Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.
The Internet (never wrong, right?) tells me that this is the earliest professionally shot gig footage of Athens' finest, REM. Recorded on the 10th of October 1982 at the Pier Club in the Cameron Village Underground, Raleigh, by cable channel WYFF-TV of Greenville, South Carolina ("your friend"), this is less than two months after the band's debut EP Chronic Town was released.
The audio has been EQ'ed to within an inch of its life, in a manner that may or may not be to your taste. What's undeniable, though, is the brilliance of both the setlist and the general time-capsulism of this absolute gem of a find. Completists should also note the moment the band's early producer Mitch Easter joins them on second guitar for 1,000,000.
I saw REM live twice, in the blistering heat of the Milton Keynes Bowl in 1995, and in a football stadium (of sorts) in 2005. But oh, to have seen them like this...
Were they ever really so young?
ReplyDeleteMike in particular looks like he should be getting ready to sit his GCSEs.
DeleteA group of us had tickets to see REM in Colchester in 1984. I was the designated driver and my car broke down en route, so we all missed the show - I was neither happy nor popular. I eventually saw them for the first time at Hammersmith Palais the following year. This 1982 footage is fantastic. Mike Mills does look ridiculously young.
ReplyDeleteI'm just going to make a note of "Neither happy nor popular" in case I ever decide to change the name of this blog.
DeleteWow. Found this recently which seems to be fairly new to the internet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjX7udu1SxE
ReplyDeleteOh, that's excellent. And Michael's hair, blimey.
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