REM have struggled to play in the SECC in Glasgow for something like 15 years. Michael Stipes explained this towards the end of last nights superb concert - illnesses from some Georgian bug, a brain aneurism, and of course contracting ‘flu in Sheffield most recently leading to the February cancellation. All these have stopped this superb band playing in Glasgow.
So last night in a huge tent, we were rewarded with a superb live act that just got better and better and better as the evening progressed.
It’s really quite something when you’re two thirds of the way through a set, and you find yourself going “oh yeah, I’d forgotten about that song”, having been so taken by the songs so far. REM have a huge selection of quality tracks at their disposal, and whilst “Losing my religion” may be the big hitter for the public at large (and the fans!), it was just one of many superb renditions of many songs from their last 15 years in the “mainstream”.
The light show was something else too: We’d been puzzled by the “hanging spikes” above the stage, but when the band appeared these tubes turned into a multitude of colours, each one capable of a variety of colours at the same time, enabling some really very impressive effects, combined with mirrors to the back of the stage, and some really funky video effects on the two displays on either side of the stage. I had an unobstructed view, but at 6ft 2in I’m usually an annoyance to anybody behind me. Poor Frances struggled to see the band, but seemed to manage to enjoy the show. The bar was surprisingly easy to reach too: The barstaff were waiting to take an order. Normally it’s a huge squeeze and then application of various attention-grabbing techniques to get one of the barstaff to serve. Perhaps by merit of the bad weather, people were preferring to stay in the main tent.
Two hours of music later, we were let out into the rain, but I don’t think there was a person there who didn’t feel like they got more than their moneys worth. The songs were performed with sung with such gusto and passion by Michael Stipes, I really felt they were being exceedingly professional. Not only had they rearranged the concert, which they could have skipped - they are back here this weekend for the Loch Lomond concert - but they’re approaching the end of a long tour. That they were so good really demonstrated they cared about the experience for every one of us.
Plenty of political passion too. REM are well known opponents of Bush, and were big names associated with rock the vote in last years US Presidential elections. I’m not sure that everybody in the audience appreciated the political interlude, but it’s important to ensure that some of the issues are kept in peoples minds, and it’s their prerogative to say what they want: It’s their concert after all!
There really was nothing negative to talk about (perhaps the girl near us who managed to get through - I think - five spliffs in the three hours gets that dubious honour; Despite a police presence, there wasn’t going to be any stopping this girl). They covered all the favourites from the latest album, plenty of favourites from past albums (and I surprised myself by knowing many of the lyrics), as well as a new song which - I hope - indicates they’re starting to think about another album!
But after such a superb concert, I think they fully deserve their continued place as one of the most innovative bands going at the moment. And for a band that has apparently just celebrated their 25th anniversary, it’s a remarkable achievement. And after a performance like last night, I hope they keep going and going.
Entries (RSS)