Jones Beach Evacuated during REM show

[ghostieeee]

I WAS THERE

the concert was fucking awesome the lightning made it awesome hahah

[TeeneNY]

i was therrrrre. Best concert EVER. thank god they came out to play after all.

[ikmnj989]

such a good concert. It was pouring. I remember waiting for the evacuation to end, seeing people get drenched running to get souvenirs or food

[jferkfjkj]

at 7 seconds, when the lightning hits, if you pause it, it looks like daytime. it's a bit freaky

[aquacrush]

It's the end of the world!!!

[pjfan281]

lightning hit the roof, true. sparks flew, true. lightning hit the stage, false

[TheGreatGallbo]

Correct... the upper deck was like the scene from Titanic after that happened... people crying and screaming and all I could do was joke around and yell "Women and children first!" heh.. what a night

[rockythecat1]

the loud thunder crack and lightning was scary...we did go back to our seats...it was a great show...we didn't realize from where we were sitting that lightning hit the stage...

[surfsxupx3]

it did sound like a bomb. lmao

[surfsxupx3]

ahaha yeah i was under the overhang and it just cracked and they were like yeah we should uhh take a little break now lmao. i left after modest mouse too, but im seeing r.e.m. tomarrow at the garden :)

[faunaandkatie]

I was leaning on the barrier taking pix of Modest Mouse and it felt like the lightning hit the stage and sparks flew.

[dotheeEVOLUTION]

I was in the nosebleeds also, and I had just walked into the corridors (by the stairs) as the lightening struck. It sounded unreal! I jumped as soon as I heard it. Amazing show.

[baybwewe]

I was one of those suckers in the noise bleeds. The most excitement I ever got for 25bucks. An hour later we got a free upgrade ;)!

That lightning hit the roof and it sounded like a bomb going off! Everyone ducked and screamed!

[froggy1014]

concert was good but that HUGE crack of thunder scared the shit outta me

[DeathnoteGirl8290]

Eek, just remembering sitting out in the rain gives me chills... REM rocked, but the weather sucked... :O

[Chrisbaldassano]

I was in the upper deck, Lignting Struck the top of the stadium, about 100ft behind us.. I heard the POP POP BANG BANG BANG, turned around and saw the sparks flying off the top of the stadium.. I thrn turned to my wife and said, OK Lets go... and everyone scurried for the exits..

It was a great show when they came back tho.

[xfghtffyrdmnsx17]

that wasnt the lightning that stuck the place though this is after they were still palying when it happend

[DejaEntendu152]

best. show. ever.

[thebirdcage143]

o my god, i was in 22! i remember a bright red light and a bomb sound. Nobody got hurt right?

[thebirdcage143]

does any one know where the lightning struck?

[Altima0628]

I was at the concert. The lightning struck the back of section 20 (between 19 & 20). I remember seeing a bright light then it sounded like bomb went off. When I looked up I saw the lightning bolt and then sparks. Everyone went crazy. What a Night to Remember!

[neuralburn]

Section 23 row S here, i thought someone was hit!

[deborama19]

this sounds so great, PLEASE come back later this year REM!

[schwatto1]

You guys are forgetting about the National. I heard them for the first time on the way to the concert, and then we got there and I immediately fell in love. I stayed for REM and it was the best desicion of my life. They apparently haven't played "end of the world as we know it" since 2003. The rain gave the bands so much energy and you know they're going to remember the show. One of the best nights of my life.

[neuralburn]

The random lightning bolts during REM was awesome (and scary) too. Ill agree, the national sound awesome, fiddle players for the win :P

[TheGreatGallbo]

I don't want to hear they shouldn't be opening for R.E.M. That's like saying that Sonic Youth should have never opened for Pearl Jam.

But when a great bandd (such as R.E.M.) picks opening acts, they do it as a great sign of respect. And actually, I think Modest Mouse was gret last night, and the venue was fine for them. Especially for Johnny Marr

Oh, and btw... was anyone in the upper section when the lightning his the sound/light booth? I sweat I came 60 feet away from death

[pamcm1098]

I guess what i meant to say is that I'd rather see them headline and play for 2 hrs, and not be restricted to the back 50 ft. of the stage. I agree, they sounded great last night.

[neuralburn]

Yeah dude, my girl and i were up in the nosebleed section and nearly got struck: we came back in the rain huddled up in our beach blanket from earlier and rocked out that nite ;-)

[hofoandsarkensshow]

That was the most amazing concert. I was wearing a t-shirt, but I ran through the rain. When R.E.M. took the stage, Stipe said, "Welcome to Survivor R.E.M. 2008.", and played "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?".

Well worth the rain.

[thechairguy]

Wonderful show. I was soaked to the bone & sick to begin with, but they made the likelihood of pneumonia worthwhile.

[gomets51]

I was there, REM was amazing. I was in the top section when the lightning hit the theater. It was the loudest thing I have ever heard.

[Vitalogy7]

Fucking good show.. it's almost like the lightning struck in sync with some of REM's songs.. lol.

[adithya77]

AWESOME SHOW despite the shitty weather! I loved to seeing the lightning in the backdrop once REM came on stage and did what they do best!

[timkelly]

That might have been the best R.E.M. show I've ever been to! Well worth the wait in the weather.

[neenerweener792]

i was pretty wet, but it was definitely worth coming back to see "end of the world as we know it" . . . what an amazing concert. i think the lightning struck because modest mouse was so bad

[pamcm1098]

Neener, you and the other 10,000 REM fans should give Modest Mouse a listen. I've seen them 4 times, and would say that was a bad venue for them. They really are a great band...different, but good. They shouldn't be opening for REM. It seemed like my friend and I were the only ones there to see Modest Mouse.

[neuralburn]

Were you the guys upper floor way on the left jumping around? I think those were the only people i saw dancing at that venue :P

[mccarthyjon]

I didn't stay. At 9:45 while the guy on the radio said go back in, the lightning told me to go home:)

[1REMfan]

I can't believe they didn't reschedule. We left around 9:30 with ankle deep water and lightning. I was looking forward to that show for months.

[jkorn1]

REM gave a great show once they came on. They played great, Stipe's voice was excellent and they were fantastic, starting with "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" which f;lowed into "South Central Rain." Can't wait for the MSG show this week!

[xfghtffyrdmnsx17]

holy shit i was right next to where it hit only a few feet away one of the scariest moments ever

[bwall05]

R.E.M. came on around 10:15, played for an hour and a half w/o leaving the stage.

What a weird, wonderful night.

[PopArtist]

OMG, the weather was CRAZY, especially bad for a place as wide open as Jones Beach. But when they resumed and R.E.M. got on stage the show was fab! R.E.M. did a great job of keeping the crowd in great spirits despite the crap and (by then only somewhat) scary weather.

[asr8805]

O MAN! U GUYS DONT EVEN KNOW!!! i was in the upper deck couple rows from the back where the lightning hit. evry1 just hit the floor! one of the craziest things thats ever happened.

[immaffakee]

yeah, this sucked. i left after waiting a while, before REM went on. did you stay for them?