R.E.M./Feeder - Stirling Castle, Monday 19th July 1999
It’s been a long day and the weather has turned nastier the further west we travel. The prospects of a dry evening on top of a rock in Stirling seem remote so spirits aren’t exactly high approaching the gig.
The queue snakes away from where most folk are approaching the Castle, but fortunately it’s moving quite quickly. This doesn’t stop the ignorant from trying to join in at the end of the barriers rather than being polite and joining at the end of the queue. Ironically there’s a Rocks-for-Brains Steady Security individual 10 yards up inside the barrier, but she’s been told to hold the barriers up at that point or something and absolutely not to move 10 yards and sort out problems. These people really do have shit for brains.
Once inside, it’s clear that this venue is less than perfect. The stage is at the bottom of a slope, but the mixing area is quite wide and the area in front of it seems quite full. I’m sure they’ve sold so many tickets that people are going to have to watch from behind the mixing tent.
The weather’s not too bad, the odd bit of drizzle, when FEEDER come on. I’ve only had a limited exposure to this lot, a session version of a recent single which is quite good, and I’m interested to hear them. Sadly they turn out to be pretty straightforward power pop - decent enough for a support band, but not about to sell any records to me. "Day In Day Out" is midway through the set and its arrangement is a little more interesting than what’s gone before - it’s a song with quiet and loud bits with the guitars coming in at times you don’t expect, but two songs later they play an earlier song "High" and it’s identical, apart from the melody. The singer says that they don’t have a set-list and this probably explains why they played the same song twice!
There’s a brief spell of heavy rain and the guy in front of us wearing a T-shirt puts on a woolen jumper! Why?! Meanwhile back at the music the last song features their only exploration of feedback, the big finish, but I’m left with the feeling that Feeder are some way short of developing away from their power-pop roots into something more interesting.
If Feeder aren’t a major act, the same cannot be said for REM. This set of three dates is only their second Scottish "tour" in ten years and after the disaster that was Murrayfield on the Monster tour people are probably a little nervous.
They needn’t be because REM manage to rise above the awful conditions (anyone who thinks that rock music should be watched in waterproofs is nuts) to deliver a great and lengthy set.
Taking the stage to the opening bars of "Airportman", the early songs are a clarion call. "Lotus" surpasses the stodgy version on "Up" but is only a precursor to a wonderful twin attack of "What’s The Frequency, Kenneth" and "The Wake-Up Bomb". The latter in particular is quite stunning.
Stipe announces that he usually wears layers of clothing for reason of theatrical excess, but that tonight he’s "F***ing freezing!" and that he hasn’t been as cold since February. This comes as something of a surprise to us hardy Scots for it’s actually quite warm - at least for standing in a rain cloud on top of a rock, it’s quite warm.
The next run of songs is less intense but in general the sound’s surprisingly good. The only exception is a fuzz heavy bass on "Electrolite" which kinda spoils the mood. An unwelcome exhumation of the dull "Half A World Away" suggests that the band are running out of steam, but fortunately it’s the lull before (and during!) the storm.
Two classics from "Automatic", "Everybody Hurts" and "Sweetness Follows" lift the gig from the ordinary back up to the heights and demonstrate that REM can rock and find the majesty within the same gig. A new song "Great Beyond" follows a comedic exchange between Stipe and the audience about the advisability of putting on a hat thrown onto the stage "We’ve got head lice in Georgia too you know!", but the band are, er, cooking now.
"The One I Love" is awesome, and whilst the live arrangements of "At My Most Beautiful" and "Find The River" sound, well, different live, Stipe’s vocals on "River" are absolutely spine-tingling. Somewhere about here the rain’s come on pretty heavily and it stays on but it no longer matters.
I’ll be honest, I’d love to see an REM gig when they don’t do crowd pleaser "Losing My Religion", I’ve just heard it too often, but I think I’m in a minority of one on that one. I’m surprised that "Pop Song 89" makes an appearance so late in the set and it’s followed by a mighty version of the best song on "Up", "Walk Unafraid." More shivers and spines and then "Man On The Moon" brings the main set to a suitably upbeat finale.
Bizarrely the encore starts with Stipe alone on stage with an acoustic guitar. A brief "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" is probably an unscheduled tribute to the rain sodden masses, before what can only be described as a comedy acoustic version of "Hope", complete with ad-libs, which Stipe is unwilling to finish until the crowd has sung along, to his satisfaction, to "and you want to bridge the schism, a built-in mechanism to protect you"!
"For f***’s sake get someone on who can play guitar!" shouts someone near us, possibly me. Mike Mills obliges for a quick acoustic run through of "Why Not Smile". Evidently the rest of the band have left for a curry.
But no, here they come for a Monster double bill. A crashing "Crush With Eyeliner" again demonstrates that these songs were made to be played live, before it’s the more tasteful , at least according to Stipe, "Tongue".
The real golden oldies follow - a hugely apposite "Fall On Me" and the usual blistering "End of The World" for the finale during which the previously freezing Stipe, basically getst his tits out for the lads.
So that’s it - all over for another 5 years, probably. Of course with a band with the history of REM, there’s always songs you would have like them to play - "Let Me In" and more off "New Adventures" would top my list. But the fact that they can omit so many favourites and yet be so damn good in such adverse conditions just illustrates what a fine band they are. The large selection from "Up" to me at least demonstrated that record’s flaws, namely that the recorded versions are a bit stilted. But the "Monster" material fared particularly well, but then in my book that’s a seriously underrated LP anyway.
It’s too late to catch them in the UK, but after nearly twenty years REM are still one of the best bands in the world so don’t pass on the chance to see them live.
R.E.M. Set-list
1. Lotus 2. What's The Frequency Kenneth? 3. The Wake-Up Bomb 4. Suspicion 5. Daysleeper 6. Electrolite 7. The Apologist 8. Half A World Away 9. Everybody Hurts 10. Sweetness Follows 11. Great Beyond 12. The One I Love 13. At My Most Beautiful 14. Find The River 15. Losing My Religion 16. Pop Song 89 17. Walk Unafraid 18. Man On The Moon
Encore:-
1. Have You Ever Seen the Rain 2. Hope 3. Why Not Smile 4. Crush With Eyeliner 5. Tongue 6. Fall On Me 7. It's The End Of The World As We Know It