Pavement returns to late night to perform "Harness Your Hopes"

No, the band in question is indie icons Pavement. They are the subject of a new quasi-documentary/quasi-scripted movie called "Pavements," which features Joe Keery playing himself playing Stephen Malkmus. For many years after the release of "Terror Twilight," the band did not perform together. They reunited in 2010, at which point they played on "The Colbert Report" and "Late Night," but then, you'll never guess, they went on another hiatus. However, by 2019 the guys figured out a way to tolerate one another long enough to perform intermittently, and so, all these years later, Pavement returned to late night, and also returned to a Stephen Colbert show. This time, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

The band played "Harness Your Hopes," a song they originally left off "Brighten the Corners" but included on the deluxe re-release. It is, naturally, now by far their most-popular song. Blame young people and algorithms and what have you. It's a good song, but there is something strange about seeing '90s indie legends playing a tossed-off song on TV in 2025 because algorithms made it popular.

That being said, it's still nice to get some chances to see Pavement in action and that they remain just north of sloppy live. It's also interesting to imagine trying to explain Bob Nastanovich to somebody with no frame of reference.

"Pavements," for those interested in the film (even if it's just to see Steve from "Stranger Things" in a movie), is in select theaters now and opening nationwide on June 6.