Tuesday, June 10

Live: R.E.M. @ The Hollywood Bowl - 5/29/08

R.E.M. played twenty-six songs in their appearance at the Hollywood Bowl on May 29. With a generous smattering of new material from Accelerate, the band included some surprises like opener "Pretty Persuasion" (from 1984's Reckoning) and "Ignoreland" (never before played live). Despite these highlights, the set was plagued by too few second-rate racks. To make matters worse -- and this is by no means R.E.M.'s fault -- the crowd was the LAMEST crowd I've ever experienced. Little movement, dead applause, no reactions. I was told to sit down and others were told to "shhhsh". Unbelievable and a total buzzkill. At least even the most insipid attendees rocked out to "Man on the Moon". And seeing Stipe & Co. in the flesh -- for maybe the last time -- was awesome.

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