R.E.M. rock their way back into my heart
If you're passionate about music, as I am, you tend to view time spent listening to a band as a sort of bizarre relationship, whether it be a casual flirtation or a full blown romance. Just so long as it doesn't turn into a case of stalking, all is fair.
I've been following R.E.M. for over two decades now, since the night I stumbled upon their first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman (when they played "South Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" before it even had a name). From that day on, I was hooked, slavishly devoted to the Georgian quartet's effortless melodies and Peter Buck's chiming, Byrd-ish guitar textures.
Hipster dick that I admittedly am, my pseudo-relationship with R.E.M. cooled off after they got called up to the majors in the 90s. Sure, they still had their moments of brilliance, like "Losing My Religion," but those moments had to share disc space with ill-advised tracks like "Radio Song" (and I like KRS-One), so I focused my attention elsewhere for a while.
Lately, R.E.M. and I have been crossing paths more often than usual, all starting with their recent appearance on my new favourite late night show, The Colbert Report. They're still on a major label, but for some reason they sound really good to my ears again. Maybe I've grown over the years (hopefully I'm also less of a dick).
Last night at the Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre, R.E.M. put on one impressive show to say the least. The newer stuff, most of which I'm not very familiar with, sounded fresh, and the older gems fit like a long lost glove. Michael Stipe, who would barely look at the camera back in the 80s has turned into one hell of a showman (his robo-dance in the middle of "Horse to Water" was definitely a treat).
I think I'll go dig out some of their old records now, get re-acquainted with their charms. I'm a born-again fan.
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So what's your relationship with R.E.M. been like over the years? If you saw the show last night, what were your favourite moments?
Related Links:
- More Photos
- R.E.M. on Letterman way back when
- R.E.M. on The Colbert Report in April
- Peter Buck's impressive display of dinosaurs
Photo by Steve Chatterton
Comments (16)
Was going to go to this just because the National and Modest Mouse were on the bill. How were they? Sorry, never been a fan of Stipe and Co., besides their early stuff.
Oh, I so sorely wish I could have gone. I saw them at the ACC in '04 (?) and it was a decent show though nothing mind-blowing; the new album is fairly good though so I was really hoping to get out to see them this time. No luck.I've been with R.E.M. since shortly after they sold out (Out of Time was my first of their album, when I was in high school) and I stuck with 'em through Up, but Reveal and Around the Sun left me pretty cold. Still, high school fondness is a precious thing so I'll still jot them down when asked for "favourite band" in an online survey.
I went to the concert just because The national and Modest mouse. I've never been a big fan of REM, but wow.. they surprised me, the visuals the had were just amazing, and the energy of Stipe and the other band members was incredible, i'm very happy about the show. Also a nice couple give us two tickets almost front row (we were in the grass). Thanks nice couple :D
I saw REM when they played the free show at Yonge and Dundas in 2001, with about 20,000 other people - I was about five rows from the front. It also rained then, but the crowd didn't mind too much. :)
I've been a fan since Murmer back in 1983; first live show was with a few hundred other folk at the Commodore Ballroom (Vancouver's best venue) around then and they've always been great live; their recorded output seemed to lose focus when Bill Berry (Former drummer) in 97 but their live shows were still worth seeing. With the new CD they seem to be re-energized and Peter Buck's guitars have come back to the forefront where they belong and the addition of Scott McCoughey as a more or less full time member has really helped.The show was great; Stipe was happy and playful; the rest of the band was really into it as well, leaping and jumping and enjoying themselves. Johnny Marr (ex-Smiths guitarist now playing with Modest Mouse) joining them for a osng was pretty cool and the light show was amazing. Great to see them back in the groove.
One small quibble; you mention them being signed to a Major; but all of their IRS records were distributed by A&M which was for all intents and purposes a major label; just not quite as big as WEA.
I'll argue that label & distribution are as different as day and night until the cows come home. There's no way A&M would've signed them in the early days (though I bet they're kicking themselves now), but IRS saw their promise and made a substantial investment in their future. A&M just charged them to get their records into stores. Not the same thing at all.
I've long enjoyed REM, and made it a point to see their show a couple years ago in Chicago. It was a disappointment, or at least, not memorable. Part of me really wanted to see yesterday's show, the other part wondered if I'd just be wasting my money.Sounds like I should've gone.
@ stv;A&M at the time was artist owned and operated and worked extremely hard (in conjunction with IRS) to get their music onto playlists and into stores. There's a big difference between a basic Production and Distribution deal which is the kind of thing you're alluding to and the relationship A&M had with their artists and a very select few sublabels. When IRS sold themselves to MCA (later absorbed by Universal)it was a different story- MCA was run by the beancounters and their business decisions reflected that. Developing artists was not part of that equation at all; developing commodities was. Full disclosure; I worked in music retail; wholesale; and then the smallest of indie labels at the time so I do know the difference and would agree with you had it been practically any other label than A&M.
Last night's show was excellent, but their last T.O. show at the Hummingbird Centre was one of their best I've ever seen. Unfortunately not a lot of folks saw that one. Last night's show was a lot of fun, though, if you weren't in the rain on a lawn seat. And the opening bands were excellent.
@sniderscion: Thanks for clearing that up. I was unclear about the finer points of A&M's attitude towards artist development, and I must admit I made a bit of a presumptuous generalization. So are you saying they were a major with the heart of an indie?
stv;Sort of...down in the states they were actually distributed by a major themselves and were considered an indie; up here they had enough of an organization to go it alone. They were the smallest but they did really well with what they had. Eventually they got swallowed up when all the majors started cannibalizing themselves but I had escaped the business by then. Now it's all global megacorps that own whats left.
My first time seeing the band live - it was great fun!2 favorite moments...Let Me In - I know that people want to hear the band rock, and they want to hear the songs that they love from the records, but I LOVE seeing bands reinterpret songs live, and sort of wish there was a bit more of this creative rearrangement.When the rain stopped, and the rainbow appeared. This was probably only visible to the poor saps like me back in the lawn section, but it was pretty nice!Also, I found the opening acts kinda dull. I suspect this was due to being way back on the lawn. I think it takes a lot of experience to project enough stage presence to fill a large venue. Of course, R.E.M. also had the crazy video/light show on their side...
I'm back on the bandwagon, thanks in large part to last night's show. I fell out of touch with R.E.M. during their Up/Reveal/Around the Sun years but Accelerate has me loving their new songs and rediscovering all their old classics. I remember locking myself in my bedroom and growing up mumbling with Michael Stipe, and compared to those years, this was by far the most passionate, the most energetic, and the most polished I have seen the band. A great show from a class act.
This show was very special to me since I've been a fan of R.E.M. for many many years and this was my first time seeing them. I'm, like most fans, a die-hard for the IRS years and haven't really paid super close attention since Automatic, but I thought the show was spectacular. Feel free to go to my blog for all of my REM-blings.
No way!! How did I not even hear about them being in Toronto? I guess I need to watch more Toronto newscasts. I'm so pissed.
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