Forty-two years ago today, R.E.M. played their first show at the abandoned St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Oconee Street in Athens, Georgia.
I was not at that show. I was probably at home that night, listening to Supertramp’s Breakfast in America, or some such thing.
However, I was at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia in August 1983, when R.E.M. opened for the Police. I was 18 years old and two weeks away from starting college, so that day I became an excellent example of a prototypical ‘80s college kid R.E.M. fan.
For the next 28 years, R.E.M. soundtracked my life, through college and beyond. By the time the band amicably parted ways in 2011, I had seen them eight additional times. I had also gotten married, had two children and worked at the same organization for 20+ years.
Even since 2011, I’ve continued to listen to R.E.M.’s music, while keeping up with the activities of former members. A few years ago, I even had the opportunity to meet Pete Buck and Mike Mills at Johnny Brenda’s, a smallish venue where they played as part of Filthy Friends (Buck) and the Minus 5 (Buck and Mills). Those meetings were cool and low-key, pretty much the way I’d imagined they’d be.
Thanks for the music BerryBuckMillsStipe! As always, happy anniversary!
~217~