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Remembering Sanremo 1999

🇮🇹 25 years ago, this month, R.E.M. played the legendary 1999 Sanremo Music Festival in Italy on the coast near the border near France. For the only time, a rite of passage in that beloved country.

UP was ascendant: “Daysleeper” and “Lotus” were the setlist. The band was curious and amused, and everyone survived, helped along by the crowd, the over-the-top production, and running into Cher and Mikhail Gorbachev backstage – – no joking!

It was that kind of night, and Italy was always very very good to us 🇮🇹