"We ate at that Cuban place (Paseo) in Fremont today. It's really good, but still tastes the same as it did in 2001. Just like this music." --Stephen Malkmus

It's hard to put a finger on exactly what was missing from former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus' show last night. The newly remodeled Neptune was a perfect stage for the show, glowing with a subdued visual elegance and sounding completely clear and dialed-in. So maybe it was just a typical Tuesday night in any town (Tuesdays are particularly hard days to rock through), but both sides of the stage seemed to have a deep disengagement with the experience that made Malkmus' awkward charm a little less obvious.