Yes, but not to the extent of previous tours. I'm not a fan of Reveal, but I'll be interested in how they do those songs live. I thought the Up songs were much better live, so that bodes well. One thing I hope they do is bring back some of the older chestnuts that they haven't played in a while, like the last tour. Hearing 'Camera', 'Gardening', 'Wolves, Lower' and 'Cuyahoga' was fantastic. Plus, seeing three nights at Chastain in Atlanta in '99 will be tough to top. One night in Philips Arena won't cut it.
I would be if it was 1996. but I'm too afraid they're gonna play the crap from their last three albums. If I knew they'd only play stuff from their albums up to and including Monster, I'd go. Monster, in my opinion, is a very underrated album. still one of my favorites. I was a huge REM fan ... but those last three albums blew. It sucked to see a great band fall that far. oh well.
That far? New Adventures in Hi-Fi is exceptional. You should give it another listen. They are a different band now (after New Adventures). Bill Berry leaving the band had a far greater impact on them than even the biggest REM fan could have seen. I thought Up was a nice change of pace, but Reveal just extended that, but with too much production and too little songwriting, in my opinion.
Reveal sucked. Up was OK. BUt they are still an incredible live band. Word is they have gotten a list of the last time they have played each and every song and are going to try and dig some old stuff out. LIKTWUP said, on the last tour, they played (at different times): Gardening (that Atlanta version is incredible) Wolves (ditto) Pilgrimage Camera (I saw that live - gave me chills) Sitting Still Cuyahoga (every night) Begin the Begin Worksong They still play a ton of old stuff. And they dusted off "All the Right Friends," one of their earliest songs, for the Vanilla Sky soundtrack. So they are not averse to going back to unreleased stuff. I saw them at Meriweather in MD in 1999 on the next to last night of the tour. Blew me away. Even some Up stuff I don't like on the Cd (Apologist comes to mind) was great live. They still won't top the early bootlegs, but I'll be at the MCI Center and it will rock.
I saw em back in 1999 and was rather unimpressed with their live performance. Perhaps because I'm not too familiar with their material and was more entertained with the hippie lesbian couple with armpit hair prancing around their blanket like it was a Phish concert. I think Wilco opened for them.
Supposedly, they've dusted off a few more old, unrecorded songs for the greatest hits collection. The names escape me now, but I imagine we will see some of those live.
There are two according to what i just found online. One of them is Bad Day, which is a good rocker also known as PSA. Not sure what the other is. I have about a half doizen or so I would like to hear.
http://www.hermenaut.com/a135.shtml Nothing to do with the tour, but an excellent article written by the girl who inspired "(Don't Go back to) Rockville."
that's a great story. i've loved R.E.M. since 1983; have seen them about 8 times. what's this news about a tour? when does it begin? wehre are they playing? how do i find out? are they releasing a new album as well? i'm hoplessly out of the loop nowadays. i really liked Up; only two songs off Reveal really grabbed me.
I agree about those two albums. Web site is www.remhq.com - dates are there. they start in Europe in about a month, then come to the states in the fall. "Grestest Hits" album of their Warners Brother (Green and later) stuff plus a few new songs in July - I think. Then a new album early next year, I think. They say they will tour to support that too.
Well, since their first full length, I've followed them. But, their debut EP and Murmur, I haven't bought anything by them. But those two releases were absolutely awesome.
REM was my favorite band for a while ever since I bought Green when I was in sixth grade and right now they are my second favorite. Yet I have never seen them live, because I live in San Juan , PR where REM is as popular as Dinamo Kiev. So you should all take an opportunity and watch them. As for their last Cd's they ruled, except that they weren't all good songs. Reveal was probably the weaker but like the Simpsons, they still pull off the great. Imitation of Life is as good as any song they ever had.
Tour started in Europe over the weekend. I'm going todownload a few songs recorded at the opener later today. Set lists look good, but not as much old stuff as I would have hoped. You can see video of four songs from rehearsals at www.remhq.com.
The two shows at Brixton would have been awesome to see - taking from Fables the first night, and LRP the second night. Good stuff. And "So Fast, So Numb" and "Carnival of Sorts". Very cool. Have you heard "Animal" yet? Is much stuff appearing online?
I'm just hoping I can score some free tix. I don't want to pay $50 before ticket&()&^(^(S&**()) charges and don't want to pay $25 to sit up in the clouds.
I have Utrecht and Amsterdam on my laptop. There is a P2P server dedicated to nothing but live and unreleased stuff. It's run by the guy who runs www.murmurs.com and the band is totally OK with trading live stuff. You need WinMX and there is more info here - http://www3.murmurs.com/rem/themusic/giveitaway/index.php Go to the "Give It Away" instructions. I personally like Bad Day better than Animal, but they are both good. Nico - I bit the bullet and got floor seats through a pre-sale on their Web site, but I'm nuts like that.
I now have three of the first four shows. If someone wants a CD, send me a PM or e-mail me. Tivoli - Awesome recording Amsterdam - Decent recording. At least one song cuts out Brixton (6/24) Just downloaded it. Sounds OK, but some singing, etc., from people near the tapers.
They dusted off Permanent Vacation, a song they wrote in 1980 and never put on record. Awesome live song. Also played RFE in Poland. Nico - Tivoli isn't as great of a recording as I had thought - I was listening on my laptop and it's not as good in my car. I just got back from vacation and will make a dupe for you this week.