didn’t tell on me
June 24th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
One of the most memorable shows I’ve ever seen. I love that the Jicks took the time to learn 18 songs that they’d probably never play again for a one-off show on one of the smaller stops on their tour. When I asked Malkmus after the show why he went through all that trouble for a show in Milwaukee, he responded “Why not Milwaukee?”
I don’t have any tattoos, but if I got one, it’d probably be of those three words.
June 24th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Awesome show. Converted a couple of friends that just came along for the night I remember how shocked my buddy in Chicago was that Malk did it here and not there. One of the few concerts I have on him.
June 24th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
@Evan
Sounds like a great motto for the city. I think you need that tattoo.
June 24th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Only if you get them inked in a tag font on your neck, Evan.
June 24th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Jen – the set list on the wall at the station with Malkmus’ notes for each song (eg. “+ Guitar D A G”) has Summer Babe listed as the first song.
I just talked to Tom Crawford, too. He said the first thing Malkmus said when he walked on stage was, “This is the first song off our first album.” Everyone thought it was going to be the Jicks, but about 30 seconds in everyone realized they were playing Pavement.
Also, there WAS a DAT board mix. However, the band’s manager confiscated it that night. We were promised a copy but never received one. It popped up online a few years ago and Tom says it’s fully mixed and sounds amazing, but we have since been unable to locate it. so if anyone has ties to Malkmus and can ask for a copy….
June 24th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
I’m not trying to argue. If I’m wrong I’m wrong. I’ll find out definitively and admit error if necessary. I’m lucky to have pretty decent pavement related connections even to this day. I bet I can get to the bottom of it.
@wmseryan my question is does the order above reflect the order of the list on the wall? if so, the recording – a single wave file – shows they didn’t follow the order listed above in some instances. My original file as been modified (cleaned up) and let’s say they played Two States and it’s missing from the recording I can see where I would have gasped and talked to my boyfriend saying how I thought it was a Scott song and could he play it? Did Scott know he was playing it? And *if* that happened I can see how no amount of editing would drown out my voice since it was originally recording my voice the loudest. It’s just then a seamless edit where you can’t hear a hiccup from one song to the next without Two States and well, there’s no reason someone would edit it to put other songs out of order so maybe the order in the post is a typo?
it’s all cool. I’m not from Milwaukee. i’ve only been a couple times for shows so I don’t know Tom Crawford or anyone else from Milwaukee. I went there that night to hear 1 pavement song played live for the first time since 1999 and i got a whole show and was able to record most of it once I realized it was going to be more than a couple songs.
If I can get an answer from the source than I’ll let you know. Otherwise, I’ll believe my way and you all can believe yours. No Harm No Foul and to whomever thanked me for my recording: You’re welcome.
June 24th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
hello, i skipped a bunch of posts so excuse me if this is redundant information but sm definitely started with she believes. jen echo and i were at the show the previous night at the metro in chicago when pavement’s/sm’s booking agent boche billions STRONGLY suggested we attend the next night in milwaukee. i had to work that saturday so initially we weren’t going to go but boche let it be known that a pavement tune was going to be worked into the set. i called off work and we drove up to milwaukee. after a weird day in the city (downtown being bereft of people at 5 pm) we made it over to the show. sm started the set with she believes and we thought that would be it. then the rest of the band came out and he said “this is from our first record” and they launched into summer babe. by the time box elder started jen was practically having kittens and she remembered she could record .wav files on her clie. the “cleaned up” versions of her original have been edited because i remember at one point you could very clearly hear me grouse about the fact that i could not buy beer at the venue.
and as for why milwaukee for a pavement set, it’s anybody’s guess but it was a holiday weekend and boche told me the milwaukee show was the only show of that tour not to sell out. it could have been a bit of a fuck you to people who decided not to come when tix were available. but that’s purely speculation on my part. either way, it was a fun show.
June 24th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Pavement at Shank pre-hype with Gary Young on drums (and handstands). A sloppy, cool band but not much of a crowd as Slanted recently came out maybe?? Afterwards Mr. Malkmus was a gent.
Treble Kicker and Drag City releases at Ear Waves (RIP)
June 24th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
It just kills me that I missed this show. I can remember discussing it with my fellow Pavement friends and skipping it because I had Memorial Day plans with my family, etc. etc. Figured that I would have many opportunities for a Jicks show.
Anyone see Malkmus at Pitchfork a few years ago when Bob N. joined him onstage for a few Pavement songs?
June 30th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Ahhh, the Milwaukee show. I drove solo from Madison to see this show because no Pavement/Jicks fans from Madison wanted to make the trek (HA!).. I distinctly remember two things: 1) Joanna needing some coaching from Stephen on some of the Pavement basslines & 2) singing along to all of the songs! I had only seen Pavement once on the Brighten the Corners, so it was very special.
August 3rd, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Thank you MofB! Thank you Jen Echo, thank you Andrew!
Have been looking for this recording for awhile.
Jen Echo, ktr: there’s a good chance I was standing right behind you, I remember the two right in front of me yelling “I Can’t Believe They’re Playing THIS!!!” the whole set.
My memory meshes with what ktr and BK said, one song played without the whole band, before launching into Summer Babe.
I wan’t a huge fan at the time, I bought my ticket at the door (so it definitely didn’t sell out), and it took me a while to catch on to the theme, but this was still an amazing show.
August 3rd, 2010 at 3:08 pm
ps. pics of the poster anyone?