Last night E and I went to the Greek Theater in Berkeley to see REM. This is the second time we've seen then there, the fourth time I've seen them. It was a great show.
Modest Mouse was one of the opening acts, as where The Nationals. We only saw MM since we got there a bit late. They reminded me a bit of when I saw Live for the first time, at the WOMAD concert in 1994. I bet they are amazing in a small venue, but they just didn't have enough stage presence for a venue as big as the Greek.
REM was amazing, per usual. Stipe is just so cute, I want to scoop him up. It's always interesting to see what they do with the stage decoration and lighting effects. This time they were filming close-ups of them playing and singing and projecting it in real-time on various digital screens behind them.
They did a very nice mixture of classic songs and newer stuff. Stipe joked that this song was written in 1064 and things like that. They played one of my most favorite songs, "Driver 8." It's the first time I've seen them play it live and it was wonderful.
We didn't get home until fairly late, but it was worth it. I'm so glad that they are touring again.
