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Home > Atlanta Music Scene > Archives > 2008 > March > 13 > Entry
R.E.M. in Austin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Despite some gray and missing hair, R.E.M. looks young and hungry again. At a packed South by Southwest Music Fest show at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q in Austin Wednesday night, the guys proved that they still have a fire in their bellies.
Just before R.E.M., fellow Athenians Dead Confederate delivered another stunning set, their second of the day. They’re looking better every time. Frontman Hardy Morris, a rail-thin apparition whose face is frequently obscured by a curtain of hair, cuts through the thick bramble of guitars and keyboard with a powerful wail. The band rumbles like a rhythmic avalanche behind him. Someone behind me mumbled that they sounded like “Nirvana from the South.” Perhaps, but there’s so much more to it than that.
As Dead Confederate neared the end of their set, Morris joked to the crowd, “There’s another band after us, so don’t leave.”
Not a chance.
With little flash, but a huge roar from the crowd, R.E.M. took the stage after midnight.
The band’s upcoming album, “Accelerate,” took up a large portion of the set, but that didn’t seem to bother the partisans in the crowd. They greeted the new tracks with enthusiasm, though the biggest ovations were saved for old favorites and a few lesser known gems.
Early in the set, frontman Michael Stipe defused any possible disappointment among the crowd regarding the preponderance of new material. “If you don’t like one, go take a [bathroom] break or get yourself a beer,” he said with a grin. Stipe smiled through much of the show, and the whole band seemed in a playful, celebratory mood.
The new songs sound as strong on stage as they do on the upbeat “Accelerate” (being released April 1), but it was the memorable back catalog that really thrilled. On “Fall On Me,” the crowd lifted its arms up to the sky as instructed, and the chills that ran up our spines weren’t from the night wind that blew through the outdoor space.
We got stellar takes on “Drive,” “Man on the Moon,” “The Great Beyond” and, most surprising, “Auctioneer” and “Second Guessing.”
And was that an endorsement from the socially and politically active Stipe? “I know that Austin came out strong for Barack Obama, and I want to salute you for that,” he said.
But the music made the biggest statement, and on that front, R.E.M. looks ready to conquer the world again. Check out photos from the performance here.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By MrMann
March 13, 2008 9:29 AM | Link to this
Thank you Shane. Great job.
By TK
March 13, 2008 9:30 AM | Link to this
Fantastic - I would have given anything to be there…I am counting down the days until April 1st.
By Mark
March 13, 2008 9:53 AM | Link to this
REM simply sux. Stipe is an ignorant tree hugging pillow biter, and his “music” reflects that.
By Mark
March 13, 2008 10:53 AM | Link to this
““I know that Austin came out strong for Barack Obama, and I want to salute you for that,” he said.”
What an idiot. doesn’t he realize that blacks are voting for Obama simply because he’s black? Ask any street black about any political agenda, then look at their faces. They don’t know what’s going on in this country, but are voting for the black man.
By Todd
March 13, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this
Mark….spend more time on the Fox News website and supporting our dictator and less time slamming someone who could care less about you and your ideas!! Cheers Stipe!!
See you in NYC June 19th.
By Reality
March 13, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this
I think should keep his uneducated opinion to himself. He has always been ignorant to the ways of the world but pretends to know what’s going on. He is just a pathetic putz and should do what he does best ….. Get back into the closet with your buddies ……
By Reality
March 13, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this
I think Stipe should keep his uneducated opinion to himself. He has always been ignorant to the ways of the world but pretends to know what’s going on. He is just a pathetic putz and should do what he does best ….. Get back into the closet with your buddies ……
By brock
March 13, 2008 12:23 PM | Link to this
Shane, nice duty there! I would have loved to have heard 2d Guessing. Enjoy the fest.
By Brain
March 13, 2008 12:26 PM | Link to this
Todd, Dictator? Bush? Last time I checked he was elected by the largest group of voters in the history of America. You are the one who is ignorant. Go back to NY and leave Atlanta alone. Moron.
By U2
March 13, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this
REM. Wow, forgot they even existed. Stipe looks like an Ethiopian.
By Check
March 13, 2008 1:09 PM | Link to this
Wow. You really are a d**, Reality. He has never been in the closet and clearly from your comments, he knows a hell of a lot more about the “ways of the world” than you.
By Check
March 13, 2008 1:14 PM | Link to this
Wow. You really are a dumb*, Reality. He has never been in the closet and clearly from your comments, he knows a hell of a lot more about the “ways of the world” than you.
By Check
March 13, 2008 1:14 PM | Link to this
Wow. You really are a dumb*, Reality. He has never been in the closet and clearly from your comments, he knows a hell of a lot more about the “ways of the world” than you.
By Reid in EAV
March 13, 2008 4:17 PM | Link to this
Another glorious day for the unmoderated AJC blog comment sections…
By Milla
March 13, 2008 6:17 PM | Link to this
To the uneducated, narrow minded, sad people who have nothing better to do with their time than to talk bad about everyone else: Write something helpful, useful, something interesting to read. Look in the mirror, usually when people are cruel, they are hiding what they truly think of themselves.
By peewee
March 16, 2008 4:21 PM | Link to this
for those of you who don’t know, stipe’s father is a decorated vietnam veteran. 3 tours as a helicopter pilot and retired as a lt. colonel.
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March 30, 2008 3:46 AM | Link to this
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March 30, 2008 3:46 AM | Link to this
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By Harborcoat
March 31, 2008 2:39 PM | Link to this
It’s nice to hear REM rocking again, but until Stipey returns to his impressionistic mumbling, it’s gonna be a tough listen for me. This Michael’s only a couple of steps closer to reality than Michael Jackson is.
By b.o.o.h.o.o.
April 1, 2008 11:29 AM | Link to this
Thanks, Shane. I was just thinking how “Fall on Me” is one of my favorites (brilliant video) and that I would like to hear it live. Your chills passed on to me. Here’s hoping they make it to Athens this time around, and that I am there!