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R.E.M.: The Social Overlook Tour By Robert E. Martin Michael Stipe and Peter Buck of REM It's hard to believe that Rock 'n Roll is fifty years old - as a genre, in it's 'Golden Years'. With proliferation of Hip/Hop and RAP bands dominating the ears & minds of a younger generation, the relevance and significance of groups like R.E.M. becomes more apparent with the passage of time. People always talk about The Beatles, but their recording career lasted only seven short sweet years as a group. And while people often reference The Stones as an example of one vital rock band that has withstood the test of time, it dawned on me while waiting for R.E.M to take the Detroit stage on September 29th that Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, and Mike Mills have been creating riveting rock 'n roll 'classics' for over 20 years now - which must make them the Toynbee's of Baby Boomer Nu Wave. For their latest major concert tour the boys from Athens, GA pulled out all the stops. From the colorfully decorated stage lined with glittering die-cut streamers that carried a tapestry of images & self-portraits, to the novel manner in which each set-list was developed, R.E.M not only offered an 'overlook' at the landscape of their career, but proved to fans & critics alike that few bands exist nowadays that are capable of shakin' bodies & booties alive with such thunderous, intelligent, and memorable music.
About mid-set, Stipe turned to the crowd and said, "So, this is Detroit. Home of Madonna. You must be pretty proud." When the crowd gave back lukewarm applause, Stipe continued, "Well, you gotta admitŠit's cool on a certain level. How about Eminem? He's from Detroit and he's pretty cool." The crowd deferred rabid applause as this obviously wasn't a Gangsta Rap crowd. Again, Stipe replied, "Well, you gotta admitŠit's cool on a certain level." At which point he dedicated the next song to Patti Smith and got the joint rocking once again. Mainly, what R.E.M did throughout the night was perform as a significant musical band should perform. They did what they do best. It wasn't a mutant rock show but one filled with brainy, funny, poignant, lyrics and infectious firmly executed musical 'hooks'. In a lot of ways, in looking over the expanse of their career, R.E.M was 'the original alternative.' And even with their newer material they proved they can still dance on the cutting edge in the digital arena. To some extent R.E.M. will always be competing with their own legend. For older fans that date back to their early LP's, the group plays into our most precious indie-rock memories, not simply because the music is phenomenal but because their sound became so familiar. Peter Buck is aware of this situation. In a short phone interview he notes, "I talk to enough people who say the first three R.E.M. records changed their life. But then a lot of people feel the same way about our mid-period stuff. So we've been pretty lucky in that regard. We don't have just one album that everybody tends to focus on. It definitely matters to us that our work is still as good as it can be. At our age, we need to make good or great records. And I am guardedly optimistic that we rode out the heavy-metal idea of what alternative was supposed to be. It gives me hope when I hear bands like The White Stripes (also from Detroit) on the radio now, or The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It makes me feel not quite so out of touch." |
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