“The place went nuts!”
On a cold Thursday night time in February, Michael Stipe took the stage on the 40 Watt in Athens, Georgia. Peter Buck was already there enjoying guitar and Stipe simply wished to sing backup on “Fairly Persuasion” with arguably the perfect tribute band on the earth proper now, that includes such R.E.M. superfans as Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon, veteran indie guitarist Jason Narducy and members of The Mountain Goats, Wilco and Poi Canine Pondering. “I’m no dipshit,” says Shannon. “I do know folks would moderately watch Michael Stipe than me, so I gave him the ground. He didn’t disappoint.”
Mike Mills jumped as much as sing alongside, and midway by means of the Reckoning monitor, guitarist Dag Juhlin noticed Invoice Berry in conjunction with the stage. He motioned manically for him to rise up there and Berry fortunately obliged. It wasn’t a reunion essentially, nevertheless it was definitely an occasion. “The 40 Watt exploded,” says Narducy. “We had been all taking a look at one another in disbelief. Everyone acquired choked up.”
Phrase unfold quick round Athens and the next night time the group on the 40 Watt was electrical with anticipation. “I heard all in regards to the festivities from the night time earlier than and I used to be kicking myself for lacking it,” says Kevin Cregge, an R.E.M. fan and native musician. “I puzzled if one thing would possibly occur on Friday, however then it acquired fairly late into the night time. I used to be actually settling my tab on the bar once they acquired as much as do ‘Fairly Persuasion’. The place went nuts. After I was strolling house, I felt like I used to be floating. Now I can say I’ve seen R.E.M.”
Thursday night time might need been serendipitous, however on Friday, R.E.M. made the choice to take the stage collectively and play “Fairly Persuasion” yet one more time, with Stipe singing lead moderately than backup. A part of R.E.M.’s legacy is the finality of its finish, which solely made this efficiency all of the extra thrilling. They might discover new and alternative ways to get the band again collectively. That not-quite-a-reunion has validated a mission that neither Shannon nor Narducy — nor anybody else, for that matter — ever believed can be fairly so momentous.
The 40 Watt exhibits had been close to the midpoint of Shannon and Narducy’s second tour enjoying an R.E.M. album in its entirety; in 2024, they toured Murmur and prompted all 4 authentic members to take the stage collectively (though they didn’t carry out). On this current tour, they lined 1985’s Fables Of The Reconstruction, alongside favorite tracks from 1984’s “So. Central Rain” to 1999’s “Daysleeper”. Later this yr, they carry the Fables tour to the UK. In 2026, they’ll tour behind Lifes Wealthy Pageant.
And so they’ve executed all of it with the blessing of R.E.M. themselves. Along with the 40 Watt exhibits, Stipe joined them onstage in Brooklyn whereas Buck performed two exhibits within the Pacific Northwest. “Listening to the fellows and listening to their interpretations of those songs reside for the primary time,” says Stipe, “one of many issues that was outstanding to me was how a lot they studied and actually did their homework, however what they’re doing just isn’t mimicry in any respect. It’s not a canopy band. It’s a lot better than that.”
“They made sounds no person else made”
“This complete mission has been stuffed with surprises,” says Narducy. “We by no means deliberate this factor out, and we didn’t strategise in any respect. Folks requested us to tour these R.E.M. songs, and the crowds confirmed up. All of it comes from a spot of affection. We’re not making an attempt to faux that we’re R.E.M. We simply love enjoying these songs. It’s sacred music.” Maybe that — together with the band’s hearty endorsement — is why so many followers have responded so intensely to the current tour. The musicians onstage are followers themselves, presenting the songs humbly however spiritedly.
“Each present I’ve been to, individuals are so joyous,” says Jen Tiernan, Affiliate Professor of Media and Communications at Minnesota State College, Mankato. A lifelong fan who first noticed R.E.M. in 1984, she spent her sabbatical following the band on tour. “For lots of us Gen Xers, R.E.M. had been such an enormous affect. We all know they received’t be getting again collectively, so that is as shut as we’re going to get.”
Shannon and Narducy have been overlaying R.E.M. for only a few years, however they’ve been enjoying different folks’s music collectively for greater than a decade. The pair met on the Hideout in Chicago again in 2014, introduced collectively by the alt.nation musician Robbie Fulks. “He had a Monday night time residency there and he would play a special present each week,” says Narducy. “I sat in with him lots. One time Robbie stated he wished to play Lou Reed’s Blue Masks and he introduced in Michael as a singer. We grew to become good pals and began going to exhibits and hanging out.”
After Fulks moved to Los Angeles, the brand new pals continued doing covers exhibits collectively, at the very least once they had time: Narducy was an expert touring musician with Bob Mould and his personal band Cut up Single, whereas Shannon was busy filming The Form Of Water and Knives Out. “We did The Smiths, Dylan, Neil Younger, The Trendy Lovers,” says Narducy.
However one thing clicked once they carried out Murmur in its entirety. There was sufficient buzz amongst R.E.M. followers that reserving brokers began asking them to tour the present. When Shannon and Narducy had some downtime, they assembled a band that included Juhlin, bassist Neil Macri and Mountain Goats drummer Jon Wurster, enjoying simply 9 dates in early 2024. “Once we did that tour, it was exhausting to inform what this factor was going to be,” says Narducy. “It was simply rolling the cube. Are followers actually desirous about seeing this group of individuals enjoying their songs?”
They dug into the songs, not merely replicating the components however placing their very own stamp on the music. They’re reverent, however not stiflingly so. Whereas the guitarists can moderately re-create Buck’s signature jangle, Shannon doesn’t sound a lot Stipe; his voice is decrease and grainer, bringing a terseness that matches the postpunk power. “They made sounds no person else made,” he says. “R.E.M. found out make sounds solely they may make. So these songs aren’t straightforward to play. There are such a lot of sounds floating round in there. We’re making an attempt to seize all these little gremlins.”
For Buck, watching this band carry out his band’s songs will be overwhelming: “A bunch of my pals have seen the present and so they all stated the identical factor, ‘Hey, that was actually nice. What do you concentrate on it?’ I don’t give it some thought. I really feel an odd wave going by means of me of that person who I was and the folks we was once. It was one thing that I felt in my bones once I heard them do these songs.”
“It’s scary as hell”
Simply earlier than all of them took the stage collectively on the 40 Watt, Shannon, Narducy and the band members met up with R.E.M. at their Athens HQ. “We ended having just a little Q&A and Mike Mills and I sat down and performed among the basslines collectively,” says John Stirratt, who joined when Macri was unable to tour for Fables. “I knew these songs rather well, however I can’t say I knew all of the bass components. So I requested him a bunch of technical questions and he was psyched to reply them.”
Past showing onstage with them, R.E.M. have provided good advices to those musicians overlaying their songs, mapping out guitar chords or telling the tales behind songs like “Excellent Circle” and even giving tips on their stage presence. What R.E.M. haven’t executed is dictate the performances. “I’ve by no means gotten the sense from R.E.M. that we’re not doing it proper,” says Shannon. “They’ve by no means stated they wished we had been doing something in another way. In truth, Stipe as soon as informed me that if I ever overlook a lyric, simply ask the viewers. They know all of the phrases and so they like to let you know. They discover it endearing.”
The Fables tour culminated in a pair of exhibits in Chicago — a homecoming for Windy Metropolis residents Shannon and Narducy. They performed Friday night time on the 1,100-capacity Metro, then closed the tour on the extra intimate SPACE in close by Evanston. It was their fourth present in as many nights, and everybody was weary. “Frankly, I used to be just a little nervous, as a result of I didn’t know if I had one other one in me,” Shannon admits. “I didn’t know if I might even sing. We had been all operating on fumes by then.”
Earlier than the present, R.E.M.’s supervisor and longtime pal Bertis Downs stopped by and gave the ragged band a rousing pep speak. “One thing simply took over,” is how Shannon describes it. They ran by means of Fables with contemporary depth, then performed a number of encores. They introduced out the street crew to sing “(Don’t Go Again To) Rockville”, and for “So. Central Rain”, Shannon and Narducy left the stage and wandered into the viewers, harmonizing along with no microphones and solely an acoustic guitar for accompaniment. On the finish of the night time they introduced everyone up onstage — together with superfan Jen Tiernan — for a rousing cowl of R.E.M.’s cowl of Aerosmith’s “Toys In The Attic”.
“I really like all these songs,” says Shannon. “I beloved them the primary time I sang them, and I beloved them on that closing cease of the tour. I’ll love them after we do them in London. They’re canonical to me, like The Beatles or Dylan. I really like doing it, nevertheless it’s scary as hell. It’s simply such an enormous accountability.”
Extra reporting by Anders Smith Lindall
