Bill Berry (Temporarily) Back In R.E.M.
It’s all right for some: Getting married? Need a wedding band? Will R.E.M. reforming for only the second time in almost ten years and taking requests in front of just 300 people do?
The four original members of R.E.M. reformed last weekend (October 8) for a special set at the wedding of one of their roadies, Dewitt Burton. The performance is only the second time that departed drummer Bill Berry has joined Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills since he left the band in 1997.
The reunited four-piece played seven songs at Kingpins Bowl And Brew (pictured above) in the band’s hometown of Athens, Georgia, with Mills commenting, "It was awesome to look behind me and see Bill on drums.”
"By the time they got to the first chorus it was packed shoulder-to-shoulder," owner Ed Connolly told Billboard.com. "Nobody really knew it was going to happen. They didn't know if Bill was going to make it, and I don't know if they had a chance to rehearse."
"The beauty is it was in Athens on a warm Saturday night, with the band on the floor with no production," he continued. "I had three old disco mirror balls and they hung them up. That was the extent of the lighting show."
According to Connolly, the group had planned to play while the real wedding band were taking a break. Stipe toasted the bride and groom during the set and invited requests from the 300-strong crowd including one from the bride, 'Begin The Begin' from the 1986 album 'Life's Rich Pageant'.
This was the first time the classic line-up have performed together since a concert in Raleigh, North Carolina, during the 'In Time' tour in 2003 when Berry made a guest appearance after originally turning up as a guest of the band’s.
The set ran as follows:
- 'Sitting Still'
- '(Don't Go Back To) Rockville'
- 'Wolves, Lower'
- 'Begin The Begin'
- 'The One I Love'
- ‘Permanent Vacation'
- 'Radio Free Europe'
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