Okay, who's excited?? Read about it here. Is anyone else planning on going?? I hope to go to Atlanta and Birmingham. I'm not sure what my budget will allow though

It's tempting. I'll have to see what kind of posse I can round up to attend with me, as well as the funds.

Nah. I saw them on the Monster tour and was pretty let down. I would give anything short of my soul to go back in time and see them in a club. But I just don't think R.E.M. translates very well to big venues.

As an addendum, let me say that I would go see them in concert again under the following circumstances: they do a tour of theater-sized venues, and do two sets. The first set, they play Automatic for the People in its entirity, complete with extra musicians and a full orchestra, ala Brian Wilson/Pet Sounds or Pink Floyd/DSotM. The second set is just the four of them (that's right I said FOUR) playing some rockin' older (and some newer) stuff. Just totally raw, like the old days.

I don't think that's too much to ask for. Oh, and U2 should open for them.

I didn't see the Monster tour, but as I thought Monster was a low point in their career, I feel all the bootlegs I have from it are mediocre--even the older songs. When I saw them in 99, it was a good show.

holy hell, that's AWEEEEESOME!!! though i don't listen to them every day like i used to, there will always be a special place for r.e.m. in my heart. ((insert "awww!!" here)) seeing these tour dates rocked my socks.
i'd like to go to atlanta, birmingham, and boston (if i'm there). atlanta sounds good, the tickets go on sale on my birthday!!! weehoo!
-court

I loved Monster as a concept. You know - the return to rock and all. And I think that it was a cool sound that they created for that album (and used over and over and over...). There are some great songs on that album. "Kenneth" is one of my favorite REM songs. But by the time you get to side two, it really gets repetitive and tired. TF and I talked about this at a show recently. "King of Comedy"??? What is that song??

And as LW and I have discussed so many times over the years, Mike Mills' suits for the Monster tour were almost worth the price of admission by themselves. I just thought that the band looked really bored on stage, didn't play with any enthusiasm at all, and didn't play enough old songs.

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 2:45 am on Mar. 28, 2003)

If you're a fanclub member as of early March of 2003, you have access to pre-sale tickets. When they did this for the Up tour, Court & I ended up with 4th row seats for one of the Atlanta shows. So I'm going to try for Atlanta tickets this time around, too (on sale next week!). Hopefully the ticket gods will be with me that day. Shows are a lot better when you get to experience them up close.

Jamie--I echo your sentiments about "King of Comedy"--I feel that way about half the songs on Monster. What a shitty album.

I got my fanclub email today and it said that the fanclub tickets will go on sale April 1!!! I think that I am going to the Birmingham show. My sister said that the Phillips Arena is not a great place to see a show, so I am hoping Birmingham will be better. I am hoping to get some good seats. Smee, your 4th row seats on UP give me hope

And King of Comedy, what where they thinking? That is quite possibly the worst REM song.

worst r.e.m. songs: time after time, lightnin' hopkins, king of comedy, circus envy, wake up bomb, binky the doormat, low desert, lotus, suspicion, i've been high, all the way to reno.
notice many of the songs are later. even though there are some so-so songs on the early albums, the worst song on murmur is still 50x better than low desert.

i was surprised to see that out of time only got 2 1/2 stars on allmusic.

i completely agree with you here. I'm gonna try and go. as far as monster goes, kenneth and strange currencies are the only songs i like. i don't even dig bang and blame.

for the record, my favorite rem record is new adventures in the hifi.

but hell, i'm still going to see them, its REM for gods sake.

I guess it's been awhile since I've purchased tickets to an arena rock concert, but I didn't expect to pay $150 for a pair of tickets. Sure, I did it anyway (through the fan club pre-sale)...and they didn't even tell me where my seats are. Damn R.E.M.

I feel your pain, I payed $140.00 for my Birmingham tickets. I had a very traumatic time with the fanclub. At 12:00 noon, I couldn't even get on the site because it was so busy and then when I did it said that my membership was invalid. I started feaking out. I wrote about 3 very angry emails to the very unfriendly people in customer service and the problem was eventually taken care of two hours later. I ended up getting 6th row on the left side of the stage. My sister, who ordered her tickets at 12:00, got 3 rd row center. Oh well, I'm just happy that I didn't get screwed out of tickets all together.

Smee, are you going to Atlanta?? I just wasn't sure about the huge arena thing. But Atlanta should be great because it may be their last show and I'm sure they will have a very special guest.

i'm glad your ticket traumas were solved. now i see why you were oh so very frazzled earlier. maybe you can somehow blackmail your sister out of her tickets. but if not, 6th row is still pretty darn good.

We were 6th row at Weezer and it was unbelievably close. 6th row is nothing to through a mexican wedding suit and man-wrap at!

i had a hard time logging on too; i probably got my tickets after about 20 minutes. i wonder why they didn't tell me where my seats were; my final print-out just says " reserved level 1." oh yeah, i'm going to the atlanta show.

Since I am on the left, I am hoping Mike will be on my side. That would be so great, considering he is my favorite. I will have to look at videos to analyze which side of the stage Mike is usually on. I am already getting excited and it is so far away.

And Smee, my sister's friends got their Atlanta tickets and it said where their seats where. I think there is a number you can call( 1-800-597-TIXX) and maybe they could tell you if you're curious

Mike was on the left (for bass and keys) when I saw them.

It's very relevant of you to acknowledge Mike Mills as your favorite member of REM. He is the best. He was a huge influence on me, first in terms of background vocals, then in terms of bass playing.

Good to know that you enjoy Mike as well. When I was 10, I was more a Michael person, but as the years went by I realized how great Mike is. Not only do I love his musical style and voice, but he has evolved to quite a dreamy man over the years. And for the record, I have never cared for Peter Buck. I just don't like him for some reason.

Mike was on the left when I saw them as well. He's also on the left on all the video bootlegs I have going back to the mid-80s. He's always been my favorite among them too, with a close second going to Peter Buck.

Peter Buck is an asshole.

This could possibly be the reason.

Oh sure... a guy beats up one little flight attendant and everyone thinks he's a jerk.

go to http://www.remhq.com/html/tour/requests.html to request songs/set lists for the show you will be attending. this sounds fun!

Mike Mills was my favorite bass player for the longest time (that is until I realized just who James Jamerson was). I definitely see his influence in first, Jamie's bgvs and second, his bassing. Smee, didn't he try to buy blow off you or something that MoP night? I'm sure that's been discussed here before. oh and you think "Wake Up Bomb" sucks?! Seriously? How can a song about throwing up be inherently bad?

Man, if they'd play "Radio Song," I'd totally go see them.

"When I got to the show
Yo ho ho..."

This is the best thing in the world. I wonder how many times you can vote. James Riot and I really should try to vote enough times to control the Birmingham set. And if the play Get Up or Maps and Legends I might cry. I almost did just watching the rehearsal footage.

The live version of this from on the "From the Borderline" bootleg is 10x better than the studio version.

When we saw them, we heard Wolves, Lower...that ruled!!!

have tickets for atlanta gone on sale already????