R.E.M. Olympia 5th of July

"This is not a show, but a rehearsal of new songs flanked by some old ones you might know", thats how Michael Stipe introduced the evening. Nothing more and nothing less. We got a sneak peak preview of new songs for the next album. REM was trying them out for five nights in the Olympia, the Victorian theater on dame street. Armed with a laptop and net lyrics Stipe and co introduced us to the new songs which are all a bit more uptempo. The old songs they played were really old ones as most of them came from the first two or three records. Long intermezzo's on song meanings, faulty internet lyrics, stories of animals and audience questions made the gig feel small and cozy. Definitely not something to miss.