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REM + Bright Eyes, Little Birdy Entertainment Centre, Wed 6 April  No
sooner had I paid an exorbitant amount for off-site parking, braved
the door queue and been directed to the wrong seat when all of a sudden,
out of nowhere, Michael Stipe wandered casually on stage to introduce
Little Birdy. And out the Perth-based quintet came, roaring quietly
through all of four songs (including previous hit singles Beautiful
To Me and Relapse) to quiet applause, and then they left.
It made me wonder why they'd bothered, really.After a sizeable posse of roadies came to take an inordinate amount of time assembling a new set of stage instruments, Stipe returned with much louder applause to introduce Bright Eyes. For many people (myself included), this was what we'd come to see, and whilst we could be by no means disappointed, it did seem that we were perhaps not given what we paid for. Conor Oberst, the man who to all intents and purposes is Bright Eyes, puts on quite a show; quite a short show, featuring hardly a song from either of his recently released albums (although even without the sultry harmonies of Emmylou Harris, Land Locked Blues was extraordinary), and neglecting previous hit Lover I Don't Have To Love. Still, this guy and his sizeable band were amazing; although I must say I was quite disappointed by the rather ugly Bright Eyes t-shirts at the merchandise desk. Like many people I was somewhat hesitant about seeing REM play; after all, they are one of the defining bands of my generation, and now they're old. This show, however, was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Free from the conservatism of his previous stage approaches, Michael Stipe returned sporting a bright blue stripe of paint across his eyes and ran around like a madman for the entire two-hour show. I was gobsmacked. And sure, the first hour was a little irritating, concentrating mostly on newer material - although their opener, I Took Your Name (from 1995's 'Monster') was brilliant. They had this problem with momentum - the crowd screamed at the first drumroll to Orange Crush only to have to endure two more insufferable new songs. Then there was 1987's amazing The One I Love, followed by more from 'Around The Sun'. However, they came back for the encore a different band. Rousing receptions for What's The Frequency, Kenneth?, Everybody Hurts and the incredible Drive took the crowd to a higher plane, and even though for me Man On The Moon was a slightly dull choice for a closer, by the time they'd finished, I had no longer any hesitation. REM have gone a long way to define the musical times in which we live and whilst they are no longer on the cutting edge, they're still up there with the absolute best.  |
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