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From: eli@uw-june (Eli Messinger)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Re: R.E.M. on tour (Seattle)
Message-ID: <1658@uw-june>
Date: Thu, 28-Jun-84 16:59:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: uw-june>.1658
Posted: Thu Jun 28 16:59:40 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 30-Jun-84 04:30:40 EDT
References: <4065@yale-comix.UUCP>
Organization: U. Washington, Computer Sci
Lines: 34

Very quickly:  R.E.M. in Seattle were terrific.  Lead singer Michael Stype
spent most of the show sitting on a stool--due to a foot injury, and still
managed to blow away most vocalists I've seen recently.

R.E.M. live encompasses all of the power and all of the ringy pop sound that
they have on record, and more.   Their set was over an hour long, with two
four song encores.

Highlights (for me):  Camera; 1,000,000; Gardening At Night; Carnival of
Sorts (Boxcars); >So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star<.

The last is particularly intriguing as R.E.M. has been stuck with a 'Byrds
1980' tag for so long.  I talked to the them before the show and they told
me that they really haven't been influenced all that much by the Byrds.
I think the comparisons come mainly from the fact that guitarist Peter
Buck plays a Rickenbacker, and does have a style that is similar to McGuinns.
They've denied the comparisons publicly all along, but apparently they just
got tired of it and decided to double-cross everyone, hence the MTV special
with Roger McGuinn, and the Byrds cover (he said they also do Turn! Turn!
Turn! and others).  (As an aside, listen to The Rain Parade if you want to
hear a really heavy Byrds inluence).

Lowlights (Lowlifes):  The Dream Syndicate.  What has happened to this band???
They have such a heavy metal thrust to their sound--so much machismo.  Their
45-minute set consisted almost entirely of tracks from their latest LP--
which I could live without.  They did play 'Tell Me When It's Over' and
'Days Of Wine And Roses', but neither of them had the right feel for me.
Guitarist Karl Precorda is simply an embarassment these days--striking the
most ridiculous heavy metal poses.  They've added a keyboard player who is
quite good, but really out of place.

By all mean go see R.E.M., but try to time it so you arrive at intermission.

... uw-june!eli