Two-Headed Calf

The pilgrimage aptly began where my music recognition originated: Chicago. Back in 1991 traveling on I-80/94 between Hammond, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois, I, a 12 year old, was listening to 93.3 WXRT and on came something strange and new to my ears: a jangly, emotive refrain about “losing my religion” sung with the accompaniment of what I was later to discover to be a mandolin. Stipe, Mills, Buck, and Berry had me hooked from there. And on Friday, June 6, 2008, I, with my mother, a newcomer to R.E.M. live who braved the wintry weather of 1995 to get me tickets to see R.E.M. for the first time, ventured to the United Center. Though a poor version of the original house that Michael (a different one, a certain man with the surname Jordan) and Bobby Hull built, among others, the United Center became a springboard that evening for my meeting of some R.E.M. friends (Mr. REMRING himself as well as REMLOVEGOD) that were only internet and mail abstractions up until that point. It also was one of the sloppiest concerts R.E.M. gave or will give in quite a while (but that did not dampen my enthusiasm for it). It began with the best three-song opening I heard on the tour: “Living Well is the Best Revenge” followed by the welcome tour staple “These Days” and “Begin the Begin.” A handful of songs later, including welcome tour premiere “Pilgrimage” (the only time it would be played on tour), the powerful Accelerate tune” Man-Sized Wreath” was botched; Stipe forgot a whole verse. After a blistering “Ignoreland,” undoubtedly one of the main themes of the whole US tour, “The Great Beyond” was debuted on the tour with the preface of not being properly soundchecked earlier on. It sounded fine, but Stipe was not satisfied; at the conclusion of the song he had the band launch back into the last refrain. Stir in some sound problems as well and this was R.E.M. in strange mode for a strange night. The rest of the show was still wonderful – some “Find the River” and a rocking “Pretty Persuasion” as well as Johnny Marr guesting for only the second time on tour – and I was lucky enough to hear “Accelerate” as it was retired from the tour after Toronto. One cannot help but remember the bizarre errors but Stipe knows how to warm over everything with his placating shout out to Chicago for giving the world Barack Obama. And it was just such an upbeat, political note that most will remember the night for, as they should with political tunes as “These Days,” “Ignoreland,” “Houston,” and “Man-Sized Wreath” rocking through their memories.

The Biggest Wagon is the Empty Wagon

My second show for the tour came five days later on the far outskirts of Washington, D.C. at Merriweather Post Pavilion. While driving there from Delaware County, Pennsylvania I had Fables of the Reconstruction (my favorite R.E.M. album) blasting its folk rock. I wondered if I might ever hear “Driver 8.” I was also thinking about recent setlists and was hoping for another chestnut I had never heard: “Little America.” Five hours or so later I was blessed with both songs as well as the only tour performances of “Finest Worksong” and “Pop Song 89” (with the latter getting one of the best responses of the night, at least in my section 20 rows from the stage). No performance aberrations occurred as the boys from Athens were in fine form on such songs as “(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville” (making its tour premiere) and the lovely “Until the Day is Done,” which put most fans in my area into their seats, as did the beginning of “Hollow Man.” Did they even attempt to listen to the new record? Not as hot or full of older material as their previous night’s show in Raleigh that I unfortunately could not see, they still gave a great performance, including the second and final performance of “Mr. Richards” on the tour (I am still puzzled as to why they refuse to play this and why they have retired “Accelerate”). As an added bonus, my digital photos were deemed to be of such high caliber that remhq posted some on their site here: http://remhq.com/news_story.php?id=795.My trek was already quite fruitful with no real break in sight due to the four other shows I was to attend, despite the protestations of my alter ego “train conductor.”

The Rain Came Down

Saturday, June 14 started out as a sunny day. With a friend in tow, I drove from Philadelphia to Jones Beach hoping for a clear summer evening to accompany the Jones Beach Amphitheatre. All was well (except for some dreadful Long Island traffic), especially since I got to hear my first soundcheck from outside the gates, which included “I’ve Been High,” “Leaving New York,” and “Living Well is the Best Revenge.” After a brief respite on the sand by the beach, we headed into the show (my friend was in one of the top sections while I was about 15 rows from the stage). The National and Modest Mouse were fairing well music-wise, but there was something a brewin’ in the skies; lightning was abound. Rain followed and as it picked up I went towards the concourse. This exit was accompanied by a thunderous boom and the announcement of a rain delay. Only later did I discover that the boom was a lightning strike that hit the theatre one section over from where my friend was seated. A little over an hour later, following a soaking trek to the car to get ponchos, the concert began, rather expectedly with a welcomed truncated cover of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” followed by their premiere song of moistness –“ So. Central Rain.” After this great opening Stipe stated that they considered singing “I’ll Take the Rain,” but chose not to due to its length. Despite this poor excuse, R.E.M. delivered, especially with the night’s highlight for me,“1,000,000,” which Stipe introduced by saying the song is from 1981(unfortunately there was nothing about doughnuts and grease in this version, unlike what is preserved in the famed recording of their 1983 Boston show). Following such gems as “Welcome to the Occupation” there was no true encore, as Stipe could be seen staring at the sky multiple times, waiting for a sign of more direct lightning; instead he asked the audience to pretend that they had left the stage and came back. No other chestnuts were offered during the evening, except for the now rarely played “End of the World,” which Stipe claimed to not have rehearsed despite near perfection on lyrics only flawed with forgetting where the song ends with his sudden lyric stoppage. A very memorable rain fest was made even more pointed by the standard, but still rocking encore playing of “Fall on Me” and its acid rain proclamations reminding those still in attendance of the dangers of what is pouring from above. Despite the troubles traversing the highway home (flooded underpasses and a closed bridge to New Jersey were among the obstacles) and my rain-soaked skin, my positive memories of yet another atypical R.E.M. concert (more on that later) will remain.

Suspicion Yourself

To finally see a full R.E.M. concert (after the wonderful Vote for Change show in Philadelphia) in the close vicinity of what has been my home since 2004 (Philadelphia suburbs) at the Mann Center on Wednesday, June 18, was quite a treat. This is the area that saw my passion for R.E.M. rekindled with Around the Sun and the tour of 2004-2005. I made sure to arrive early for the possibility to hear the sound check and, to my disbelief, as I approached the gates I heard the rhythms and lyrics of “Staring Down the Barrel of the Middle Distance.” A song of such a rare vintage – never before performed in North America – indicated that I would be in for a great show. And, after a little rain and the finishing of the opening sets, complete with Modest Mouse fans exiting the gates after their set, unaware of the foolishness of not staying around, R.E.M. finally took the stage three rows from me. After a standard opening three songs, the chords to my second favorite song were calling out to me and I was overjoyed beyond belief; it was “Wolves, Lower.” Sounding as fresh as any of their new material (and even still before its time) I drank up the furry tune with furious glee, even high-fiving a fan in front of me that I did not even know. After this wow, two songs later came another unexpected treat – “Turn You Inside Out,” which, at least to me, was still riding the fumes of “Wolves” that was to fuel them for the rest of the night. Then, following a strong version of a song I could go without hearing again – “ Imitation of Life,” “Middle Distance” landed in the ears of the crowd and they seemed to drink it up. “Find the River,” “Departure” (which was also played during sound check), and the always appreciated “Life and How to Live It” were the other highlights of the pre-encore. Though, as the band ripped through “I’m Gonna DJ” Stipe had the opportunity to walk around the pit’s wooden barrier, so as to get closer to the rest of the crowd. Then came one more surprise during the encore – Eddie Vedder joined the group for “Begin the Begin.” Complete with a trucker hat and glasses, Vedder fulfilled life’s rich demand, just as R.E.M. did during this spectacular show. And while Stipe kept the political speak to the bare minimum, he still recognized that Philadelphia is synonymous with freedom and boy did R.E.M. and the crowd share in the freedom of rocking.

Leaving Was Never My Proud

The next day involved another trek to New York, this time tithe famed Madison Square Garden. This was not to be my first experience with R.E.M. at the garden. Following my own disappointment with the 2004 election, I drove with a friend to see R.E.M. on Thursday, November 4, 2004. It certainly was a cathartic experience, complete with an “End of the World” beginning followed aptly by “ Begin the Begin.” A great show and memory indeed, but could theirs old out visit here three and a half years later be better? Despite Stipe’s criticism of that show of four years ago during the encore of their June 19thconcert, no, 2008 could not stand up to 2004. There was the inclusion of “Disturbance at the Heron House” and a spirited “Harborcoat,” as well as the expected but welcome tour premiere of “Leaving New York.” But there was no air of rarity as there was in 2004, with the audible boos uttered when Stipe introduced “Cuyahoga” as a song that “takes place in Ohio” and the bizarre dropping of Stipe’s pants during “Man on the Moon.” With the same encore as the night before in Philly (sans Vedder), the 2008 MSG appearance almost was a disappointment. Thankfully it was held afloat by a blazing three song set of “Rockville,” “Driver 8,” and “Harborcoat;” one might have wondered if it was really 2008 or 1985 with such an unexpected string of songs (figuratively blazing of course, since I witnessed a literal car inferno on the New Jersey Turnpike on my way to MSG).

Take This Nickel Make a Dime

Following the penultimate show of this tour in New York I boarded a plane to see their final show in Atlanta on June 21. Departing a day early, I was both excited and nervous; excited due to finally making a trip to their home of Georgia; nervous due to a shaky past with far travel to see R.E.M. (in 2005 I ventured to London to see their last three shows of the tour, only to arrive the day of the horrifying terrorist bombings and be understandably denied the chance to see the Hyde Park show due to its postponement). There was certainly no cause for concern, though. The trip was a truly wonderful experience, with an especially great meal at the Taco Stand in Athens followed by dessert from The Grit on Friday and a true day of REM on Saturday including waiting outside Lakewood Amphitheatre from 9 am onwards (due to my general insanity and my general admission PIT ticket; and though I did have a spot front and center in the PIT, I am greatly displeased with how many fans that should have been in that same space were shuffled off elsewhere). I met some wonderful people outside and inside the venue and we were treated to a great show. Though the sound check revealed its coming (and also showed off Stipe’s rapping abilities as he rapped some lines of “Living Well” at the end of that song’s sound check), “Time After Time” was certainly the highlight for me, being one of the most heartfelt songs in their whole catalog. Furthermore, I finally heard “Auctioneer (Another Engine)” and its obscure hopes for capitalistic success (or something like it) in its full rocking glory. Stipe, Mills, and Buck were on fire (not to mention McCaughey and Rieflin), having fun (especially enjoying the crowd cell phone phosphorescence during “Electrolite”), playing one more tour premiere – “Nightswimming,” and even breathing much needed life into lesser songs (in my own opinion) like “I’ve Been High.” After being treated to four songs from Reckoning, two songs from Fables, and a sighting of Bill Berry behind the stage (alas he did not play on stage….), the show closed as nearly all R.E.M. shows have since2004, with a song about the power of truth and imagination – “Man on the Moon.” It is this same truth and creativity that Stipe and Co. believe (as expressed earlier in the show to a rousing applause) will propel Barack Obama into office. The air was sizzling with promise and great rock and roll that night, an evening that will not soon be forgotten by myself or the rest of the attendees.

Six shows, six cities, five states, two weeks, 20 songs I had never heard live before, a ton of other great songs played, and a host of great memories make up the mix tape of the 2008 R.E.M. North American tour (leg one perhaps?) for me. In reflecting on common threads of the tour, beyond “Ignoreland” and Reckoning as themes for the tour, the shows also proved to be an outright dismissal of Around the Sun. Accompanying the many quotes from band members that Around the Sun did not end up as the album they wanted it to be, they only played two songs from that album on tour – “Final Straw” and “Leaving New York” – and they played them quite infrequently (the latter only once). That great, underrated pastoral and politically charged album may forever be buried by the band and many fans. Is this unfortunate? Yes it is, but R.E.M. has moved on in a different and quite exciting direction, as Accelerate the album proved and this tour showed. Just as Stipe himself is unadorned with makeup on stage and does not do the stripping of clothes that seemed to be so much him in recent years, R.E.M. is proving that, as the “DJ” says, they are not “going to go until (they) are good and ready.” As a fan and general appreciator of great music, I think I can speak for many by being happy with this sentiment and hoping that they will not be disappearing from venues and our aural memories for a long time to come.

To see my pictures from this tour, go to myflickr R.E.M. page here: http://flickr.com/photos/countfeed/collections/72157605812810467/