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November 05, 2004a strange thursday night last night, the day after kerry conceded the election, joe took me and our friends justin and brian to see r.e.m. in concert at madison square garden. i have to say that, for a rock concert, it was a somber occasion. the crowd still cheered for the band and got to their feet for their favorite songs, but even michael stipe acknowledged that he usually had more to say between numbers. "honestly," he said to the audience, "i don't know what to say, so i'll just let the music speak for itself." the crowd erupted in a roar of support and sympathy, but i imagine some isolated bush-supporters were saying, "yeah! shut up and sing!" still, expressing the sentiment of the majority of new yorkers, the band opened with "it's the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine)." when the song finished, the lights went down and stipe shouted, "thank you and good night!" which got a good laugh. during the concert, stipe introduced a few songs by indicating where they took place, his intro to "cuyahoga" getting the biggest response — "this song takes place in ohio." major boos from the crowd. by the same token, the "cuyahoga" lyric "let's put our heads together / let's start a new country up" got the biggest cheers. at the end of the evening, stipe thanked the audience again for coming out "on this strange thursday night" before launching into "man on the moon." i had a great time, but damn if i didn't feel like i needed to give the band a big hug afterwards. the set list:
encores:
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