Glastonbury Festival (R.E.M.)

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To date, R.E.M. have headlined the annual Glastonbury Festival on two occasions:

Contents

[edit] 1999

R.E.M. performing "Crush with Eyeliner".
R.E.M. performing "Crush with Eyeliner".
Michael Stipe in performance.
Michael Stipe in performance.

R.E.M.'s debut at the festival took place on Friday, June 25, 1999. They performed on the Pyramid Stage alongside The Beautiful South, Hole, Bush, Blondie, Barenaked Ladies, and Björn Again (for a complete list of performers, see here). They were touring in support of their eleventh album, Up.

[edit] Setlist

  1. "Lotus"
  2. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
  3. "So Fast, So Numb"
  4. "The Apologist"
  5. "Fall on Me"
  6. "The Great Beyond"
  7. "Daysleeper"
  8. "The Wake-Up Bomb"
  9. "The One I Love"
  10. "Sweetness Follows" (dedicated to Jean Eavis, wife of organiser Michael, who died from cancer a few weeks earlier)
  11. "At My Most Beautiful"
  12. "Losing My Religion"
  13. "Everybody Hurts"
  14. "Walk Unafraid"
  15. "Star 69"
  16. "Finest Worksong"
  17. "Man on the Moon"
  18. "Why Not Smile" (Stipe solo on acoustic guitar) (encore)
  19. "Crush with Eyeliner" (encore)
  20. "Tongue" (encore)
  21. "Cuyahoga" (encore)
  22. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" (encore)

"It's the End of the World..." suffered from sound problems after the sound to Stipe's microphone, which he had donated to a member of the crowd, was turned off due to excessive noise. Stipe returned to the stage and commandeered the mic from the vacant piano to complete the remainder of the song. That mic also proved to be turned off, however, which led to an instrumental performance for a couple of minutes.

[edit] Personnel

R.E.M.

Auxiliary musicians

"They did a storming set," Michael Eavis recalled five years later to Q. "They played all the old favourites, and Michael Stipe was having a ball. Afterwards, he was lying down, but when he saw me he sat bolt upright and said, 'You've got something special here. Any time you want us back, just pick up the phone.'" It seems Eavis took him up on the offer...

[edit] 2003

R.E.M.'s second Glastonbury appearance occurred on Friday, June 27, 2003, during their tour in support of their Warner Bros. best-of In Time. (For a complete list of the other performers on the Pyramid Stage, see here.)

[edit] Setlist

  1. "Begin the Begin"
  2. "Imitation of Life"
  3. "Drive"
  4. "Animal"
  5. "The One I Love"
  6. "Daysleeper"
  7. "Bad Day"
  8. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
  9. "The Great Beyond"
  10. "Fall on Me"
  11. "Losing My Religion"
  12. "Finest Worksong"
  13. "Electrolite"
  14. "She Just Wants To Be"
  15. "Little America"
  16. "Walk Unafraid"
  17. "Man on the Moon"
  18. "Everybody Hurts" (encore)
  19. "Final Straw" (encore)
  20. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" (encore)

[edit] Personnel

R.E.M.

  • Peter Buck - electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, bass, banjo, keyboard
  • Mike Mills - bass, keyboard, vocals
  • Michael Stipe - vocals, harmonica

Auxiliary musicians

  • Scott McCaughey - electric and acoustic guitars, keyboard, vocals
  • Ken Stringfellow - keyboard, bass, vocals
  • Bill Rieflin - drums, percussion

[edit] Quotes

“Welcome to the wonderful weekend-long life experience known as Summer Camp for Adults. This is Glastonbury, it’s Friday night, you are here, you have been here most of the day, you are having a fantastic time. This is your life, this is right now, and I hope you’re there, because I am. Hello and good evening.” - Stipe, introducing the opening "Fall on Me".

“Picture this, a day in December. Picture this, my telephone number. This song goes out to Blondie.” - Stipe's introduction to "The Wake-Up Bomb".

“You people are real people, I can really tell. I can feel you, I can hear you, I can smell you, I can taste you. I really, really like it.” - Stipe, prior to "Losing My Religion".

“We’re gonna send one out to the women. This song has tits, I hope you like it.” - Stipe, regarding "Tongue".

[edit] References

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R.E.M.
Peter Buck · Mike Mills · Michael Stipe
Bill Berry
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