REM 6-9-84 Passaic 06. Seven Chinese Brothers

[Apelock]

For all the critics, you had to be there. These guys came out of left field +10.

[tuxedosponge]

@Apelock The Smiths and The Replacements seem to face the same kind of scorn. Having not been there, I'm glad I can still dig all three.

[Bugsy144]

It hurts my ears and every musical sensibility that I still possess. BUT THEY SUCK SO BAD I JUST WANT TO TELL THE WORLD. I WANT TO VOMIT. VOMIT. VOMIT. MOZART, IF HE WERE ALIVE, WOULD SHIT, PISS, AND PUKE ALL AT THE SAME TIME IF HE WERE FORCED TO LISTEN TO THAT CRAP. MOZART, IF IN HELL, wILL BE FORCED TO LISTEN TO THAT FOR ETERNITY, BUT WITH AN OUT OF TUNE ORCHESTRA OF BANJOS....that's howbad rem sucks.

[Bugsy144]

They really do suck. Americans will buy anything. You MUTHAFUCKERS out there who think this shit sounds good are FUCKING STOOOPID and DESERVE to listen to bad music.

[Bugsy144]

I don't get REM.The singer is out of key. If I had never heard their shit, and I walked into a club, I would ask for my money back. They really do suck. I just don't understand why anybody could dig the out of key homos. I don't care if they're homos, as long as they can play. But REALLY??? Jeepers creepers. Really. They're NOT energetic. They're NOT pretty. They're tone deaf. They have NO rhythyms to get a hold of...I just don't get it.

[yocornucopio]

@Bugsy144 Guy get a ears!! REM is the BEST!!

[quad1000]

I can't go back to college...but I can still listen! The best days of all, and what a great soundtrack!

[dubaiedge]

wow that a voice

[drummike77]

Chronic Town, Murmur, and Reckoning were a big part of my college years. I just wish I'd had one of those blue corduroy Future Farmers jackets like they had.

[molloyxx1]

I think the connection betwen REM and Nirvana is pretty fucking thin, certainly in respect to REMS best stuff, which is the early stuff. When they turn it up and thrash they verge on pathetic. Chronic Town was so odd.....like Talking Heads 77 and this cut is gorgeous.

[deejfun]

I don't think it is difficult to convince anyone that Bill is missed in REM. or by REM for that matter.

[campoxford]

i was there. so so so good.

[campoxford]

i was there.

[AFirmKickInThePants]

92 likes, 0 dislikes

it's good to know that people can still understand what great music is

[thegorn68]

I miss Michael's hair.

[ruthaylward1]

magic



[mad4cavies]

Thanks so much for posting the vids from this show! Classic footage that warms the heart.

[bunnyhead71]

Holy crap..Is that the Capital Theater in Passaic??? If so, I was at this show. I hardly remember it. What a shithole..

[gamba11]

y yo con estos pelos...

[goggles2]

This was my first REM concert. I think I still have the stub somewhere................

[painxtreme]

the unison note that Peter and Mike hit to end the song is purely sublime.

[ClueSign]

I would just like to admire Bill Berry's arms...okay, girls?

[getthedoggie]

loved 80's REM but I always thought they were overrated live.. saw them twice : terrible

[tquasa]

@getthedoggie How can that be? I think it's evident that they're pretty awesome live in this video, along with many others.

[FNTM3rd]

The most recent album is a return to the energy of Life's Rich Pageant. Hiring on Bill Rieflin (another drummer named Bill) seems to have revitalized them to an astounding degree. If you ever loved them, I recommend giving it a listen...or just look up Living Well Is The Best Revenge, on here!

[IrishEyedBlue]

It's good but it isn't as good as their older stuff. I like the R.E.M from the 80s and early 90s. : )

[bassmanjoe]

Hard to believe this was in New Jersey,

Passaic of all places.....:)

[lukepleaseshutup]

Dead ringer with the studio version.

These guys know how to put on a show.

[earinsound]

amazing--look at all those people. they really became popular VERY fast.

i liked them from "murmur" until "green" (my teenage years). i'm old school. :)

[notyanni]

@earinsound I agree man, and "GREEN" barely made the cut

[darkxhino]

rem= original alternative.

[BuddyKatt]

this is their signature song, and zevon should be in the hall

[GreasyFlight]

I was sitting in the backyard by the pool in Toronto one hot July afternoon listening to CFNY and heard this song. Never heard anything like it since...never anything so original...was great to be young...lifes soundtrack...

[AustinMark111]

Yeah, it's hard to convince the Gen-Xer's and younger that there would not have been a Nirvana but for the absolute groundbreaking effect of REM. Us 45 year-old professionals still think they are pretty cool!!!

[gratedane5]

i'm convinced!!

good music like this transcends time.

[funkmike]

@AustinMark111 Hey, dicknose: If you're 45 then you're a Gen-Xer too. And I've never met anyone from younger generations who didn't appreciate R.E.M. either.

[kaliyuta]

@AustinMark111 Wow! You've got to be kidding me.i'm a Gen-Xer who can't speak for all Gen-Xer's.However I've been a very great admirer of their great music.Especially their early work.I'm a Gen-Xer that liked Nirvana but i was more into bands like R.E.M.,10,000 Maniacs,B-52's and so on.I got my ass kicked a lot in school for it,but still.I'm surprised you would say something like that considering we're old enough to remember both Document and Green.Weird

[luv2fly71]

@AustinMark111 Sorry bud but you got it wrong about the Gen-Xer's. I am a Gen-Xer (1971) & have been listening to REM since Chronic Town. In fact, I thought REM was cool when people were listening to "Beat It" and "Purple Rain"... I was told that REM sucked and that Prince and Van Halen would rule the world.... blah blah blah. Anyway, my 9 year old son's favorites are "End of the World.." and "World Leader Pretend" and my 4 year old son tries to sing along to "Shaking Through." So there!!

[nicholsjoshua15]

@AustinMark111 I agree Nirvana was just a pissed off version of R.E.M. that couldn't preform even half as good live as R.E.M.

[deirnoel]

yeah, that was 'radio free europe' for me. game changing. everything else that was on WFNX in boston was great then too, but that song/album and the next few that came after were so original and definitely paved the way for all the early 90's seattle stuff.

[KevinHeaven9]

racist song

[carzyhorse138]

Are you serious?

[wellspout]

yes, bill!

[severrian]

Excellent-Makes me wish they would have toured in mid-sized halls forever.

[wellspout]

this is the fire to catch, folks, since there has not been anything like it since, the first 3 albums = no filler or additives (like synths), just the quintessence that rocks

[ord1711]

Their first three albums were some of the best rock albums ever. (Not that a band can't sound good with synths--take the Cure, or Joy Division or New Order, three great bands from this time as examples.)

[MTBbeer]

Rock on! IrishEyedBlue.....Michael is the American Morissey! I loved him at 20, i still love him at 40 something~!

[IrishEyedBlue]

Stipe's voice is great. It's so emotional. He is one of the best singers I have heard.

[drumsticks135]

I've always been a fan of their drummers sound.

[mbdstephco]

Does anyone know if an mp3 of this performance exists? This is one of the best shows I've ever seen!

[whateverhte]

yes, Bill actually may have helped with parts of Up as he was involved at early stages (which probably explains why it's a great record, or at least, much better than the next three). the old band dynamic was gone but they were all genuinely excited about that music, working for the first time with the synths they scrapped back when they fired Stephen Hague from Murmur. Green? It's just alright, like Document. Those are transitional. Their best is mostly 1982-1986 and 1991-1998.

[lithead]

I could listen to Dead Letter Office every day for the rest of my life. Especially the CD version, which has the Chronic Town EP songs .... but the first three albums, and headphones and drifting away sonically, into thee night ...how to get through decades of circumstantial misery without going crazy.

[omddeb]

Stipe looks really good with that long, shaggy hair. Never really thought of him as 'hot', but he does look pretty hot here. Great song, btw, haven't heard it in years.

[nusrathussein]

stipe is a bonafide fag. That means he likes to get his anal penetrated to allow silent farts.

I personally love lesbians.

[HumGuitar]

Agreed!!! Me too!

[qte10134]

guys..all downhill after green

[molloyx]

exactly, qte. Not a willful sell out but a general decline in simple creativity. That said, the very early stuff, this included, is brilliant and pure I can go back there whenever I want and they will always be kind enough to let my drunken ass inside the door.

[qte10134]

tank you

[crimsonwhite1]

yep.

[2eyes4]

Even if Bill would have stayed, that doesn't mean Up, Reveal and Around the Sun would not have been made.

[dinnerbucket9]

Nonsense lyrics or not, until GREEN they were a fucking delight.

[citehman]

fables and reckoning

true american folklore

[potatowave]

Fantastic! Would love to get a copy of this show

[earinsound]

REM at their height.... 1983 to 1987....:)

[cuculainn57]

i hear that the new cd "accelerate" which is out April Fools day is a throwback to their earlier music...lets hope so...this is REM at their best

[tarheel8494]

accelerate is fine...but it doesn't touch this stuff...it sounds like 'new adventures' era...with the exception of a couple of songs. The thing is, they didn't use a second guitar back then...and even though they were stripped down, they were more textured and artier...not just loud and fast, but simple and complex

[cuculainn57]

I have heard a little bit of "Accelerate" and I agree with you totally...its good not great...also I tried to get tickets to see them at the Greek Theatre here in Berkeley, California and the tickets were sold out in minutes...now going for huge prices on Ebay. I remember when going to a gig was affordable - you didn't have to sell a body part to afford the ticket price..a shame. Also what do you think about all this stuff about Michael's sexuality? What has that got to do with the music?

[dwichagee]

She will return

[adamdavid80]

Might well be the song that most emotionally resonates for me...in my enitre life. Very sad, moving, and evocative.

[dinnerbucket9]

Only the Oracle knows what Stipe is really singing....but thats allright as the music lifts us up and never fails and insists on a crack=pot kind of faith.

[filimail]

yeah...agreed all fantastic. bill is very much missed after this. thanks for sharing:)

[JLDB1987]

If you don't think Bill's playing has been missed, just check out these old videos REMchout has posted. His drumming was part of the greatness of early R.E.M.

[kaliyuta]

@JLDB1987 You're so right.Bands do try to emulate is "back drop" style of playing but can't come close.

[luv2fly71]

@JLDB1987 Yes and Berry, while not given much credit, was also a great song writer. "King of Birds" comes to mind.

[ClueSign]

Geez, Mike Mills bass, the rhythm in lock-step -- amazing.

[kohoutek84]

most emotional version I have heard of a very emotional song in memory of a lost friend

[nunzioforpresident]

one of the best rock-bass imho...

with andy rourke

[Ruda59]

"...wrap your heel in bones of steel..." "Seven Chinese brothers swallow in the ocean..."

[felicevbagnato]

Yessss

[alystyn]

One of my favorites of all time, thank you for sharing!

[ddoublled]

this is beautiful!

[BeginXtheXBegin]

Agreed, it's fantastic.