“A Brief Digression of Sorts,” or, “Brian Goes to Lollapalooza 2008!”

I know i have one more R.E.M. post left, but I’ve simply run out of time.  Tomorrow morning, I’m flying out to Chicago to see some old college roommates for the week.  The middle of the trip will be spent at lovely Grant Park at the Lollapalooza 2008 festival!  I would have written about this sooner, but it crept up on me.  Here’s what I had to say about it at Make Me Fries (coincidentally, Mike is coming to Lollapalooza as well!)

Lollapalooza is still in the surreal phase for me – it’s unreal that I’m flying out to Chicago tomorrow, seeing old friends I adore, and will be innundated with music this coming weekend.  I’m excited for the festival, but I’m also thrilled to be sharing it with friends too.

So until the middle of next week (I won’t be home long – New Pornographers and Grizzly Bear in Northampton next Thursday!), I’ll be on the road.  However, you can keep up with my exploits through the following:

• I’ll be Twittering like crazy; I recently got a new cell phone and upgraded to the unlimited messaging package.  Follow my Twitter updates on my page (and if you’re on Twitter, “follow me” too!)
• I’ll be taking pictures, both on my camera and on my cell phone.  I’m not planning on uploading any pictures from my camera, but I will be updating the cell phone pictures through Flickr, Twitter (via TwitPic), and perhaps even this blog too!
• There’s internet access around as well, so if something noteworthy happens, I’ll post a (brief) entry here as well.

Otherwise, I’ll be back next week!

R.E.M. Wrap-Up, Part 2 1/2: Media Update

As I slowly come around to posting about the R.E.M. shows (I still have to write about seeing Pearl Jam! AND I go to Lollapalooza this week!), I’ve been equally as slow posting my pictures and videos from the shows.  I have a couple awesome pictures from the 6/13 show and a few great videos from Philadelphia.

So far, I’ve uploaded two videos from the Mann Center show.  The first is of Eddie Vedder’s cameo during “Begin the Begin.”  I apologize for the annoying guy holding the camera who inadertently made it a trio.

And then this morning, I finally uploaded my video of “Staring Down the Barrel of the Middle Distance,” a song that the band debuted during the Dublin “Open Rehearsal” shows last summer but have not released officially.  Michael Stipe introduced it by telling the crowd that they were debuting the song “for the first time ever in an actual real setting with real people.”  Forgive the tilt halfway through as the people next to me tried to sneak out while I was recording.

R.E.M. Wrap-Up, Part 2: General Impressions

Part of the reason for the slow updates on these R.E.M. shows comes from a bit of overload; by seeing three shows in a week’s time (and with all the travel involved, free time being spent resting rather than blogging) it was hard to write about each show in complete isolation.  While each show had its own peculiarities and personally special moments, the three R.E.M. sets had a lot in common with each other.  So, I’ve decided to use this second post to cover a lot of the general thoughts and reactions to seeing the band at this point in time.  The third (and final) post will cover the events surrounding the shows that made each one unique and unforgettable.

The Accelerate tour was the third different tour (and the third, fourth, and fifth times individually) that I’ve seen R.E.M. live (I saw the band in the fall of 1999 and fall 2003 as well) and I’m confident enough to say that this was the best I’ve seen the band.  With no disrespect intended towards the previous touring outfits (and in particular, I wish Ken Stringfellow was still playing with the band), this version – Buck, Mills, Stipe, The Minus 5’s Scott McCaughey, and former Ministry drummer Bill Rieflin – tore through material both new and old; whether launching into “Living Well is the Best Revenge” or cracking out songs from 1982’s Chronic Town EP (I heard both “1,000,000″ and “Wolves, Lower”), the quintet performed each song as if it was the current single.  I understand why R.E.M. officially bills itself as a trio (out of respect to Bill Berry), but McCaughey and Rieflin contribute to the full sound.  On stage, McCaughey adeptly navigates every instrument in the roadcase – electric and acoustic guitars, harmonica, keys, backing vocals – ever the unsung utility player willing to fill any role the song requires while eschewing the spotlight.  Rieflin’s experience playing with the premiere names of 1990s industrial music (not a sentence most would imagine reading in a R.E.M. post, I realize) imbibes the Accelerate songs with the intensity that garnered all of the critical “comeback” buzz back in the spring.  In the live setting, Rieflin walks the fine line that all skilled drummers must navigate – he’s powerful without being overpowering, playing precise and defined enough for the large, open-air venues without sacrificing rhythmic nuance.  Similarly, while playing the old songs, Rieflin’s interpretation plays homage to Bill Berry’s often underrated drum parts; Rieflin clearly spent time with the R.E.M. back catalog and as a fan I appreciate that attention to detail.

Speaking of the new songs – the band leaned heavily on the strongest tracks on Accelerate.  “Living Well is the Best Revenge” came early in each show and set the tone, while the first single “Supernatural Superserious” opened the encore each night, serving as a “victory lap” of sorts by allowing the band’s finest single in years (along with “Imitation of Life” and “The Great Beyond,” perhaps even the best single since the Monster days) to set up the “home stretch.”  As expected, I found a new appreciation for a few of these songs by the end of the week – in particular, “Hollow Man” and “Man Sized Wreath” sound incredible live and received enthusiastic responses from the crowd.  Even “Houston,” a song that suffers from Accelerate’s highly compressed, in-your-face production aesthetic (seriously, who thought that awful siren-like organ was a good idea for such a fragile song) sounded better when the sound had space to expand.

The selection of material from Accelerate (everything but “Sing for the Submarine,” “Mr. Richards,” and “Until the Day is Done” (which would have been nice to hear) and the title track) mingled well with the selection of old songs.  I remember reading somewhere that Peter Buck wrote the setlists, so I will compliment his selection of pairing old and new songs together.  The best compliment I can pay to the sets is that nothing seemed out of place – rarities like Murmur’s “West of the Fields” and Green’s “Turn You Inside-Out” felt right with the usual suspects – “Losing My Religion,” “The One I Love,” “Man on the Moon,” etc.  Each show reached a sufficient balance between new songs, classics, and rarities.

Personally, I was floored by a couple “old” songs unearthed for this tour.  I’d seen youtube video of “Ignoreland” and “Let Me In,” but each night these songs became personal highlights.  “Ignoreland” meshes well with the tone (sonically and lyrically) of the new songs.  Even with a few weeks of watching one of my favorite songs played live for the first time fifteen years after its recording, it lived up to my expectations each night.  “Let Me In,” however, blew me away; I expected the band to trade instruments, huddle around the piano, and play the new quiet, acoustic arrangement.  I knew Stipe would turn his back to the audience and let his voice soar above the organ and guitar.  I did not predict my reaction of silent paralysis; it was like watching the train’s headlights swell as they moved closer yet unable to move off of the tracks.  While I spent a large amount of each night’s set singing, taking pictures, and giddily bouncing up and down on my toes, I stood jaw agape each night at Stipe’s vocal performance, wondering how he could intentionally put himself in the emotional place necessary to sing that song and still nail each and every moment.  The final night, I could see Stipe shiver a bit at the end of the song, breaking the trance he put himself into for the previous three minutes while also mimicking the spine-tingling response that many of us in the audience shared.

All week, I kept noticing how genuinely excited the band seemed to be to play these songs – whether it was Stipe’s repeated interactions with the crowd, the normally stoic Peter Buck cracking a smile every so often, or Mike Mills patrolling the outer reaches of the stage during times where he wasn’t providing harmonies – the band seemed far more excited to be together, playing music.  This might sound trivial or self-evident, but the audience knows when the band is simply going through the motions.  At this point in their careers, few would begrudge the band for being on auto-pilot and functioning as a touring museum piece (fill in your favorite aged classic rock band here).  However, for the first time in a long while, this seems like a band with more creative output left in the tank, a band willing to take chances without being afraid or ashamed of their back catalog.  I feel lucky to have seen this band at this point in time – it might not be the same as seeing them tear through the Reconstruction tour or the bombastic Monster tour, but R.E.M. in 2008 remains essential (even if they dwell outside the spotlight they once commanded) and inspirational.

Technorati Tags: r.e.m.,remmann,summer of brian,accelerate tour

R.E.M. Wrap-Up, Part 1: The Openers

(Yes, I realize that “later tonight before I go to bed” became “about a week and a half later.”  Some things will never change).

The plan all along wasn’t to go to three R.E.M. shows; back in April I was content to get tickets for the June 13th show in Massachusetts – it was only through the gentle prodding of my friends that I found myself, for all intents and purposes, following the band on tour for a week.  It was one of the best experiences (and I will elaborate on what I mean by that later) in ages.

But I’ll get personal next post.  First, let’s talk music.

The National opened all three shows with (just about) the same set and the same scenario – the crowd filtered in while the band played a setlist almost entirely populated by tunes from last year’s Boxer.  While more and more people seemed to be in the audience each night, most of the crowd missed out.  While their songs belong in smaller, darker venues, the band toed the line between faithfully replicating the (fantastic) arrangements on the album and breathing new life into the songs.  I’ve yet to see the band in what I will call their “natural habitat” (think Bowery Ballroom, etc) but I was transfixed by how good these songs sounded live.  Beginning with “Start a War,” Matt Berninger’s rich voice filled the empty amphitheatres, but it was the rest of the band, including violin, bassoon, bass trombone, and trumpet, that brought these songs alive.

In particular, the closing trio of “Apartment Story,” “Fake Empire,” and “Mr. November” excelled over all the rest (at best, the venue was half full by this point, so at least the late comers heard the best parts of the set).  “Apartment Story” featured a sparcer arrangement building to the full band rather than starting off at full-speed.  “Fake Empire,” the first track on Boxer, seems natural at this point in the set; the horn section returned and made their presence known in the outro.  By this point, most of the apathetic heads in the audience turned towards the stage and were greeted with Alligator’s closing track “Mr. November.”

I don’t remember where I read it, but whoever it was said that those who haven’t seen The National live will be won over when the band closes with their familiar set-ender.  While the Boxer songs that preceeded it aren’t exactly “light,” their strengths lie in the subtle nuiances that unfold through repeated listens (read: this isn’t arena rock).  However, “Mr. November” barrels through with quick snare rolls (drummer Bryan Devendorf is the band’s secret weapon) and ringing arpeggios.  Even Berninger finds himself possessed by the music – his two-handed, slanted grip on the microphone and stand become bent over screams that seemingly eminate from the deepest part of Berninger’s body, painfully exiting through his mouth into his microphone.  It’s the best kind of set-closer – one that leaves jaws agape and the ears wanted more.

The crowds for Modest Mouse were universally larger and louder; I’d later find that Modest Mouse was almost as much of a draw as R.E.M. was.  I shouldn’t be as surprised at this as I was – their fans worship their albums, delving into his lyrics like a modern-day Wordsworth (or, perhaps more appropriately, Baudellaire).  I’ve been at best a casual Modest Mouse fan – every time I find myself enamored with a few songs, I find others that turn me off just as quickly.  That being said, the current live incarnation of Modest Mouse is a must-see – banjo, two drummers, and series of instrumental trade-offs among the front four musicians give each song the odd quirks that fit Brock’s dark poetry.

Brock himself is an intense frontman; at various points he reaches Henry Rollins levels of intensity that made me ask whether a paramedic was on-call just in case he passes out.  He made the best use of his toys as well, playing the banjo and guitar with equal aggression, making frequent use of his second, distorted microphone for an alternate vocal effect, and even barking into his guitar pickups (which I’m not entirely sure how that works – he must have a different type of pickup installed because I certainly can’t scream into my guitar and have it come through the amplifier).

While Brock commands attention amidst the controlled chaos his band produces, he’s happy to share the spotlight (to a degree) with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.  Marr stands at the front of the stage opposite Brock, silently given twin billing despite blending right in with the rest of the band.  Aside from the occasional backing vocal and a turn behind a tiny electric piano during “The Good Times are Killing Me,” Marr seems perfectly content to play his guitar with little fanfare.

The song selection fit the band well; aside from We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank’s “Dashboard,” the setlists leaned on new songs and older, louder songs (read: no “Float On,” no “Third Planet” or “Gravity Rides Everything” from Moon & Antarctica).  However, these songs killed with the diehards – each night people lost their minds when “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” and “Do the Cockroach” began, even with some brave souls dancing and singing along as the rest of R.E.M.’s crowd poured into the venue.  Those that came early were rewarded with two excellent (yet very different – I can’t imagine seeing The National and Modest Mouse touring together in the future) sets.  It says a lot about R.E.M. that they would bring two capable openers on tour with them, let alone a band with a cult following and stage presence that could undermine a lesser band.

While The National and Modest Mouse set the bar high, R.E.M. surpassed these expectations each night.  That’s for the next post, though.

First, an explanation

So I kept promising recaps of each of the shows that I went to this past month without realizing the physical and emotional toll that traveling to various points in the northeast would take on this blogger.  Sure, I was able to write about some of the R.E.M. shows in my notebook, but when I was home, I wasn’t ready to put what I experienced into its proper context (let alone tether myself to my computer long enough to write, upload photos, or post to YouTube (an incredible timesuck)).

So what’s happened has been a backup in the posting process – once I found myself two, three, four posts behind, I froze up and did absolutely NO posting (counterproductive, I know, but this is how I work I suppose).  So rather than stay up to date, I’ve fallen horribly behind.

Until now, when I will try to chip away at what I need to write about.

So, after I finish this apology/explanation, I will start by writing one (somewhat) long post about my week “following” R.E.M. from Massachusetts to Philadelphia.  Tomorrow (it’s 1:46 AM and the R.E.M. post will probably take me a little bit of time), I will start to sort through my photos and videos and upload them to my flickr and youtube accounts respectively.  Additionally, I hope to write about the three Pearl Jam shows (see – because I fell behind you probably had no idea about this!) Mike and I went to last week and then resume regular blogging activities.

So expect an R.E.M. post in the next couple hours (or, if you’re reading this Thursday morning, right after you read this post), a Pearl Jam recap sometime in the next 24 hours, several mini posts sharing videos (and I have some good ones too!), and regular blogging (whatever that means) after the 4th.

As for now, I raise my glass to you, dear reader, for bearing with me, and will drink heartily to my quest to blog myself out of this hole.