The Stephen Malkmus Noise Pop show at the Great American Music Hall tonight could not have been more tailor-made to me if they'd tried. Four solo acts that I adore - Malkmus, Kelley Stoltz, Peggy Honeywell, Goh Nakamura - and all acoustic all the time. Of course the jackass Pavement megafans couldn't be bothered to shut the fuck up during Honeywell's set, even when she point-blank asked them to be quiet. If they missed her gorgeous rendition of "Precious Lord" it was their tragic loss. Honeywell is the blonde-wigged alter ego of super-talented artist Clare Rojas, who I found out this evening also happens to now be married to Barry McGee, who was in attendance with Asha, his daughter with the late Margaret Kilgallen. That broke my head a little. But I digress. Brent and I thoroughly enjoyed Malkmus's set, and though I would have been very happy if he'd only played his solo material he went ahead and sang everything from his work with the Silver Jews to early Pavement tracks. And yes, he ended with "Summer Babe".
Earlier in the evening we caught most of The Aimless Never Miss's set at Bender's during the Noise Pop happy hour, and they happily satisfied the plugged-in rock 'n' roll needs for the evening. They're local and play out all the time. I say check them out.
