R.E.M.
Tivoli, Utrecht
21/06/03

The opening night of a tour can be a weird place. Throwing Muses, one of REM's contemporary bands from the 80's, opened their tour of Europe in the very same venue exactly 3 months prior to this night. It was a difficult time for them, having not toured properly together in 6 years and barely being able to rehearse prior to the gig. Fun was had though, but you could understand the strain the band was under.

Even with the world's media looking on to see what would happen in the Tivoli, REM needn't worry about the stress of the first night in the same way. No matter what was going to unfold, with 70-100 songs rehearsed and 1000 people crammed into the old theatre like sardines, the fans were going to love everything that happened no matter what.

Kicking off to the most rapturous applause possible, the band went straight into 'Begin the Begin'. It had been four years since I last saw them live and I had forgotten the flamboyance of Stipe; his dress sense; his dancing. As much as I was looking forward to this concert, I hadn't considered what I was actually going to witness. Only one song was necessary to remind me how much of a rock star he actually is.

Then the band played the first of two new songs, 'Animal'. It was good, but quickly overshadowed a few songs later when they played 'Bad Day', a much more up-tempo song that was fun and reminiscent of '...End of the World', purely because of its chaotic execution live.

The setlist constantly veered between recent hits and songs of yesteryear. 'Maps and Legends' and 'Little America', which Stipe said had not been played live for 18 years are the kind of songs to make a hardcore REM pee themselves. That is, if they hadn't already, just from being within touching distance of their heroes.

Staple songs such as 'Losing My Religion', 'Man on the Moon' and 'Everybody Hurts' may have been overplayed to an extent by radio and TV, but when played live they still carry the special energy that picks up the audience and gets everyone singing at full volume.

Some of the more recent songs have a lot of power too though. 'Great Beyond' and 'Daysleeper' have been criticized in the past but they still sound good in the set. I also rate 'Walk Unafraid' as one of the best REM songs ever, and the new version of it rocks even harder than I remember it doing on the Up tour. It starts off so delicately, but when the drums start pounding, there is a real attack behind the performance.

Overall, the band seemed very happy to be there. There was a lot of joking and happy banter, with the characteristic REM moves back in sack loads. Linda Hopper was even brought out to perform 'Favourite Writer', a Magnapop song from the early 90's. Admittedly, a lot of the audience were not even aware who she was, but she was so happy and enthusiastic that it was impossible not to enjoy it. Especially the synchronised dance moves improvised between her and Stipe.

Eventually the night had to close, and did so in typical fashion with 'It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)', starting off with a segment of 'People Have the Power' by Patti Smith, before becoming the extended jump around/sing-a-long classic everyone knows and loves.

Clocking in at 2 hours long, it was the perfect length. There were no lulls in the set, with plenty to please everyone. I will confess that being in a position to see a setlist during the concert gave me a bit too much time to think about all the songs I wanted to hear that I wasn't going to. However, I eventually managed to rationalise it with the realization that I have seen most of the songs I had hoped for, whereas this show offered up a whole selection of music that had not even crossed my mind.

I am sure as the tour progresses, the setlist will morph drastically over the coming weeks and months. There is definitely going to be a lot to look forward to for the REM fans going to upcoming shows.

As it is, I never ever thought I would have the chance to see them in a 'whites of their eyes' type venue, and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I'm sure the same will be said for the other nine hundred and ninety nine people. There really isn't any bad note they can play to change that, so no need to worry at all.

Steven McCarron

Setlist

Begin The Begin
Animal
Great Beyond
Drive
Welcome To The Occupation
Bad Day
Imitation Of Life
Daysleeper
All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)
So Fast, So Numb
Maps And Legends
Losing My Religion
Electrolite
At My Most Beautiful
The One I Love
Life And How To Live It
She Just Wants To Be
Walk Unafraid
Man On The Moon
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Everybody Hurts
Favourite Writer
Little America
People Have the Power /
It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

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