import_news_707.jpg

POSTCARD FROM HOME


�great to be back in the office after a long cycle of travel and touring, although somewhat overwhelmed by the avalanche of items greeting me, even in this digital age.

Impossible to summarize adequately the trip, but I tried to on a plane recently�

We are finished with it now, the

import_news_701.jpg

HYDE PARK CONCERT ON BBC RADIO THIS SATURDAY


BBC Radio 2 will broadcast portions of R.E.M’s monumental July 16th Hyde Park concert on Saturday, July 23rd at 9:30pm. You can click here for more information; the concert will be available on BBC Radio 2’s website for seven additional days after the Saturday July 23rd

import_news_697.jpg

HYDE PARK REVISITED


Uncut’s website, uncut.co.uk, has a cool feature on the band called R.E.M.: The Alternative Best Of in which they’ve selected 17 alternate tracks from the Warner Bros. catalog. Click here to have a look and see if you agree with Uncut’s selections.

We’ve also compiled a

import_news_695.jpg

MICHAEL’S END OF TOUR RANT


Well its over and we did it. It was 24 hours ago that we completed our last show of the tour at hyde park, rescheduled due to the immense sadness and tragedy of the london bombings. To witness first hand a city and people pull themselves up after

import_news_691.jpg

GET YOUR WANDERLUST


While R.E.M gets ready to rock Hyde Park this Saturday, Wanderlust, the 4th single from Around the Sun, has hit the summer airwaves and you can get your copy by clicking HERE for CD or Red vinyl or HERE for the digital download (read more)…

The band

import_news_693.jpg

CARDIFF REVIEW & LIVE 8 FOOTAGE


Be sure to read Murmurs.com’s stellar review of the Cardiff Show R.E.M played on Sunday at Millenium Stadium in Wales. Click here to read the concert review by murmurs.com correspondent Robert Andrews.

Also, murmurs gives a nice heads up on Live 8 video footage which you can view

import_news_689.jpg

BRIEF UPDATE FROM IPSWICH


A different kind of opening tonight in Ipswich, as Michael made a statement of commemoration and expressed the hope that the music tonight could, as it often does, be a form of healing, of remembrance, of a celebration of life…the band then went into what should be an inspired set:

import_news_685.jpg

R.E.M. ROCK THE RAIN IN HULL (late hull edition*)


Early reports from Hull indicate R.E.M is pulling out all the stops on another rain-soaked evening, � la New Plymouth, New Zealand, and Rock am Ring Germany, having already played Reveal’s beautiful paean to the heavens, I’ll Take the Rain, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Have You Ever Seen the Rain,

import_news_663.jpg

POSTCARD OVERLOOKING HYDE PARK, JULY 1, 2005


We have had quite a week…

Horsens, Denmark was quite a revelation. A 2-hour train ride from Copenhagen, near Aarhus in Jutland, it seems Horsens has been using concerts as a tourist/destination attraction. From what I am told, since the main prison of the country is there, some enlightened

import_news_673.jpg

MICHAEL ON MTV–G8 SPECIAL


This just in: Michael is one of several artists, including Kanye West and Destiny’s Child, asking British Prime Minister Tony Blair questions on G8 Summit themes on MTV’s program “All Eyes on Tony Blair,” which premieres at 8pm (ET) tonight. Please click here
for more detailed

import_news_675.jpg

R.E.M. READY FOR LIVE 8 (Updated)


After two exciting gigs in Germany, the band will enjoy back-to-back days off as they prepare for a whirlwind day of music and travel on July 2nd, including both a 4:05pm scheduled performance at Live 8 in London’s Hyde Park and a headlining slot later that night (10:30pm) in Switzerland

import_news_643.jpg

BRITISH PRESS ROUND-UP


Be sure to look for a wave of R.E.M press activity this week and next leading up to the UK dates in July. Uncut Magazine will not only feature three different R.E.M covers in their forthcoming issue but will also showcase three separate cover-mount CDs of songs chosen by

import_news_653.jpg

NIJMEGEN PHOTOS


R.E.M headlined the Nijmegen Rockin Park Festival last night, and we have some gorgeous photos to prove it. In the meantime, be sure to visit the Live section where you can browse photos from the entire tour dating all the way back to October 2004.

import_news_641.jpg

POSTCARD FROM THE HOMESTRETCH


We are enjoying the Scandinavian swing of the tour. On Tuesday, we dodged a bullet with the thunderstorms prior to the show at the beautiful Botanical Gardens where the band played. Then in Oslo and Stavanger…beautiful sunny evenings and packed, enthusiastic football stadiums greeted the band, and full-throttled,

import_news_635.jpg

MICHAEL ANSWERS QUESTIONS FOR INDEPENDENT UK


The Independent UK has a feature on Michael in which he answers fans’ questions about haircuts, Live 8, mistaken identity, British bands, and the role of artists in politics. Please click here to read more.