R.E.M. - Royal Albert Hall, London - 24/3/08
3/5
By: Tom Hocknell
It occurs to me half way through this seemingly short gig by R.E.M. that despite the blisteringly nippy and tuneful new songs, they are looking more like dads than ever before. And it does reduce their impact. Image is not everything, but they look like they should be asking for the music to be turned down, not up.
Seeing the men behind the music is not always a good thing, and one is reminded that bands preferring the studio can more easily prolong the suspended awe sometimes needed to retain the mystery of music. Of course R.E.M.'s last album, Around The Sun, was the most studio-based of their career and, despite disowning it during recent interviews, they play both 'Electro Blue' ("as a valentine's song to the 20th century") and 'Final Straw' tonight, both sounding admirably muscular and maudlin. That album also contains the sweeping, stuttered pop of 'Leaving New York' and the aching 'Outsiders', with Q-Tip, both highlights of their career, so despite it being admittedly underwritten at points, it is not the nadir they appear to believe.
However, despite the niggling sense that R.E.M are better these days suited to the studio, Stipe remains the quintessential front man; svelte and camper than I remember him, asking at one point "for the lights to be turned down my dear." "My dear?" He repeats, shocking himself at his diva-like demands. Otherwise his quivering lyrical stream of consciousness is present and correct.
The new songs, harking back to the vitriol of their independent IRS days, appropriately would be better suited to the venues of that time, smaller, sweatier affairs, as their punk-esque brevity struggles to fill the space. It seems REM, unlike the recent celebratory Cure gigs, are so keen to re-establish themselves as contemporarily relevant, they are ignoring the wealth of their past.
Amongst a middle purple patch they gamely play 'Losing My Religion' and soaring new song 'Man Sized Wreath', while the current single 'Supernatural Superserious' sounds like its trying less hard, and is the better for it. Recent set mainstay 'I Wanna DJ' and oldie 'Drive' skim by, again Stipe's intonation perfectly forming an integral part of the rhythm. They finish with a resounding 'Man On The Moon', but we are left with the impression that having paid £50 to see them warm up for the upcoming promotional tour for Accelerator, it should have been them paying us a little more respect, at least.
Artists in this article: R.E.M.
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