That's me in the corner

If the me from now told the me from five years ago that I'd be at an R.E.M. concert and actually enjoying myself, I'd have punched me in the face and offered up a quip like "Gee, I guess everybody does hurt", or "What's the frequency now, bitch?"

Luckily, I don't have a time machine and I'm fully entitled to changing my mind on the subject. That being said, last night's show at the Molson Amphitheatre was pretty good at best. My friend Bill scored the tickets, and after realizing The National and Modest Mouse were also on the 'bill', it became a no-brainer.

The openers were solid, and the crowd was actually appreciative of the bands and showed the due respect. I think Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse wants to be Frank Black very, very, very badly... "then God is seven!!! then God is seven!!!"

A bit of rain started to come down between sets, or as I like to call it, "beer run", but it all cleared up before the Hall of Famers took the stage. R.E.M. makes four Famers live for me, including Santana, Prince and Bowie. It's interesting to consider that I've seen those four only after they were inducted... somewhere down the road a bunch of bands I've seen will be inducted and I can say "I saw them in their prime".

Oh, wait, U2 is also in the Hall. I keep forgetting, I wonder why. Make it five. And I did see them before they were inducted, though the Elevation tour can hardly be considered their prime.

Back to R.E.M., Ben Rayner wrote a terrific article about the show... I didn't notice the rainbow, but that would have been a perfect time to play "Everybody Hurts", which they didn't play! How do you not play that song during a rainstorm! I don't even like that song and I wanted to hear it in the rain!

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Here's the setlist, grabbed from an R.E.M. fan site message board

These Days
Horse To Water
What's the Frequency Kenneth?
Drive
Man-Sized Wreath
So Fast, So Numb
Ignoreland
Accelerate
7 Chinese Bros.
Hollow Man
Bad Day
Houston
Electrolite
Living Well
The One I Love
Final Straw
Until The Day Is Done
Let Me In
Begin The Begin
Animal
Orange Crush
I'm Gonna DJ

Encore:
Supernatural Superserious
Losing My Religion
Second Guessing
Fall On Me (with Johnny Marr)
Man On The Moon
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So no "Radio Free Europe", no "Everybody Hurts", no "Nightswimming", but on the plus side, "Orange Crush", "The One I Love", and "Losing My Religion".

Here's something I can't understand for the life of me: You pay $90+ for a concert ticket, then spend the whole show watching Michael Stipe through a two-inch screen. I don't get it... I think people need to be re-educated about what a concert is all about. I was there at the concert and this little YouTube clip doesn't bring me any closer to the show, despite the fact I wasn't all the way up to the front.

Good on Mr. Stipe for being cool about the yo-yos in the front enjoying their cell phones rather than the real deal, and still playing up the crowd and being everything you could ask for from a frontman.

My highlight from the show, "Orange Crush":