The Jicks rock “Filetmingonadelphia”

By Erin Szrankowski
Collegian Editor
April 2, 2008

Ever since I heard that Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks were coming to the TLA March 29, I was extremely excited. The first day tickets were released for this show, my music nerd self bought them. The idea of seeing the guy who I musically worshiped for years was unimaginable. However, I was not the only one. Pavement and Jicks fans alike came together in harmony to celebrate this sold-out event.

Saturday night’s festivities started off with San Francisco-based singer/songwriter John Vanderslice. OK, so his band represented Philly a little bit by mentioning a store that sold bubble tea and Pattern is Movement, a hip local band, but that was covering for their lack of solid energy. The act was too long, uninspiring and boring. For Vanderslice’s last song, the band went into the middle of the audience and were greeted by one negative jeer, which prompted the drummer to retort with how Philly’s teams are bad (like we haven’t heard that one before). At the front of the stage, it was hard to hear what they were singing, but if they were trying to be like Arcade Fire, it did not work.

Malkmus and his fellow Jicks, complete with Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney, strode onto the stage next, and were greeted by roaring applause. The lack of energy from before was immediately dispersed and replaced by hyperactivity.

The Jicks’ Philly set began with “Elmo Delmo,” fresh off of SM&J’s newest release Real Emotional Trash. At the beginning of the song Malkmus’ voice appeared to be very hoarse, but he continued to sing all the same.

Throughout the entire night Malkmus did not say much, except when he referred to Philadelphia as “Filetmignonadelphia” or something along those lines. A lot of what he said either earned a laugh or a surprised double take. Johanna Bolme, the lady bassist, however, gave humorous commentary over the happenings on stage. At one time there was a brief debate between Malkmus and Weiss over which song should be next and someone from the audience yelled, “Don’t argue with the drummer.” Bolme responded with how the Philly crowd was better than the D.C. crowd from the night before. Being at both shows, I could not agree more. Finally, it was time that Philly received recognition for being a good crowd.

Malkmus’ songs rotated between Real Emotional Trash stuff—“Dragonfly Pie” and “Hopscotch Willie” turned out to be pleasant sing-a-longs—as well as Pig Lib and his self-titled material. It was nice to hear a different sampling of his songs, because he does not usually tour.

What he did not end up playing were Pavement songs. People in the crowd kept shouting out requests to no end. This was understandable because Pavement broke up in 2000 to a cult following. Still, Pavement fans have to move on and enjoy the Malkmusness. Some people still did not get the point, but the show still moved on and moved on gloriously. On a side note, there have been speculations of a Pavement reunion within the near future, according to an assortment of blogs.

The highlight of this show had to be the rocking performance of “Real Emotional Trash,” a 10-minute musical gem. It proved that Malkmus is an excellent guitarist within his simple pop style. The build-up was perfect and tight. All elements came together causing an effect like a punch in the face. At 41, Malkmus can still rock.

“Baby C’mon” was edgy on Malkmus’ 2004 release Face the Truth, but live it sounded like a massive arena rock performance. He yelled and wailed into the microphone, sending the crowd spinning.

Automatically, random hands would formed air shaped guitars and/or drums and kick out the jams. Malkmus made playing instruments look so easy that anyone could do it. This is a side effect of the Jicks’ catchy sound.

The four song encore included “Us” the indie-rock love ballad from Pig Lib, “Maladiction,” “Church on White” and last but not least a cover of The Beatles’ 1966 hit “Taxman.” The crowd was won over and even wowed by this choice of cover. It was the perfect way to conclude the night.

Everyone played a part in how good this show was, even the crowd. Everything came together in harmony and it was felt strongly through the music.

Seeing bands live enables a different interpretation of the way music is made. Malkmus and company provided the audience with quality live music and humble showmanship.

The overall nonchalant air of the show added to the relaxed, but solid, performances. The audience was able to see that Malkmus was not taking himself seriously, but he wanted to put on a good show for the people.

szrankowskie1@lasalle.edu