A few weeks after the tour, Bertis spoke with Mark Merrifield of the Londonist.com about a variety of subjects including the tour, Hyde Park, and some of his favorite places to visit in London. The interview with Bertis is featured on their website today. Read the excerpt below and please click over to the Londonist.com for the full interview.
Interview: Bertis Downs
It remains unshakable, confident, sprawling, determined. There is a spirit and a soul here not found in other places, a remarkable spirit that makes London so special and civilized, even when things go terribly wrong like yesterday.
Bertis Downs, occasionally known as the fourth member of the band R.E.M., posted his thoughts about the London bombings on the Huffington Post website the day after they happened. Here, R.E.M.âs manager, legal counsel, and advisor, talks to Londonist, paying tribute to a capital with which the band have been closely associated for 22 years – from playing their first shows at Dingwalls and The Marquee, to last month’s majestic Hyde Park performance.
Talking to Bertis is an immensely pleasurable experience. Affable, relaxed, open; you wouldn’t have thought that he’d just guided the band and crew through 120 shows in 45 countries, fitted in a performance at Live 8, dealt with a bout of Mike Mills flu, and rescheduled the Hyde Park show whilst tearing up an entire North American tour to play the Vote For Change gigs.
Read more at the londonist.com