While we wait for the Donewaiting crew stationed in Austin to wake from their slumber and blog about last night’s festivities (sadly, I had to cancel my plans to go to Austin this year), let’s see what a few people had to saw about R.E.M.’s performance at Stubb’s.
Billboard: R.E.M. rocked unafraid last night as it previewed its next album with an energetic and politically charged South By Southwest concert at Stubb’s BBQ. read the rest of the review
Village Voice (Rob Harvilla): They’re not very good live. Maybe you knew this. Maybe you’ve chosen to forget. Tonight, we simply overlook. What is first evident, as they triumphantly take the stage at one of the bigger-name SXSW fetes (second, perhaps, to Motörhead), is that the dudes are looking a bit peaked. Wearied. Old, is what I’m saying. Five or 10 years from now they’ll play the Super Bowl halftime show (Browns 24, Vikings 13), and you will be just as alarmed as Tom Petty made you this year — alarmed for both their health and yours. read the rest of the review
Were you there? What did you think?
the link to the rest of the review is messed up.
Whoops. Fixed.
REM was phenomenal. The new songs were absolutely fucking awesome (with the exception of one song, that was just a little too repetitive). Stipe’s voice has never ever sounded better, the guitars were loud and rocking (and not in the Monster shitty fuzzy kind of way), and it was everything that Up/Reveal/Around The Sun were not!
They did some older songs including Drive, Man on the Moon, and The Great Beyond that blew the crowd away. Stipe addressed the war in Iraq before a 3 pack of songs that ended with Bad Day. The only downer were the two dedications/mentions of Heath Ledger. People are dying in Iraq and our country is going to shit and he’s talking about how beautiful Heath was?
Oh, and they brought a roadie out to sing Happy Birthday to him after giving him a cake.
As much as the openers all sucked (sorry, Rain Phoenix and your band), it was worth it.