First order of delayed business is catching up with a set of shamefully old concert shots. You saw Modest Mouse pics a while back, and now here's R.E.M., who headlined that same show back in June.
I'll admit, despite being a fan of R.E.M.'s from the band's earliest days when I met and interviewed them for a story as "Murmur" was launched, I've had issues with the past few releases and was fairly bored by the concert I saw during the "Around the Sun" tour. Hubby has remained more (blindly?) loyal, but I needed to be re-convinced that the band still had its power, and its sense of humor. (Michael Stipe, dear boy as he is, had been coming across a bit stridently of late.)
Anyway, from the first moments in the photo pit, where I spotted the dinosaur display along the top of Peter Buck's amplifiers, I felt that things were looking up...
The band was in fine form and good humor, Master Stipe exuding just the right mix of Shiny Happy People-ness and rage against the political machine. When he's on - and without that distracting blue facepaint - he's still one of rock's most charismatic showmen.
The group tore threw a well-paced set list (I got a copy from the road manager!) of new tracks from the "Accelerate" CD, which has revived their reputation for hard-driving alt. rock, along with classics from the past.
Grace, who had come along mostly to see Modest Mouse, grew a little restless toward the end. Given my previously stated apprehensions about the last R.E.M. show I'd seen, I made the mistake of saying I might be willing to leave early. But I was swept up in the band's momentum, grateful to feel a rekindling of my admiration/affection for the guys, and we stayed until the end.
R.E.M.. welcome back. All is forgiven.
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