T IN THE PARK 2003 - Saturday

R.E.M. (Main Stage - 12th July)

REM play so infrequently in Scotland that any appearance (roughly every 4-5 years) has to be worth seeing. But this was actually something of a disappointment compared to the last REM last show I saw in 1999.

Let me put this into perspective though - any REM gig can’t fail to be good - they are extremely good at these sorts of shows and they have a back catalogue, even half of which most bands would kill for. But after this set my rough rule of thumb for REM gigs still holds true - the smaller the better! Which means that it was better than Murrayfield in 95 but not as good as Stirling Castle nor certainly the Playhouse way back in 89.
rem-3.jpg (36222 bytes) There’s no doubt that REM have developed a sound to suit the size of venues they play - there’s a muscular edge to many of the songs which ultimately leaves some of the earlier material sounding a little out of place (So. Central Rain in the encore being a prime example.) Sometimes it affects the slower material too although on this showing that may be more of a reflection on the poor quality of festival sounds. At T, the drums for example were given undue prominence - more than a little ‘thuddy’.

That of course may be deliberate - by the time the festival headliners take the stage there are inevitably those whose nervous systems are only capable of reacting to short sharp noises. Which brings me to another reason this wasn’t quite as enjoyable as it might have been.

 

Even with my advancing years I’m prepared to put up with a lot to get a decent view and (at an outdoor gig) within decent range of the sound system. The constant battle for survival in these circumstances is always going to detract from whoever is playing to some degree. However a paralytic youth whose staggering looked terminal at the start yet managed to survive until near the end only by cannoning off his neighbours was just a touch too much. It’s rare that I feel like inflicting violence on a fellow human being but this occasion was borderline to say the least.

Enough of the negatives. The set was significantly changed from last time out (and for that matter from the previous show in Poland apparently) but was drawn evenly from most of the band’s LPs while a couple of newies were also included. Unfortunately on first listen both ‘Animal’ and ‘Bad Day’ struggled to make much of an impression.

But there were the most welcome inclusions of ‘Begin The Begin’ and ‘Cuyahgo’ from Lifes Rich Pageant and ‘So Fast So Numb’ from New Adventures. ‘Get Up’ made a popular early appearance whilst, again not surprisingly, the Document singles all faired well in this context.

 

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rem-2.jpg (21982 bytes) Last LP Reveal was comparatively ignored - only two songs, the tremendous ‘Imitation of Life’ and ‘She Just Wants To Be’. The latter popped up surprisingly late in the set but the extended soloing from Peter Buck turned out to be a highlight of the night.

Talking of Mr Buck he didn’t have a particularly good day at the office. Frustrated by sound problems early on he reacted to a stray bottle just afterwards with a display of one digit then fixed the culprit with a venomous stare for the rest of the song. By the end of ‘End of the World’ he was pushing his guitar against anything to get feedback and kicking monitors on the way off. A contrast to his earlier brief appearance with the Flaming Lips.

The main set rounded off in exactly the same way as at Stirling - a thunderous ‘Walk Unafraid’ and the crowd pleasing ‘Man In The Moon’, whilst the encores were eclectic to say the least although inevitably they ended with ‘End of the World’.

So worth seeing certainly but this didn’t scale the heights that it might have done and must be some way from the best gig REM will ever play.

Setlist

T in the Park 2003 - Index

REM Index