Seriously, if anyone wants to get Led Zeppelin back together, just invite them to a wedding. After all, two, count ’em, of music’s biggest acts have reunited at such an event…and in the last six month at that!
Two, you say? Surely, Phish is one, but who is number two?
Wait for it….
Well, kind of.
According to the Nashville Cream, the basic story goes something like this: on Saturday night, former Pavement drummer Bob Nastanovich got married, and seeing as that he did spend a good portion of his life in said outfit, he of course invited his former bandmates to the ceremony and after party. The latter was open to the public and billed on The 5 Spot’s MySpace page as “Secret Show,” which as one would expect, prompted a slew of “Nashville scenesters” to pour into the club at 8:30 p.m., all of whom were anticipating a full-fledged Pavement reunion.
By 11, the party had started, only the music was being provided by a house band, featuring Silver Jews’ William Tyler and Brian Kotzur. The Nashville Cream described the whole thing as a “lagrant act of social voyeurism,” with the only action being the dance moves of Nastanovich.
But then…the action came. Per Cream:
It was just as we spotted his bandmates Mark Ibold and Steve West that Malkmus took to the stage, at last providing some sort of payoff for those hoping to brag to their friends the next day. The payoff came in the form of Malkmus, effortlessly charming as ever, leading the crowd through ramshackle sing-alongs of Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love” and The O’ Jays “Love Train.” Seeing the Teflon Don of indie cred briefly moonlighting as a wedding singer (in a monogrammed dress shirt, no less) was hilariously surreal, and by the time the band started into “Rock This Party,” Malkmus, Ibold, West and Nastanovich were all onstage, along with a dozen or so other party guests
So yes, Pavement (minus guitarist Scott Kannberg) didn’t actually perform together, and yes, summarizing this whole thing may have been a pretty big waste of time. But hey, with an actual reunion expected sometime soon, or whenever someone wants to pony up the cash, maybe, just maybe, this was the first step in their return. If anything, the bandmates just overcame any strage fright that may have had…