REM play wedding with Bill Berry (REM fan geek out thread)

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10.08.05
R.E.M. PLAY SURPRISE SHOW IN ATHENS!
The band put together an impromptu performance tonight in Athens at R.E.M
guitar tech Dewitt Burton's wedding reception. Roughly three-hundred
people packed into a tiny arcade room at the bowling alley where the
reception was held as Peter, Michael, Mike, and Bill Berry ripped through
a scorching seven-song set that included "Sitting Still," "Rockville,"
"Wolves, Lower," "Begin the Begin," "The One I Love," "Permanent
Vacation," and "Radio Free Europe." It was the first time the original
lineup has performed together since a concert in Raleigh, North Carolina,
during the In Time tour in 2003. Michael Stipe toasted the bride and
groom, Jackie and Dewitt, on several occasions throughout the set as the
reception guests yelled request upon request at the band--"Begin the
Begin" was requested by the bride. Asked what he thought about the set and
the evening, Mike Mills commented that "It was awesome to look behind me
and see Bill on drums."

i hate you so much right now. arrrrrrrgh.

and yes! stipe looks far too mike lovey

This picture is making me tear up, almost.

Aw, R.E.M.

hahaha!

That picture would be 1000X more classic if they were all wearing tux's and shit.

Michael Stipe looks so much like Mike Love in that pic you expect him to break out in "Help Me Rhonda" and start doing "the wave."

this article claims berry has been recording with the band again...let it be so

Also, re: the linked article - more on this, please:
But Bat Out Of Hell songwriter Jim Steinman's new group Dream Engine drew fits of laughter from the crowd during their bizarre set of rock opera ballads.

My favorite R.E.M. thread.

http://www.anniemayhem.com/blog%20pics/REM_wedding_10-8-05.jpg

I stand by my Beach Boys comment.

A friend of mine in the early 90s was friends with a guy who was in a band managed by a friend of Jefferson Holt (keep up at the back). They did one album which was released on Holt's label (and did nothing). My friend went to Athens, hung out with REM and beat Mike Mills at pool.

https://www.facebook.com/REMhq/photos/pcb.10153030852212984/10153030835687984/?type=1&theater

"We Love Tractor" and Baseball Project both playing Athfest.

Love Tractor has been rehearsing at Bill's house, and Bill and his son are performing with them tomorrow night at the 40 Watt Club.

https://www.facebook.com/luvtractor/videos/510763099566139/

Bill Berry's new band

https://www.stereogum.com/2202828/athens-supergroup-the-bad-ends-bill-berrys-first-band-since-r-e-m-announces-debut-album/music/

I love Bill obvs, but really stretching the definition of "supergroup" there just a little.

The “All Your Friends Are Dying” video also features cameos from friends of the band such as Mike Mills of R.E.M., Vanessa Briscoe Hay from Pylon, Jody Stephens of Big Star, producer David Barbe (Drive-By Truckers), and more.

If they were actual band members/collaborators, that would be one hell of a supergroup.

otm

whoa...haven't thought about Five Eight in...25 years. damn!

I love seeing all the Athens old-timers and locations in this video

maybe one has to be of a certain age to get the full effect, but lmao at "All Your Friends Are Dying"

Sadly, going 40+ years with all of your original core members in good health is too seldom a feat among rock groups.

The Bad Ends sound great! I just wish this benefit show was happening a month earlier as I'm headed to Athens over Halloween.

Threw on Document in celebration of Berry's birthday, he's so fucking great on this album and the mix highlights it. R.E.M. was possibly the first rock band I really fell in love with, and I played percussion all through school (at least until the end of high school) so I've always paid particular attention to his drumming. Even when it's percussion that doesn't involve a drum kit, I love the textures they add to any given song. If he's not my favorite rock drummer, he's definitely up there, like in the top three-to-five..

He's kind of the epitome of a rock drummer where he brings his own hard-to-define individual brand of funkiness to pretty much every track, which tracks would most likely be drained of magic had he been replaced by a "better" drummer.

Yeah, they had a really good drummer for the last eight years, but every drummer has a different feel!

Bill rieflin was an amazing drummer; the more live Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 recordings I listen to the more I admire him

Tbh I stopped paying attention at that point, maybe I should go back and have a listen

I like Rieflin a lot too but I mostly know him through my three favorite Ministry albums and King Crimson. (His appearance in the King Crimson documentary is very moving as he was very open about his dire cancer diagnosis and freely discussed it on-camera with the filmmaker.) R.E.M. had no problem finding great drummers, but the special chemistry they had before wasn't going to be replicated, partly because no drummer they hired was going to have the same creative input - impossible when they wouldn't have Berry's history or relationship with the rest of the band.

also Swans - that was my backwards introduction into finding out he was behind the kit for those later albums.

yeah i find Rieflin to be a fine drummer but his limitations really make Bill Berry's strengths stand out

Bill Berry is the epitome of a counterexample to the "Ringo Sucks!" school of obliviousness.

i'm trying to unpack that one... it's 2026 and we still have people in the ringo sucks camp?

Probably not on this borad, but out there in the wild I still encounter from time to time

I wouldn't really know how to explain why Bill Berry was great. Saying he had great feel seems inadequate.

Hearing the version of "Please Please Me" with Alan White on Anthology 1 was eye opening. Like Ringo was literally the difference between The Beatles being The Beatles and possibly sounding way more like...I don't know, Freddie and the Dreamers or something.