Greatest R.E.M Live Performances

I still have the VHS.

 

I love the '84 Seattle show, but a few months later they were dropping "Moon River" into the set along with extremely odd covers for the time (hell, even now) like "In The Year 2525" and Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors". Those 3 songs blew my mind at the October '84 show I saw in Carbondale.

 

Easy...... "Homecomeing" free outdoor concert in Athens GA late spring 1985.

I saw REM several times back in the day, starting in winter 81-82 in NYC. Then going to college in Atl they were THE band to have at frat parties until college radio picked up on Radio Free Europe and they began to tour outside of GA and the Carolinas.

In late spring 1985 we heard a rumor that REM wanted to do a free concert. Then a few hours later I had confirmation from a fraternity brother in our UGA chapter. 30 min later we had filled a few coolers and were speeding towards Athens. We hooked up with our friends and staked out some space in an open field adjacent to the UGA campus, along with about 5k other people. Concert started abt 9:30. EVERYONE is standing, dancing, swaying and drinking along with the band. Beverages and commodities are passed among the crowd and back and forth with the band. REM is happy to be home and we are happy to see our band ! Until 11pm. The Police show up and cut the power and tell everyone to leave immediately. We thought a riot would erupt, but everyone complied and left fairly quickly. Rumor has it that this show was the motivation for a city wide ban on outdoor concerts in Athens GA.

 

We Walk with Behind Closed Doors is killer.

 

That is about what they played in Athens a month earlier. 30yrs later it is still difficult to communicate what a GREAT show I saw !

 

This isn't live in the same way as the other songs, but it is still a very fun listen:

 

What do you think was the best live performance of 'What's The Frequency, Kenneth'?

 

I have always found this performance to be truly beautiful, the definitive version of this song IMO:

 

I love this version of 'Let Me In', and enjoy the interview segments, although I wish that I could find a version of this performance without them:

 

I found this combo meal to be most entertaining and unique but --- truth be told --- Stipe's usual, comedic rendition of "Behind Closed Doors" just about killed the beauty of "We Walk."


Obviously, the near-parody of the music was intentional and simply another indication of R.E.M.'s brilliance.

 

A Mountain Stage show from 1991 (?) is coming in this box set:

R.E.M. / Out of Time / 25th anniversary deluxe edition to be issued in Nov | superdeluxeedition »

 

I am very excited to hear it!

 

I just watched the dnc George Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony this morning on YouTube (they were inducted last year) and it was great to see Peter Buck induct and play with them.

 

The recent announcement of Out of Time's 25th Anniversary re-re-release dashed my hopes for the secret Borderline shows to be included. My own audio recording of the show is pretty dire quality. Since one or two songs officially released on Out of Time-era singles I'm sure there are soundboard-quality recordings out there. Maybe someday (or someday soon if any members can PM me a pointer!).

In the meantime, it the news led me to YouTube where I giddily discovered audience video of portions from one of the shows. Even though the performances are similar to the Unplugged show from that year, the band is much looser and seem to be enjoying themselves more.

Bingo Hand Job (video part 1)
Bingo Hand Job (video part 2)
Bingo Hand Job (video part 3)

The most personally important song from that set was their cover of John Prine's "Hello in There." I was already familiar with the song but their performance pushed my musical interest further in that direction. While I still haven't heard that in even good quality, thanks (again) to YouTube I discovered another performance of the song. Both versions feature Billy Bragg but this one adds Natalie Merchant (who also recorded the song as a b-side for 10,000 Maniacs' "You Happy Puppet.")

 

I really like the Saturday Night Live performances of Kenneth and Bang and Blame.

Unfortunately, I can't find it online. Here is Kenneth from a show I attended:

 

Great! Thanks for posting. I will try and find the two performances that you mention.

 

Rocking the socks off!

 

I went to this show in Dallas. Actually, this one and the night after at the Starplex with Radiohead opening both nights. Michael was still recovering somewhat from his hernia surgery at the time I think. He wasn't moving a whole lot at these shows, but he was very chatty (as usual) both nights. More so the second night at the Starplex where we were treated to Wichita Lineman. Anyway, my poor wife was left at home to videotape the MTV performance (I think it was the first 4 songs...eh, is that on REMTV? hmmm) so it was cool to come home after the shows to see part of one I was at a couple nights before. This was 1995 after all...

 

Those late '84 shows are my favorites - Stipe was twisted! I've got a few of the English dates, the commonly mislabeled "Philly" show (it's actually Tampa or somewhere in FL), Duke University, New Haven, and either Belfast or Dublin and they are all weird in their own way.

I've been searching for their UMass-Amherst show from Oct. '84 for a quarter of a century.

 

That performance is so tight it is absolutely insane.

And just one guitar and a bass with drums making all that sound at that speed? Ridiculous.

 

@GoldRichards[/USER You got it!
R.E.M. - What's the Frequency, Kenneth? [Live 1994] [Pro-Shot] »

 

REM! What a great performing band and what an understated showman is Stipe! Only got to see them once - with 20,000 at Great Woods in Mansfield, Massachusetts - and Stipe made everyone think he's was performing just for them. He had excellent rapport with the audience. I very much missed Bill Berry, however.

 

Those three songs that were broadcast by MTV are definitely on REMTV!