In celebration of the band’s return to London Saturday night at Twickenham, we’ve put together a little video essay below which chronicles a small slice of R.E.M.’s vast performative history in the city, spanning the early 80s to their most recent stop in March 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall. London, like Dublin, has become a second home of sorts for R.E.M. over the years–from recording (see Fables of the Reconstruction in 1985) to the numerous European promotional tours which have always originated here, to fantastic concerts down through the years at places like Wembley, Milton Keynes, Earls Court, and Brixton Academy, Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park, and memorable concerts for Live 8, South Africa House, and the ICA…the band has seen a lot through their experiences in London–most of them great but, some tragic, as we recall being here during the bombings in 2005. Playing music seemed trivial then, but we were certainly glad to be a small part of the city’s collective healing process the next week.
What follows is a sampling of some of these moments, including some rare footage of TV appearances and interviews. So have a look at the videos below from R.E.M.’s time in London town, a place where the band has a rich history indeed.
R.E.M. at the Old Grey Whistle Test, 1984, performing “Moon River” & “Pretty Persuasion”
R.E.M. at BBC Live Lounge Performing “Munich” by Editors, 2008
R.E.M. Performs “Radio Free Europe” on The Tube, 1983
R.E.M. Performs “Everybody Hurts” at Live 8, 2005
R.E.M. Performs “You Are the Everything” at Wembley, 1989
R.E.M. Performs “Leaving New York” at Top of the Pops, 2004
R.E.M. Performs “Electrolite,” “Hollow Man,” & “Supernatural Superserious” at the Royal Albert Hall, 2008
R.E.M. Performs “Nightswimming” at Hyde Park, 2005
R.E.M. Performs Boxcars (Carnival of Sorts) at Brixton Academy, 2003
R.E.M. Performs “The One I Love” at Later with Jools Holland, 1999