Pavement
Central Park
Wednesday, September 22

Well, if nothing else, last night's lightning-delayed, rain-soaked Pavement convocation in Central Park (only two more to go!) was a great opportunity for Stephen Malkmus to say a bunch of ridiculous, borderline offensive stuff about the weather. Upon taking the stage, the wind picking up, what will turn out to be a downpour just minutes away: "Is it gonna rain? Do people, like, know that? They just know that I guess. They say they can smell it." Upon (temporarily) stopping the show, lightning flashing everywhere, rain pouring down: "Uh, lightning break. We gotta stop. She'll tell you [points to Parks Department functionary]. But I'm, uh, confirming, it's just a break." And of course, the best one, after the Doppler radar ("Doppler radar? That's not indie," someone shouts) has given us the all clear, rain still coming in waves but the lightning now more or less gone, Pavement striding back onstage to the ragged but swelling roar of the crowd: "Thank you guys...for nothing, really. It was just rain."

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Attention Coachella attendees, or Coachella non-attendees who enjoy schadenfreude: It certainly looks gorgeous, but this whole Iceland volcano situation is messing up Coachella plans for some folks: So far Gary Numan, the Cribs, and perhaps a few others. Small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, but still something to root for/against. Folks with rock-critic-heavy Twitter feeds who ain't making the trip are advised to maybe take the weekend off, Internet-wise. Lets hope Dr. Dre becomes a trending topic real soon.

On account of the huge dent an enormous stage might leave on the spongy Yankee Stadium field tonight, and also because Jay-Z definitely doesn't go outside unless his kicks are guaranteed to remain spotless, the dreaded Keys-Carter "Empire State of Mind" performance has been moved from Game 1 to Game 2, tomorrow night. May this be indicative of the kind of perseverance and winning spirit the Yankees show on the field tonight. [Reuters]