Concert Review: R.E.M.
Last night was possibly my most anticipated concert in years - R.E.M. in Mansfield. My expectations had been running a little higher than I usually allow myself, having kept up with setlists like crazy and getting ridiculously excited at some of the songs that have been showing up in the sets as to this point.
First, an interesting side note - The Tweeter Center, which is formerly Great Woods, is now the Comcast Center. Makes sense on one level, since I think Tweeter is dying out, but this change happened very quickly, and I’m rather surprised to have seen it happen so fast where the tickets and merchandise didn’t even reflect the new venue name. Then again, if I were ever a touring musician, I’d likely put “Great Woods” on my shirts just to be a pain, so who am I to talk?
It’s good to know that after all these years, nothing has changed about the venue - if you get there early enough, you get to park up front and leave within 5 minutes of getting to your car, or you’re stuck there until 12:30. The end result made me very happy that we got there around 5, as we were in one of the first lots to leave, but it also gave us time to settle in a bit. Out seats were much closer than I anticipated, although still pretty far off - second covered section, roughly 40 rows back. Close enough to see everything without needing monitors (not that they would have been especially helpful) but far enough where if you just watched the stage, you could see everything.
First band was The National. I feel like the only indie nerd who isn’t into the National at this point, but they were good as long as they were rocking. I think I knew 3 songs going in, only half-recognizing one they played, but the ones I didn’t know where harder, faster songs and thus better. They have a pretty dedicated core group of fans, a number who were VERY into it. Not too shabby, although 45 minutes was a bit much.
Second up, Modest Mouse. I’ve seen them once before, back in 2002 or 2003, and they were one of the bigger disappointments, with the not playing anything I knew and generally sounding kind of crappy. This is a radically different Modest Mouse, who sound much tighter and play a wider range of material. They use two percussionists live, which is a quirk I’ve never completely understood, and I don’t feel it added anything, but regardless, it was a decent set with a lot of good stuff going on. Johnny Marr mixes right in with the rest of the group, which I suppose is a good thing even though you’d probably expect otherwise, and yeah. Interestingly, no “Gravity Rides Everything” or “Float On,” which I figured were givens considering the opening slot and all.
Finally, R.E.M. Went on around 9, played two straight hours, were at possibly the best musical form I’ve seen them in. Stipe was rather subdued in comparison to his usual antics, although his deciding to do the robot during “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth” was a new one. The new songs from Accelerate all sound awesome live, and mixed in with older songs like “Get Up” and “Begin the Begin,” they completely fit in with the back catalog rather nicely in a way I didn’t notice from the album versions. The single best part, however, was the setlist. For those not following along with every single setlist coming down the pike, they’ve been mixing it up considerably this tour, with more older, rarely-played-in-the-last-20-years songs than I think any R.E.M. fan could expect. It seems as if they pulled out the stops quite a bit for the Boston-area crowd - they ditched general Accelerate staples like “Mr. Richards” and “Until the Day is Done,” and just piled on the old stuff: “Circus Envy” four songs in (and, one of four songs I was dying to hear live), “West of the Fields,” “Cuyahoga,” “Driver 8,” “Maps and Legends” (a first for this tour), “Get Up,” “Departure,” “I’ve Been High,” and, as an added bonus after people booed when Stipe said “last song,” they pulled out “Pretty Persuasion,” another song I’ve been waiting on for a very, very long time. I’m still a little wired from the show, but I really think this rivals the 1999 setlist (which had “Wolves, Lower,” “Radio Free Europe,” and “Crush With Eyeliner” among others) in terms of the quality of stuff played. I mean, of 28 songs played, 11 of them came out of the 1980s, which is pretty awesome. A quick, quick two hours without a single poor song choice among them, IMO. Absolutely incredible.
Other odd/interesting notes:
* The drunk guy behind me who apparently had an intense personal sexual experience during at least 3 songs, including his orgasmic reaction to, of all things, “I’ve Been High.”
* The angry lady to Ann’s left who was angry that everyone was standing during R.E.M., and they left after maybe 6 or 7 songs. Ann claims she can’t possibly quantify how angry she was about the standing.
* The number of kids with their parents, which was fun. We had a father/son combo in front - the kid said Modest Mouse was his favorite band, and the dad was clearly into R.E.M., and I’d be pretty convinced that there was a lot of that going on.
* In one of those “what the hell were they thinking” moments, the Comcast Center now has a “send a text message to get it displayed on the monitors” feature. Unmonitored/unmoderated, of course, so there was a battle between the “Hail Satan” types, the “I’m going to pimp my Myspace” people, the “4 chan is here” group (who, not surprisingly, had some of the best lines) and the general “Derek likes it in the bum” and other racist/sexist/X-ist vulgarities. The best text of the night, though? Paraphrasing, “Isaac Brock eats babies in a dark ritual before every show.” Funny ’cause it’s entirely believable.
* Ann came with me. It was her first R.E.M. show, and quite possibly the largest concert she’s been to. I’m glad I was able to bring my wife to an R.E.M. show considering what the band has meant to me over the years, and she really enjoyed herself and saw an absolutely incredible performance. So I must say, a very good time.
They have 4 more shows on this tour. There are great seats available at Jones Beach this weekend if you’re in New York/New Jersey. Go. Do it.