Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Next Friday I’ll be heading to Chicago for the mega bill of R.E.M., The National & Modest Mouse. It will be my first time seeing R.E.M. (not counting standing outside their SXSW set at Stubb’s listening and contemplating a sneak in). Is anyone else seeing the Athens legends on the Accelerate tour? I haven’t been doing a good job of getting your opinion on the album. Was it the return to form you were hoping for or just better than its recent predecessors?
Share your R.E.M. concert memories and album favorites in the comments. I’ve already shared my love of New Adventures In Hi-Fi.
Here is “Supernatural Superserious” from their recently aired session on Austin City Limits:
Myspace: R.E.M.
Find MP3′s at The Hype Machine or buy stuff from Strictly Discs | eMusic
May 28th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
This will be my first time seeing them (and the other two bands) and I’m pretty excited for it, even though we’ll be in the nosebleeds. I haven’t been to a gigantic arena show in years, but I imagine this one will be pretty excellent — I’ve heard that they’re playing pretty diverse sets.
The new album is the best one post-Berry, I think, but not as good as any of the Berry albums. I like that they went tight and energy-packed, and there are a lot of good songs there, but I’d probably think more of it if they’d cut “I’m Gonna DJ.”
May 28th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I’ll second the wish that they would have cut “I’m Gonna DJ”
Sounds like your seats are next to ours. I imagine I’ll be watching the video screens the entire time. Still going to soak it in.
May 30th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I loved, loved, loved R.E.M. when I was in high school. My first band used to cover “Orange Crush” at every show. I once pulled my car to the side of the road, blasted the stereo, and lay in the grass holding hands with two girls while “Nightswimming” and “Find the River” closed out Side 2 of my Automatic for the People cassette. I saw R.E.M. for the first time on the night of my high school graduation, and then saw them again a few months later in Boston — both times on the Monster tour. Each show was the bee’s knees. I remember admiring the band’s integrity when — on an MTV special that I videotaped — all four original members, interviewed separately, agreed that they would disband if ever one of them decided to call it quits. When Bill Berry quit and the R.E.M. name lived on, I was disillusioned but open-minded. Unfortunately, Up sucked and so has every subsequent release. These guys absolutely should have hung ‘em up years ago. I had a dream last week that I was at a barbeque with Buck, Mills, and Stipe, and an awkward conversation ensued on this very subject. I hear “Supernatural Superserious” and I am somewhat embarrassed for these guys. Vintage R.E.M. is still as good as it gets. But albums like Document, Green, Murmur, Out of Time, and Automatic would be so much more enjoyable without the knowledge of what schlock would eventually succeed them…. Wow… I guess I’ve had a lot of built-up tension about this…