Indie rock pioneers Pavement performed fun, unpolished cover of Led Zeppelin‘s “Stairway to Heaven” on Saturday, July 18, at an Oakland, California festival, Consequence shared. The band performed the famous prog rock jam on their opening date of a short U.S. tour at Mosswood Meltdown. The clunky cover shows that the band is not taking themselves too seriously, clearly having fun at their own expense. Watch the video here:
Pavement transitions from their hit “Harness Your Hopes,” 1999 song that found unexpected streaming success in 2017 and went viral a couple years later, into a partial take on “Stairway to Heaven,” playing on the sonic similarities between the two compositions. Frontman Stephen Malkmus mostly sang nonsensical lyrics—such as rhyming “fandangos” with “I like mangoes”—before atonally moaning in a humorous impression of Robert Plant.
The band blasted through a 25-song set at Mosswood Meltdown that kicked off with “Silence Kid” and featured “Cut Your Hair,” “Range Life” and “Summer Babe” before ending with an encore of “AT&T.” Pavement’s “Stairway to Heaven” rendition showed the band was loose and having fun at the onset of their tour. Fans can look for tickets to any dates on Pavement’s week-long U.S. tour here.
Tour Dates:
07/17/26 – Oakland, CA – Mosswood Meltdown Pre-Party
07/18/26 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
07/21/26 – Saint Paul, MN – Palace Theatre
07/22/26 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed
07/23/26 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater & Ballroom
07/25/26 – Richmond, VA – The National
07/27/26 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
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