I had a really good time at the R.E.M. concert I saw last week. I have to say that first because some of the things I say later might sound like I am complaining. I will be. I just want to make it clear that I still loved the show despite the things that bothered me.<\/p>\n
This was my seventh time seeing the band live. The eighth if you count the time they opened for The Police when I didn’t pay attention to them. That’s why I don’t really count it.<\/p>\n
I have seen R.E.M. on every tour since 1989. This streak gained more importance in my mind on the afternoon of the concert when I talked to some college students who had tickets and probably weren’t potty-trained when I drove from Meadville, Pa., to Cleveland and actually paid attention Berry, Buck, Mills and Stipe on the stage.<\/p>\n
Later that year, I went to Pittsburgh to see them play again. During those two shows, I saw them play “Pretty Persuasion” (twice), “Sitting Still, and “1,000,000.” Those songs have pretty much disappeared from set lists since that tour, but have made a comeback this year.<\/p>\n
Except for when I saw them play at Merriweather Post Pavilion last week. I loved the gems they threw out for us – “Driver 8,” “Finest Worksong,” “Rockville,” and “Pop Song 89” made their 2008 tour debut while I was jumping around in front of my seat.<\/p>\n
But I have seen them play Worksong on their past three tours, including in 2003 when it opened the show at the Patriot Center in northern Virginia. They played Pop Song when they visited Merriweather in 1999. I also saw them play it in 1995 on the Monster tour.<\/p>\n
So while some of the songs hadn’t been played at all during this tour, they are hardly tunes they have really dusted off. I heard nothing from Chronic Town or Murmur the other night while other shows have featured two or three songs from the band’s first two releases.<\/p>\n
I still loved the show. I’ll get over it eventually. They brought a ton of energy to the stage, and the rapid-fire opening of Worksong, “Living Well’s the Best Revenge,” and “Bad Day,” pretty much set the place on fire.<\/p>\n
I will never complain about Rockville being in the set because of how much I love that song. We also got a treat as Peter almost totally fucked it up by coming in too soon for the second verse. Mike caught himself and they got it back together.<\/p>\n
Other treats included Johnny Marr joining the band on “Fall on Me” and “Man on the Moon,” Michael’s robot dance during “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” and absolute cracking versions of just about everything they played.<\/p>\n
That’s what R.E.M. brings to the table. Regardless of what their latest album sounds like, regardless of what they choose to play, regardless of how well they are getting along, they still put together an incredible live show. I’m looking forward to running my total to eight shows soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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