Nov. 1, 1:39 p.m.: R.E.M. conquers Atlantic City

The band puts on a show that proves, once again, that there are few bands out there any better.

By: Hank Kalet
   R.E.M. does not hold the same place among listeners who are supposedly in the know as the band once did.
   The criticisms follow along these basic story lines: They haven’t been the same since a.) Michael Stipe came out, b.) drummer Bill Berry retired, c.) the band discovered the computer, d.) the band became a stadium rock outfit.
   While the criticisms are not necessarily without merit — "Up" and "Reveal" are relatively weak efforts in the pantheon of R.E.M. albums — they do seem to miss the point. They assume a conscious effort on the part of the band to be relevant in the way that music critics view relevance, or to be a big-selling band.

   But R.E.M. has never approached their music in that way. The band has always been about making the music it believes needs to be made at the moment it is making it. Whether the result is "Automatic for the People" or "Document," the band’s two finest albums, or "Up," which is better than most of the critics give it credit for being, R.E.M. has played by its own rules.
   Mike Mills, the band’s bassist, told Scott Cronick of The Press of Atlantic City in an interview that ran the day before the band’s Oct. 30 Atlantic City show that R.E.M. wants "people to enjoy something you work so hard on. You like to make an impact on people. But once you finish an album and turn it loose, all you can do is watch how people react." He added that "what’s most important for us is what we’re doing right now, not what we did in the past."
   Saturday’s show at the Borgata offered an energetic demonstration of what Mills was talking about in his interview, as the band mixed in new material with expected classics and a couple of surprises, touching on every album but "Murmur" and "Reckoning."
   However, the key to the show was the new material. Lead singer Michael Stipe, in announcing the mesmerizing "Boy in the Well," told the crowd the band planned to play some new material and that it would try to get to some old favorites. The seven new songs — in particular, "The Outsiders," destined to be a new R.E.M. classic — were transformed live. On disc, they have a ruminating quality, a softness born of introspection. But live, their intensity is more obvious, remorse turned to fury.
   Stipe was his usual frenetic self. Resplendent in white suit and blue or black Lone Ranger mask (it was the day before Halloween), Stipe wriggled and danced across the stage, mugging and posing during breaks in the lyrics.
   He dedicated "Maps and Legends," from "Fables of the Reconstruction, to a couple he met in the casino who were celebrating their 10th anniversary, which elicited a whoop from the crowd, and he .
   The rest of the band — Mills and guitarist Peter Buck were joined by Ken Stringfellow, Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin — were tight, poised and created a massive aural landscape.
   Buck remains one of rock ‘n’ roll’s underrated guitar geniuses, mostly because he eschews the big solo and instead focuses on using his instrument to color Stipe’s vocals, the guitar lines ringing and twisting through each song. The guitar line that opens "Bad Day," the band’s brilliant rewrite of "It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" from last year’s "In Time" greatest hits package, snapped the song to attention. On "Final Straw" from the new disc, which was recorded last year on the eve of the war in Iraq and available at the band’s Web site last year, his aggressive strumming undergirds Stipe’s indictment of the administration. And Buck’s mandolin playing on "Losing My Religion" had a snaking subtlety that lent the song an almost Eastern air.
   Buck and band had the volume turned way up so that even the softer songs from "Up" and the new disc smacked with sonic crunch and the Borgata’s Event Center, a 2,400-seat theater, offered near-perfect acoustics.
   The encores were brilliant, Stipe jumping on stage in a pro-Kerry T-shirt, and calling for opening act Angela McCloskey and her band to join R.E.M. as they sang "Happy Birthday" to Stringfellow, first in English and then in French.
   The band then ran through sizzling versions of "What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?" and "Drive," and a luminescent rendition of the current single, "Leaving New York."
   Stipe, acknowledging that the band had never been to Atlantic City, announced that R.E.M. would play a few more songs than they’d intended — as if the 23 songs already offered wasn’t enough. They he told a short story about how his parents would visit Atlantic City when his father was stationed in the area, though they couldn’t afford the attractions themselves (this was in the day before the Shore resort town had gambling). They would watch people play miniature golf and then watch them ride the rollercoaster, he said. And then the band charged into "I’ve Been High" from "Reveal."
   They also unveiled a couple of unreleased tracks (probably the highlight of a show that was all highlights), before closing with "Man On the Moon." The two cuts — a driving, almost rockabilly-style song called "I’m on a Permanent Vacation" that Stipe said was the earliest song they’d written but had never recorded, and a new song, recorded but unreleased called "I’m Gonna D.J." — forced the handful of people still sitting in the crowd to their feet, and were probably worth the $75 ticket price by themselves.
   All and all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday night and proof that no one should ever assume that R.E.M. has lost its relevancy.