R.E.M.:Live 1984:

Live at Exo-7, Rouen, France, April 17, 1984

Sound: Very good audience

Time: Approx. 90 Minutes

Set List:

Ghost Riders in the Sky, Moral Kiosk, Crazy, Talk About the Passion, 7 Chinese Bros., Pilgrimage, Catapult, Letter Never Sent, So. Central Rain, Gardening at Night, 9-9, Windout, Time After Time (Annelise), That Beat, Mystery to Me, Little America, Pale Blue Eyes, So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star, Chicken Train, (Don't Go Back to) Rockville, 1,000,000, Barney Miller Theme, We Walk, Pills, Radio Free Europe

Comments: This is a legendary REM show and it does live up to the billing. The setlist is one of the best ones ever, and the set list is great! They even revive their really early, never recorded originals Mystery to Me and That Beat! The set opens unusually with Ghost Riders in the Sky, and is just classic, great live REM to the end. Recommended!

Live at the Marquee Club, London, England, April 30, 1984

Sound: Excellent soundboard (I can't tell!)

Time: Approx. 90 Minutes

Set List:

Pale Blue Eyes, Moral Kiosk, Burning Down, Letter Never Sent, Pilgrimage, 7 Chinese Bros., So. Central Rain, Talk About the Passion, Siting Still, West of the Fields, Gardening at Night, 9-9, Windout, Little America, We Walk, Second Guessing, 1,000,000, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Time After Time (Annelise), Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars), Chicken Train, Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)

Comments: This is a great, high-energy show in front of a crowd that is going wild! I have read REM didn't really crack Europe until 1989, but here it sounds like they already did! The set is great, with some nice surprises, like Time After Time (Annelise), and a GREAT version of West of the Fields. Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars) disintegrates and the band launches into a country spoof of Chicken Train before finishing the song proper. Nice concert! 

Live at Fox Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, California, June 24, 1984

Sound: Very good audience

Time: Approx. 90 Minutes

Set List:

Pale Blue Eyes, Second Guessing, 7 Chinese Bros., Hyena, Camera, Talk About the Passion, So. Central Rain, Letter Never Sent, Driver 8, Harborcoat, Good Advices, Pretty Persuasion, Gardening at Night, 9-9, Windout, Old Man Kensey, Little America, White Tornado, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Radio Free Europe, We Walk, 1,000,000, Femme Fatale, Moral Kiosk, Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)

Comments: Michael sang this whole show seated, as he had been swimming a few days before and stepped on a poisonous fish, so he was on crutches. This is a really good show, with new songs such as Good Advices, Driver 8, and Old Man Kensey being played. The set is interesting as well, forgoing the usual opener of Harborcoat for Pale Blue Eyes, relegating Harborcoat to the middle of the set. Good sound too on this one. 

Live at Music Hall, Seattle, Washington, June 27, 1984

Sound: Very good audience

Time: Approx. 90 Minutes

Set List:

Moral Kiosk, Driver 8, Catapult, Hyena, Camera, Pilgrimage, Old Man Kensey, Radio Free Europe, Little America, Talk About the Passion, 7 Chinese Bros., So. Central Rain, Pretty Persuasion, Gardening at Night, 9-9, Windout, Burning Down, Pale Blue Eyes, 1,000,000, So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star, Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars), Skank

Comments: A great energetic show in front of a very nice crowd. There is a perfect selection of material...I was VERY satisfied when listening to this show. The whole show rocks hard! Driver 8 is awesome and the ending is really great. The sound is good and adds to the rocking atmosphere. Bill and Mike are really tight and heavy and the entire show is just great!

Live at the Orpheum Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts, July 19, 1984

Sound: Excellent soundboard

Time: Approx. 90 Minutes

Set List:

Moral Kiosk, Driver 8, Catapult, Hyena, Camera, Pilgrimage, Talk About the Passion, 7 Chinese Bros., So. Central Rain, Pretty Persuasion, 9-9, Windout, Old Man Kensey, Radio Free Europe, Little America, Burning Down, Pale Blue Eyes, 1,000,000, So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star, Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars), Skank

Comments: An excellent show in a great sounding recording! The new Reckoning material sounds great and the unrecorded Fables songs and even for Life's Rich Pageant, Hyena rock hard! There is a great segue into radio Free Europe that is very dramatic before a rocking carnival of Sorts leads into a great jam of Skank for the closing. An all around excellent show featuring new, old and current material that blends different moods and tempos into an enjoyable concert.

Live at Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia, July 28, 1984

Sound: Very good/ excellent soundboard

Time: Approx. 90 Minutes

Set List:

Radio Free Europe, Harborcoat, Hyena, Sitting Still, 7 Chinese Bros., Letter Never Sent, Driver 8, So. Central Rain, Pretty Persuasion, Gardening at Night, 9-9, Windout, Old Man Kensey, Second Guessing, Little America, Pale Blue Eyes, We Walk, Behind Closed Doors, (Don't Go Back to) Rockville, 1,000,000, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Camera, Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)

Comments: A very good show with great crisp sound, although the first two songs start out kind of murky before it clears up completely. The playing is very fast and punkish in some spots, and gorgeous in others. Letter Never Sent is an early highlight, and with the exception of Peter starting Little America too slow and Mike's bass being in a totally different key at the beginning of Ghost Riders in the Sky, this is a good, well paced show.

Live at Foster Auditorium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, September 22, 1984

Sound: Very good audience

Time: Approx. 90 Minutes

Set List:

9-9, Windout, Talk About the Passion, Kohoutek, So. Central Rain, 7 Chinese Bros., Driver 8, Letter Never Sent, (Don't Go Back to) Rockville, Pilgrimage, Hyena, Just a Touch, Pretty Persuasion, Old Man Kensey, Radio Free Europe, Little America, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Second Guessing, Sitting Still, Femme Fatale, 1,000,000, Moon River, We Walk, Behind Closed Doors, Sweet Home Alabama, Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars), Skank

Comments: A very good and energetic show. There is hardly any banter with the crowd, but that characterized the whole tour, for the most part. There are quite a few new Fables and Pageant songs being aired for the first time, and there are some spontaneous covers, including a funny cover of their most hated band, a cover of Sweet Home Alabama.

Live at Page Auditorium, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, September 25, 1984

Sound: Very good audience

Time: Approx. 90 Minutes

Set List:

Radio Free Europe, Harborcoat, Letter Never Sent, Kohoutek, Sitting Still, Pilgrimage, 7 Chinese Bros., So. Central Rain, Talk About the Passion, Hyena, Time After Time (AnnElise), Gardening At Night, Windout, Old Man Kensey, Pretty Persuasion, Little America, California Dreaming, Wolves,Lower, Driver 8, 1,000,000, Moon River, Second Guessing, Oh Susanna, Jimmy Cracked Corn, (Don't Go Back to) Rockville, We Walk

Comments: This is a really fast and energetic show. The band plows through the set with a lot of energy and there are lots of great extended instrumental jam interludes linking songs together that add a more powerful impact. The new material for Fables and Pageant sounds strong, although not in the same arrangements that they would finally develop into. After some nonsense children's songs, they finish with two great versions of songs, including a favorite of mine, We Walk.

Live at Page Auditorium, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, September 26, 1984

Sound: Excellent soundboard

Time: Approx. 45 Minutes

Set List:

7 Chinese Bros., Catapult, Radio Free Europe, Letter Never Sent, Kohoutek, So. Central Rain, Driver 8, (Don't Go Back to) Rockville, 1,000,000, Hyena, West of the Fields, Old Man Kensey, Second Guessing

Comments: A good and powerful show, with a lot of earlier material being played as well. The Reckoning material sounds great at this point, and Driver 8 and Kohoutek are great newer additions to the set that the crowd is most likely not familiar with. This is not the complete show but all that's available, and it's very good. 

Live at Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1984

Sound: Excellent soundboard

Time: Approx. 90 Minutes

Set List:

Radio Free Europe, Hyena, Letter Never Sent, Camera, Gardening at Night, 9-9, Windout, (Don't Go Back To) Rockville, So. Central Rain, Little America, Second Guessing, Talk About the Passion, Wolves,Lower, Moon River, Ghost Riders in the Sky, There She Goes Again, We Walk, Behind Closed Doors

Comments: First off this is an incredible sounding soundboard recording; the drums feel like they are in your room and the guitars are crisp. The playing is fast and furious and Radio Free Europe rocks extremely hard as the opener! Hyena continues the fierce pace and the set has a minimum of pauses between songs, adding to the fast and exciting pace. There are many excellent segues between songs and the ending encores from Moon River on are a LOT of fun and rock hard to the end.