A postcard from two favorite places, Scotland, and Ireland, mid-September 2026
Well, it was a fun few days of hearing the timeless music of Lifes Rich Pageant, 40 years after being recorded in Bloomington Indiana, and now in 2026 performed on both sides of the Atlantic by the very talented players and great guys Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and friends (Check local listings, a few more shows coming up in the states in the upper Midwest)
Edinburgh was a city where I had stayed in a few times, but generally passed through to get to other places in Scotland. The band obviously they had a longtime history in Scotland with almost too many shows and venues and highlights to count. This one was a real treat because I was staying in Edinburgh for 2 full days, with time for lots of walking and exploring. I even took a fabulous walking tour led by Rick Conte of Rick Conte Walks, a graduate of the University of Georgia, who years ago became fascinated with the life of Benjamin Franklin especially the time he spent mainly in London, but also in Edinburgh. Learned a ton, a really fun way to absorb history I felt like I should’ve already known.
The show was in a very cool colorful club called Liquid room, kind of like some neon glowing catacombs well beneath the streets. I thought it was as good as I’ve ever seen that particular combo play and the songs, both in the main set of the celebrated album as well as the R.E.M. songbook of the extended encore, were super punchy and powerful.
But that show turned out to be the warm-up for my lucky two-show knockout punch, with Dublin being the one I will remember for a long time. The music of course, the band, the hall (Vicar Street), and as always in Ireland, that consistent extra element of the amazing and devoted audience. So much love for R.E.M. and their music and memories, especially strong in Ireland. The songbook part of the set included some serious fan favorites like Me and Honey, Carnival of Sorts, Sitting Still, and the one that ought to be seen by every R.E.M. fan worldwide is Country Feedback, including the impromptu Dublin Choral fadeout certainly was unscripted, but more than welcome.
Why would you go see a cover band of albums that are 40 years old? That’s a great question and normally I would probably be skeptical. But not with these guys, the way they play, their love and reference for the music which was some of what they grew up on, their joy and love of doing these shows. I think the best word to describe my feelings as I successfully navigated getting out of Dublin on a fairly heavy and gloomy day in some regards, is grateful, and happy.
Until next time,
Bertis
