( RollingStone.com ) -- `` Sing it if you know it , '' Pavement 's Stephen Malkmus told the crowd Sunday night in Brooklyn , on the Williamsburg Waterfront , as the band prepared to play `` Stop Breathing . '' Then he added , `` I tell myself that before every song . 'Sing it like you know it ! Be the ball ! Be the snare , Steve ! ' '' He did n't need to worry . In the group 's first New York gig since 1999 , Malkmus not only remembered all the words to the old Pavement songs , he and the rest of the band brought new flair to them . The 90s indie princes buzzed through their insanely fat songbook , 27 brilliant tunes in 90 minutes , without letting the energy level dip , lurching into each song with all their boyish enthusiasm . It was like a mix tape of the livelier moments from their 90s shows , except more so . All year long , on their first tour since they fell apart in 1999 , Pavement have shown other bands how you do the reunion thing right : no new songs , no pompous gestures , just a celebration of the catalog that made them the great guitar band of the 90s . The audience on Sunday night was surprisingly young , and unsurprisingly baked , but they were there to celebrate the 90s as well . Malkmus got one of the night 's biggest cheers when he looked around at the Brooklyn waterfront and mused , `` We saw a Bikini Kill show around here . '' Rolling Stone : See vintage shots of Stephen Malkmus and more nineties rockers . Pavement hopped from songs everybody likes ( `` Gold Soundz , '' `` Summer Babe '' ) to songs hardly anybody ever notices ( `` No More Absolutes , '' `` Starlings in the Slipstream '' ) , dipping into psychedelic jams like `` Grounded '' between sing-along raves like `` Silence Kid '' and `` Unfair . '' Malkmus and Scott `` Spiral Stairs '' Kannberg traded guitar leads in the countryfied ballad `` Father to a Sister of Thought , '' giving it a whole new flavor . Drummer Steve West and bassist Mark Ibold were nimbler than ever , while percussionist/hype man Bob Nastanovich banged the tambourine , sang back-up , blew harmonica , and played a mean slide whistle solo on `` Fight This Generation . '' He also slow-danced with a lucky lady as Malkmus crooned `` We Dance . '' Rolling Stone : Pavement 's Album Guide by Rob Sheffield . That song was a reminder of how much musical ground Pavement covered . They were the band who could do it all , mixing up New York noise with California stoner vibes , Euro art-punk with suburban American hardcore , yet make it all flow like rock & roll , and make it all seem like a breeze . They combined the elements of indie rock that fans were used to getting in half-assed dribbles and drabs . So `` Loretta 's Scars '' was the best Dinosaur Jr. song ever , just as `` Zurich Is Stained '' was the best Nikki Sudden song ever -- yet these were just another couple of great Pavement songs . Sunday night they blasted through `` Silence Kid , '' with a melody swiped from Buddy Holly ( `` Everyday , '' to be exact ) , plus a throwaway guitar hook swiped from Jimi Hendrix ( `` Bold As Love , '' to be exact ) , and made it crest and surge for three wildly emotional minutes of punk rock . Who else wrote songs like this ? Everybody tried to . But only Pavement pulled it off . Wily bastards , these guys . The show ended on a high note with `` Range Life , '' a wittily poignant ballad about the passing of youth . As he walked offstage after `` Range Life , '' Malkmus indulged in his only cornball rock-star gesture of the night -- he tried to toss a guitar pick into the crowd . But it missed , and plopped pitifully onto the stage . Malkmus shrugged , laughed , and kept walking . Set List : . Cut Your Hair . Date With IKEA . Rattled By The Rush . Elevate Me Later . Grounded . Frontwards . Shady Lane . Unfair . Perfum-V. Fight This Generation . Silence Kid . Box Elder . Stop Breathing . Two States . Father To A Sister of Thought . Heckler Spray . In The Mouth A Desert . We Dance . Summer Babe . No More Absolutes ( Fin ) Stereo . Encore : . Spit on a Stranger . Trigger Cut . Starlings in the Slipstream . Gold Soundz . Kennel District . Range Life . Copyright © 2010 Rolling Stone .
The Sunday indie princes buzzed through their songbook , one brilliant tunes in minutes . Malkmus slow-danced with a lucky lady as Malkmus crooned ` Spiral Stairs '' Kannberg The show ended with `` Range Life , '' a wittily poignant ballad about the passing of youth .