R.E.M.
19 August 1987 and 03 September 1987
40 Watt Club
Athens, GA
via JEMS Archive

Lineage for both recordings: first-gen cassette > DAT 32khz > iZtotope RX master, clean-up and convert to 44.1>Adobe Audition>FLAC via Trader's Little Helper

{original text altered, 19 August setlist omitted here}

03 September:

01_intro
02_Finest Worksong
03_These Days
04_Title
05_I Believe
06_It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
07_Unknown
08_Disturbance at the Heron House
09_The One I Love
10_Begin the Begin
11_outro

R.E.M.:
 
Bill Berry (drums, vocals)
Peter Buck (guitar)
Mike Mills (bass, vocals)
Michael Stipe (vocals)

Before Rolling Stone magazine proclaimed them "America's Best Rock and Roll Band," R.E.M. were hard at work on earning exactly that honor. Their fifth LP, "Document," would propel "The One I Love" to number 9, and a U.S. tour would follow a shorter one in Europe. Before work, however, they stopped in twice to play unannounced sets at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia.

Opening first for Silent Peas and then Smokin' Dave and the Premo Dopes, R.E.M. previewed songs from the new album, ran through familiar ones, and even tried a few they hadn't finished. The music for "Orange Crush" is settled, but its lyrics aren't; "The One I Love," a 1986 tour staple, featured a new guitar-and-voice intro on the second night; and the still-mysterious "Title" makes both sets. Six songs floated in and out over the two appearances.

Soundboard versions of these shows circulate, though with some diginoise. Butterking took a shine to the first-generation audience recordings, made, we believe, with a portable cassette deck with a built-in mic. That made us think of Jared's adage that "a tape is better than no tape." The exception here is that both nights sound quite good. We applaud the taper not only for his second night request of the ultra-rare "Radio Free Lightnin' Hopkins," but also for his quick rejoinders to passersby who tried to interfere with recording duties. Jared would get a hearty laugh from these now, just as he did when he got these tapes some time ago. And it's a laugh we think of often.

A final note: typically, recordings that have been converted to 32 khz don't appear on DIME. We ran the particulars by DIME moderators ahead of time, and they kindly granted a waiver. Thank you, mods, for helping us get this out to fellow fans and collectors.

On behalf of my great friends at JEMS, we hope you enjoy this!

 - slipkid68

****************end original text*****************

Notes:

-MS before Unknown Song "This was written at 9:20 this evening".

-Taper notes MS is drinking a Bass Ale, and that he has to pee, which he does while continuing to record: "In the bathroom at the 40 Watt" before audibly taking care of business.  Sound is surprisingly good in the bathroom.