REM - Glasgow Green

R.E.M.
Balloch Country Park, Loch Lomond,
Saturday 18th June 2005

After the previous Tuesday and two indifferent records, it's fair to say my relationship with REM was hanging in the balance. And the odds weren't looking good - who'd have thought it? A massive outdoor gig blowing away a far smaller (almost) indoors venue.

But that's what happened after Tuesday's night's disappointment in Glasgow. The sound quality of the support acts had yo-yo'd throughout the day and, with the rockier bands having suffered the most, that was something of a worry before REM hit the stage. A worry which was dispelled straight away by the open bars of 'I Took Your Name'. Everything was just that much clearer which made a huge difference to my enjoyment of the show.

Setlist

I Took Your Name
Bad Day
What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
The One I Love
Wanderlust
Drive
The Outsiders
Cuyahoga
Animal
Leaving New York
Everybody Hurts
Electron Blue
Electrolite
So Fast So Numb
Final Straw
Orange Crush
Walk Unafraid
Losing My Religion

Imitation of Life
The Great Beyond
Star 69
Find The River
I Wanna DJ
Man On The Moon

The day had started early with the far lighter than expected traffic ensuring that we were inside the venue early on. That allowed us to secure a spot dead centre midway between the stage and the mixing desk.
The one disadvantage of that, at an outdoor gig with plentiful booze, was that we were located very much in the kill-zone for the morons who insist on lobbing half full bottles of beer into the air. An essentially cowardly act (you have to be unlucky to take a direct hit from a bottle thrown but if you're throwing you are certain to hit somebody) it once again attracted the ire of one Peter Buck, just as at T in the Park in 2003. The first appeal to Michael Stipe brought a fairly relaxed comment from the singer to the audience but when a second appeal was required Stipe was in less forgiving mood. Both appeals had some success but, despite meeting with the approval of at least 95% of the crowd, they weren't totally successful at stopping the morons.

Buck, Stringfellow and McCaughey taking your name ...

Whether or not the bottle-throwing affected the band's performance this was a far more spirited performance thanks to a better selection of songs (6 out of 24 were different from the Tuesday night.) The improved sound certainly helped the rockier songs and this time the opening salvo was blistering. In fact there were few mis-fires in the entire set - not sure why 'Animal' gets played all the time - but otherwise the main set was fantastic. The 'Around the Sun' material came over well in general. Apart from 'Leaving NY', the two gigs have certainly established 'The Outsiders' as my favourite off the record but even 'Wanderlust', which seems throwaway on record, was punchy and great fun live.

The encore was one song lighter thanks to a correspondingly extended main set but framed with the same 2 at the start and at the end. 'Star 69' and 'Find The River' were the new songs but only 'The Great Beyond' was somewhat disappointing (again a less than classic which doesn't, IMHO, merit its ever present status in the set-list).

Musically then this was a massive success. The only downer was the attempt to send 40,000 people out through one 7 metre wide exit. It took us 100 minutes to get back to the car as a consequence even though it was not much more than a mile away. A minor irritant on an otherwise excellent day. REM and I therefore live to fight another day ...

[REM Index]

After the previous Tuesday and two indifferent records, it's fair to say my relationship with REM was hanging in the balance. And the odds weren't looking good - who'd have thought it? A massive outdoor gig blowing away a far smaller (almost) indoors venue. But that's what happened after Tuesday's night's disappointment in Glasgow. The sound quality of the support acts had yo-yo'd throughout the day and, with the rockier bands having suffered the most, that was something of a worry before REM hit the stage. A worry which was dispelled straight away by the open bars of 'I Took Your Name'. Everything was just that much clearer which made a huge difference to my enjoyment of the show.	Setlist I Took Your Name Bad Day What's the Frequency, Kenneth? The One I Love Wanderlust Drive The Outsiders Cuyahoga Animal Leaving New York Everybody Hurts Electron Blue Electrolite So Fast So Numb Final Straw Orange Crush Walk Unafraid Losing My Religion Imitation of Life The Great Beyond Star 69 Find The River I Wanna DJ Man On The Moon
The day had started early with the far lighter than expected traffic ensuring that we were inside the venue early on. That allowed us to secure a spot dead centre midway between the stage and the mixing desk. The one disadvantage of that, at an outdoor gig with plentiful booze, was that we were located very much in the kill-zone for the morons who insist on lobbing half full bottles of beer into the air. An essentially cowardly act (you have to be unlucky to take a direct hit from a bottle thrown but if you're throwing you are certain to hit somebody) it once again attracted the ire of one Peter Buck, just as at T in the Park in 2003. The first appeal to Michael Stipe brought a fairly relaxed comment from the singer to the audience but when a second appeal was required Stipe was in less forgiving mood. Both appeals had some success but, despite meeting with the approval of at least 95% of the crowd, they weren't totally successful at stopping the morons. Buck, Stringfellow and McCaughey taking your name ... Whether or not the bottle-throwing affected the band's performance this was a far more spirited performance thanks to a better selection of songs (6 out of 24 were different from the Tuesday night.) The improved sound certainly helped the rockier songs and this time the opening salvo was blistering. In fact there were few mis-fires in the entire set - not sure why 'Animal' gets played all the time - but otherwise the main set was fantastic. The 'Around the Sun' material came over well in general. Apart from 'Leaving NY', the two gigs have certainly established 'The Outsiders' as my favourite off the record but even 'Wanderlust', which seems throwaway on record, was punchy and great fun live. The encore was one song lighter thanks to a correspondingly extended main set but framed with the same 2 at the start and at the end. 'Star 69' and 'Find The River' were the new songs but only 'The Great Beyond' was somewhat disappointing (again a less than classic which doesn't, IMHO, merit its ever present status in the set-list). Musically then this was a massive success. The only downer was the attempt to send 40,000 people out through one 7 metre wide exit. It took us 100 minutes to get back to the car as a consequence even though it was not much more than a mile away. A minor irritant on an otherwise excellent day. REM and I therefore live to fight another day ...