Before the main act, a quick word about the supports. First up, from San Francisco, California, Oranger. This 4-piece
(guitar/bass/drums/keys) arrived onstage and launched into 7 slices of prime West Coast psychedelic pop, including 'The Bluest Glass', 'Shut Up The Sun' and 'Four Leafed Clover'. The guitarists traded sweet harmonies, while the keyboardist pogoed around like a mad man, and the drummer did his best to stake his claim as the latest in a line of drummers to take Keith Moon and Animal from the Muppets as their main influences. The Thrills only wish they
were this good.
As the icing on the cake, 3 members of The Minus 5 (Messrs. Buck, Stringfellow and McCaughey) were invited out to romp through a
Monkees' tune to triumphantly finish a very well received set. Michael Stipe dedicated "It's The End Of The World As We Know It." to Oranger at the close, and well deserved it was too
Then came STARSAILOR. 10 cuts (about 9 too many) of plodding
indie-rock, despite James' claim that they "took a year out and learned to funk" after "Four To The Floor". Fair play to the guy for trying some soul saviour mic wielding vocals every now and again, and certainly some sections of the crowd lapped it up,
with "Alcoholic", "Fever" and "Good Souls" all present and correct. This reviewer however remained unimpressed, and feels
the last word should be left to Mr. Stipe on this occasion. "This one goes out to Starsailor" preceded a suitably venomous "The One I Love". 'Nuff said.
Still, if you do have to sit through Starsailor, few bands are likelier to lift your spirits by showing you how it's supposed to be
done that R.E.M. "It", in this case, means Rock 'n' Roll. Peter, Mike, and a cowboy hatted, shades wearing Michael arrived, with Scott McCaughey, Ken Stringfellow and Bill Rieflin taking their stations, and launched into the euphoric call to arms of 'Begin The Begin' from 1986's "Lifes Rich Pageant", and no one could doubt that they were in the presence of true masters. Michael spent half the song on his knees declaiming the vocal into a toppled mic stand, while his band mates whipped up a storm and appeared to be having
a ball in the process.
Without giving anyone a chance to catch their breath 'Get Up' and 'So Fast So Numb' followed, from "Green" and "New Adventures In Hi-Fi" respectively. Pure pop followed by vengeful driving rock, both songs were lifted by the harmonies of Mike, Ken and Scott, who traded vocals with Michael on the "Dreams they complicate/compliment my life" refrain of the former.
The master class in rock show dynamics continued with 'Drive', led by Peter's distinctive acoustic riff straight off the top of "Automatic For The People", relaxing the pace but not the intensity. Ken's melodica line added texture and demonstrated this 6 piece's capability for subtle arrangement as well as broad washes of the afore-mentioned mass euphoria inducing Rock. Of course to remind us that they're still capable of bashing that out too, the
first new track of the evening, 'Animal' comes next. Peter hits a
vaguely psychedelic sounding distorted arpeggio, Mike kicks off a vocal to underpin the lead, and Michael sings about "vibrating at the speed of light". Personally, I can't wait to hear it again on record.
This is followed by the one of the more recent additions to R.E.M.'s repertoire of crowd pleasing anthems, and the second to be inspired by Andy Kaufman, 'The Great Beyond'. Live it sounds a lot like one of the rockier tracks of "Up", and the guys clearly relish knocking it out.
The tempo slows once more for the first of the evening's special requests, 'Strange Currencies' (inspired by Michael Hutchence so
Michael informs us), another crowd sing-a-long, brought to a close by Peter running to the front apron of the stage and making a show of delivering the signature 5- note close. In fact here is one member of R.E.M. who spends the best part of the gig putting on a show, be it scissor-kicking or spinning himself into a tangle, or blindfolding an unsuspecting Mike with a woolly hat delivered from the audience, or donning Michael's cowboy hat at various
occasions. And playing "Smoke On The Water" when the crowd starts chanting "Olé Olé Olé". Mike, not to be outdone, dances around lots with Michael or Scott or whoever happens to be around, whips up a chant of "Mike Mike Mike!" when Peter gets the same, and co-ordinates a grand bass and drum crash finale with Bill at the end of pretty much every song. Like I said, they seem to be having a ball.
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Of course Michael remains the front man, engaging in monologues about rugby players "uniforms" (he likes them), Jack White (he hasn't been inspired to write a song about him yet), encouraging us to populate the world with his children using dna from a discarded water cup, and finally succeeding in obtaining a Guinness from the rider, as well as removing various layers of clothing over the course of the show, and reprising several dance moves dating back to the infamous 'Shiny Happy People' video (and before no doubt) during 'Bad Day'.
This was the third "new" song of the evening (it actually dates back to pre-"Document" times) and lead single off the forthcoming Best
Of apparently, and a fine anthemic addition to the catalogue it is too, a definite personal highlight. It was preceded by 'Final Straw', a sort of 'Masters Of War' for the 21st century released on the band's website during the Gulf conflict, which doesn't quite work in this live setting, a bit too meandering with tricksy rhythm changes.
However, 'Bad Day' (complete with Michael's wailing harp solo) goes down a treat, to be followed by a return to 1989's "Green" for 'Orange Crush', a megaphone assisted sonic assault with a 15,000 person "1 2 3 4!" chorus. My favourite Michael vocal of the evening happens on a sweetly uplifting and apt 'Fall On Me' a gentle downpour having commenced at this point. And then " this is your song, we're happy to cover it" precedes the tune which gives
Peter Buck the opportunity to be one of the world's few shape throwing mandolinists, 'Losing My Religion' of course. Best harmonies of the night go to Mike and Scott's falsetto chorus on 'Imitation Of Life', a song which really comes to life in a guitar driven live setting, in fact it actually rocks.
Peter's most protracted guitar solo follows on 'She Just Wants To
Be', another "Reveal" cut, written on the train from Cork to Dublin we're told. A heavy breathing Michael segues the end into a drone assisted, almost a capella, opening chorus of 'Walk Unafraid', from 1998's "Up". It was my second time seeing it in concert, and by now it's assured of its place as an R.E.M. live classic, as much as 'Man On The Moon', which brings the main set to a sing-a-long close.
Sure enough the lads return to lead the crowd through a still powerful 'Everybody Hurts', a song which, although it has suffered from radio over-play, retains the power to affect live. A visibly emotionally drained Michael then makes his aforementioned dedication to Starsailor and the band put everything behind a brutal 'The One I Love'.
Ken and Scott take a temporary break and the remaining 4 piece mercilessly attack the second request of the evening, apparently the first song R.E.M. played in Dublin in 1984. Yes, this reviewer's not quite believing ears decide themselves that 'Radio Free Europe' is calling, even if Mike and Michael are singing completely different things in the last verse. And then, perhaps inevitably, a palpable sense of "What? Over already?" accompanies the euphoria of seeing Mike. Michael and Peter, Ken, Scott and Bill thrash through many, many choruses of 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)'.
The only small gripe is that you wish they could have played another 5 or 10 songs from that awe-inspiring back catalogue. But it pales into insignificance next to the memory of 20 cuts (from 9 albums, 1 soundtrack, a Best Of. and the next album!) from quite possibly (still) the best band of their generation, and yes, I feel fine. Roll on the Best Of., the new album and the next tour!
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