Malkmus & the Jicks/Benny & the Jets

One of the pivotal figures of Nineties indie rock packed out Mohawk Wednesday night, and though 2010's Pavement reunion is but a wistful smile on the faces of those that experienced it, the band's frontman never lost any rock star swagger in leading Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks.

Local openers TV Torso and then Nurses began the evening well, but everyone in the full house knew it was a one-act showcase. With the latter band's final song, the crowd instantly thickened in anticipation for the Portland, Ore.-based headliners.

Maybe it was the muggy evening, but even as Mohawk filled all three levels of the venue (including the brand new middle deck) there was none of the push-and-shove, "oh-my-friend-is-at-the-front" crowd jostling. This could likely be attributed to Malkmus' deft hands, which, song after song, poured out knee-buckling guitar solos. At the first notes of opening song "Senator," the crowd was mesmerized by him and his Jicks, who played with the air and ease of a practicing garage band - albeit an extremely talented one.

With audience members draped over the venue's upper railings and placidly filling the ground floor, there was a collective gaping of mouths as the night went on. Even the band's second guitarist, Mike Clark, had fun with Malkmus' undeniable talent. After "Senator" ended with the first of many too-good-to-be-true guitar shreds, Clark joked, "Alright, we get it - you're good at guitar."

Malkmus led the crowd through a set mostly dominated by songs from 2011's Beck-produced Mirror Traffic, replacing highly-polished studio sound with trumps of his own guitar lines. Old crowd favorite "Jenny & the Ess-Dog" was worked in early, and just when the show was winding down with a lack of nostalgia, the Jicks closed a four-song encore with a gritty cover of "Bennie and the Jets," Malkmus likely being the only person in Mohawk who actually knew all of the words.

Regardless, plaid-laden hipsters and, well, plaid-laden Pavement-era converts alike joined in for the unavoidable chorus, united by the effortless talent of Stephen Malkmus.