In the fall of 2008, things were kind of falling apart, especially in the United States, where the economic crisis/collapse a/k/a The Great Recession was in its early stages. But there we were, coming to the end of what turned out to be R.E.M.‘s final tour in Europe, that had started back in August at a hillside festival in Austria, playing with Travis….. now winding down in Madrid, Spain after several shows in southern Europe. And that had lots of drama with our hotel having our party checking in while Governor Sonny Perdue of Georgia (not a fan, then or now) and his coterie of aides and cronies on some sort of transportation scouting trip, checking in…. But nothing bad happened so that was good! As I remembered in a “Postcard from the airport” about that show in the bullring:
‘Madrid was magical, the place Las Ventas (very Verona Arena-like in dimensions and shape and crowd, but not quite as old!) is the premier bullring in Spain and quite a venue for a rocking show. Somehow over the years, Madrid always ends up being one of the best shows of the tour. . . 1995 stands out still, and last night’s was no exception. Wednesday night marked the first time this tour Man on the Moon didn’t end the show– for some reason the guys launched into an extended version of Iggy Pop’s classic I Wanna Be Your Dog.’
And all that brought us to “bonus week” which had been a tradition since 1995 where at the end of a European run, we purposely booked a couple of farflung dates that were impossible to route due to geography and logistics, except with fast jets and big shows. We flew to Istanbul for a couple of days off, walked around that fascinating, huge city for a couple of days, took a boat to dinner from Europe to Asia and back, and then the guys played a show on October 4, on the banks of the Bosporus. Security was heavy, the crowd was intense, and it was a memorable crowd and show. Afterward, everybody went back to the hotel and most of us stayed up till all hours to watch the vice presidential debate between the Democrat, Senator Joe Biden, and the Republican Governor Sarah Palin… we were ridin’ with Biden, probably needless to say, and it was a late night overlooking the straits.
(Athens, Greece: Soundcheck, photo Bob Weber)
(Athens, Greece: “Losing My Religion)
The next day was a fast one, with a daytime flight to the other Athens (Greece) and quite a final show to finish up the tour, live on MTV Europe, R.E.M., from the more than a century old Olympic Stadium, with a view of the Acropolis high on a hill in the middle distance. A typically boisterous crowd there and as a free show and a big stadium built that long ago, I cannot say it was stress-free or all fun and games. But it certainly was memorable and by the next day we were on our various flights home too wherever we live, and only had a little of the tour to go, mostly in South America, a few weeks away.
-Bertis
Watch a video of the band performing “Losing My Religion” in Athens, Greece.