Stephen Malkmus spent most of last year’s Pavement reunion dates looking like he wished he was somewhere else. Tonight’s more animated performance suggests that these days, he’s more comfortable fronting the slacker generation’s answer to The Grateful Dead than one of the 90s’ best-loved alternative rock torch-bearers.

The prolonged instrumental jamming that characterised 2008′s ‘Real Emotional Trash’ is a prominent feature of this evening’s gig, even though latest album ‘Mirror Traffic’ saw Malkmus’ songwriting rediscover its sense of immediacy. ‘Forever 28’ and lead single ‘Senator’ are two of the most accessible moments in the set, though are still as unwieldy as one would expect, the former’s punchy AOR giving way to a thrilling guitar riff coda while the latter employs cluttered bursts of Beefheart-esque garage rock. ‘All Over Gently’ is one of the few songs aired tonight which consistently adheres to a conventional structure. The band’s more freeform experiments can be much more trying and at times watching the show feels too much like hard work, however rewarding it is.

If Malkmus has a problem, it’s that he has too many ideas. While it’s great watching him and the Jicks - unconventional and instinctive musicians clearly on the same page as the frontman – create jarring moments of discordance and cohesion, you can’t help but feel that these aren’t sustained for long enough. The same cannot be said of the several instrumental interludes that punctuate proceedings, veering dangerously close to prog rock. If the audience could immerse themselves in the music, then the artists’ digressions would be easier to take in. Unfortunately, as arch and ironic as ever, Malkmus is a difficult proposition to invest oneself in emotionally. The result is, that while tonight’s set is impressive on many levels, it’s difficult to feel much of a connection to what is taking place onstage.

Lewis Porteous