R.E.M. traveled extensively, mostly around the Deep South, during their first few years of being a unit. Their first real, albeit relatively local, tour took place in 1981. Mistakenly nicknamed "Rapid.Eye.Movement.Tour.1981" by the band's manager at the time, Jefferson Holt, the tour was arranged by Bill Berry, and its main aim was to help raise the necessary funds to keep the band operating. The tour was in support of their "Radio Free Europe" single, which was to be released on David Hibbert's Hib-Tone label in July 1981.
Jefferson Holt is the founder of Daniel 13 Press and former manager of rock band R.E.M., often referred to as the band's "fifth member," from 1981–1996.
William Thomas Berry is a retired American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his solid, economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M. albums. After 17 years with the band, Berry left the music industry to become a farmer, and has since maintained a low profile, making sporadic reunions with R.E.M. and appearing on other artists' recordings.
"Radio Free Europe" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1981 as the band's first single. A re-recorded version appeared on their 1983 debut Murmur.
Murfreesboro is a city in, and the county seat of, Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the 2010 census, up from 68,816 residents certified in 2000. In 2018, census estimates showed a population of 141,344. The city is home to both the center of population of Tennessee and the geographic center of Tennessee. Its location is 34 miles (55 km) southeast of downtown Nashville within the Nashville metropolitan area of Middle Tennessee. It is Tennessee's fastest growing major city and one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Murfreesboro is also home to Middle Tennessee State University, the second largest undergraduate university in the state of Tennessee, with 22,729 total students as of fall 2014.
In August, the band's first true national tour, in support of Chronic Town, began in San Diego, California. It finished in Florida four months later.[1]
Chronic Town is the debut EP by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on August 24, 1982 on I.R.S. Records. Chronic Town is the first illustration of R.E.M.'s signature musical style: jangling guitars, chords played in arpeggio, murmured vocals, and obscure lyrics.
A tour in support of Murmur got underway in March. The band made their first live television appearance during the tour, on Late Night with David Letterman on October 6. The tour concluded in Europe in late November.[1]
Murmur is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on April 12, 1983 by I.R.S. Records. Murmur drew critical acclaim upon its release for its unusual sound, defined by lead singer Michael Stipe's cryptic lyrics, guitarist Peter Buck's jangly guitar style, and bass guitarist Mike Mills' melodic basslines.
Late Night with David Letterman is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman. It premiered on NBC on February 1, 1982, and concluded on June 25, 1993. Letterman began hosting Late Show with David Letterman on CBS in August 1993. The series has since been reformatted as Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Setlist
This set list is representative of the performance in Rouen, France. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.
32 in Europe 71 in North America 4 in Asia 107 in total (111 scheduled)
R.E.M. returned to Europe in April 1984, this time in support of their second studio album, Reckoning, with a tour titled the "Little America tour" ("Little America" being a track on the album).[1] They tour their homeland between June and November, before visiting Asia for the first time in mid-November. This was followed with a few more shows in the UK and Norway during late November and early January 1985.[1]
Reckoning is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on April 9, 1984 by I.R.S. Records. Produced by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, the album was recorded at Reflection Sound Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina, over 16 days in December 1983 and January 1984. Dixon and Easter intended to capture the sound of R.E.M.'s live performances, and used binaural recording on several tracks. Singer Michael Stipe dealt with darker subject matter in his lyrics, and water imagery is a recurring theme on the record. Released to critical acclaim, Reckoning reached number 27 in the United States—where it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1991—and peaked at number 91 in the United Kingdom.
Setlist
This set list is representative of the performance in Rouen, France. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.
A "Pre-Construction" tour in April and May took the band around several eastern states. After the release of Fables of the Reconstruction in June, the band traveled to Europe. The following month, they returned to North America for a two-month tour. The "Reconstruction I" tour began in Oregon in July and ended in New Jersey in August.[1]
October's "Reconstruction II" tour took the band back to Europe, beginning in the Netherlands and ending in Scotland.[1]
In November, "Reconstruction III" commenced in Colorado.[1]
"Work Tour", in support of the album Document.[1] R.E.M. did not perform any shows throughout the following year, and signed to Warner Bros. for the release of their sixth studio album Green. R.E.M. remained with Warner Bros. until their breakup in 2011.
R.E.M.'s first major tour, as well as their biggest most visually developed tour to date, featured back-projections and art films playing on the stage during the band's shows.
The final show of the tour, at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, featured the band performing their first full-length album, Murmur in order, from start to finish, followed by Green in order, from start to finish. The night was concluded by an encore set performed by Mike & the Melons with Michael Stipe fronting the road crew. It marked the only live performance of The Wrong Child, and one of the few live performances of Hairshirt.
A concert video called Tourfilm is a compilation of footage from various locations on these tours.
R.E.M. would not tour again until their 1994 release Monster. Subsequent tours would feature backing musicians assuming instrumental roles, which became more prominent especially after Bill Berry's departure in 1997.
After refusing to tour in support of their two previous releases Out of Time and Automatic for the People, the band agreed to tour in support of Monster. The tour was critically and commercially successful, though a handful of shows were either cancelled or postponed due to health problems associated with the band members.[2]
The concert video Road Movie is a compilation of footage taken from the final three nights of the tour, in Atlanta.
New Adventures in Hi-Fi, the band's tenth studio album, was released in 1996 without a supporting tour, though a handful of material was performed during this tour. Eight-track recorders were brought to capture its shows, and used the recordings as the base elements for that album.
This was the final tour to feature Bill Berry, though he briefly reunited with them during a show in 2003. This was also the first tour to feature involvement from Seattle-based multi-instrumentalist Scott McCaughey, who remained active with the group on recordings of albums from New Adventures in Hi-Fi to Collapse Into Now, as well as subsequent tours.
After initially stating they would not tour behind this year's Up, the band changed their mind. A small television-and-radio tour around North America and Europe occurred between October and December. A larger, six-month tour around the same continents began in February in Europe the following year. The North American leg began in August.[1][1]
"Airportman" was performed at a benefit show before the promo tour commenced in 1998, but not during any tours throughout the band's career. "You're In the Air" and "Diminished" (despite the "I'm Not Over You" coda being performed) were never performed live either.
A tour in support of the band's Warner Bros. compilation In Time took place in Europe between June and August, then in North America between August and October.[1]
The concert video Perfect Square was taken from footage captured from a show in Wiesbaden, Germany on this tour.
At a concert in Raleigh, North Carolina, Berry made a surprise appearance, performing backing vocals on "Radio Free Europe". He then sat behind the drum kit for a performance of the early R.E.M. song "Permanent Vacation", marking his first performance with the band since his retirement, though he still refused to rejoin the group regardless.
This was the first tour to feature Bill Rieflin, who later recorded the next three albums released from the band and performed with the group on tours supporting two of those three album releases.
A promo tour for Around the Sun began in Europe in September.[1] Prior to the release of the album, the band partook in the political "Vote for Change" tour, which included shows in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Florida and Washington, D.C.[1]
A post-album tour commenced in October in North America.[1]
A European tour began in Europe in 2005, then extended to South Africa, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. The final leg of the tour took the band back to Europe.[1]
A concert CD/DVD featuring footage from the final shows of this tour in Dublin titled R.E.M. Live was released in 2007.
Around the Sun was a commercial and critical failure, and band members later expressed disappointment in the album after the tour ended. A majority of material from Around the Sun was largely absent in their subsequent tour.
19 in North America 48 in Europe 10 in South America 77 in total
R.E.M.'s final tour was the "Accelerate Tour", which took place between March and November 2008.[2]
In 2007, before the release of Accelerate and the supporting tour behind it in 2008, R.E.M. held five night "rehearsals" in front of a live audience at Olympia Theatre, Dublin to test out new material from Accelerate and to revisit and perform old favorites, many of which hadn't been played live in nearly two decades. The resulting live album and DVD, Live at The Olympia, was released in 2009.
Accelerate was met with much critical enthusiasm, especially from fans of their back catalog who praised the "back-to-basics" direction that was undertaken with the album. Given the lukewarm reception of their previous album in comparison, the band ignored everything from Around the Sun during a majority of shows during the tour.
R.E.M. disbanded in September 2011 and did not perform any shows after the conclusion of this tour. Their final Collapse into Now release was never performed live, though Michael Stipe did a solo performance of "Every Day Is Yours to Win" at Carnegie Hall in March 2011.
Set list
This set list is representative of the performance in Mexico City and does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.
This list includes only official releases made up exclusively and entirely of live performances. Various other live performances by R.E.M. can be found as B-sides, compilation tracks, bonus tracks, promotional EPs, bootlegs, etc.
Related Research Articles
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