R.E.M.
Star Lake Amphitheatre, Pittsburgh PA
10th June 1995
Gear and taper: unknownÊ
Cassette transfer via Technics RSBX404 through a MOTU 828MKII into Logic pro at 24bit/44.1kHz. Tape hiss reduction by waves Z-noise. EQ by Kush electra and Kush clariphonic. Subtle level enhancement and dithering to 16-bit by slate digital FG-X. Freac conversion to FLAC and md5 files created by MD5.
* I got this concert in a trade back in 1996 and like some of the other shows IÕve shared recently IÕve never seen it appearing online. This is a really energetic show with a fantastic setlist. Whoever taped the show recorded it too hot so there are some parts that distort but IÕve tried to soften the effects of the distortion as much as I could. Two of the songs (Me in Honey and Tongue) are cut towards the end and there are a couple of other songs that cut at the end of the track but no music is lost. Perhaps these cuts were to accommodate tape flips. During Everybody Hurts it sounds like the taper moved the recording device as the sound is a little bit muffled compared to the rest of the set. Despite some of the drawbacks of this recording IÕm posting it because itÕs such a rarity in collectorÕs circles. Hopefully you enjoy it *
01 - I DonÕt Sleep I Dream
02 - WhatÕs The Frequency Kenneth?
03 - Crush With Eyeliner
04 - Disturbance At The Heron House
05 - Try Not To Breathe
06 - I Took Your Name
07 - Undertow
08 - Strange Currencies
09 - Me in Honey
10 - Michael Talks
11 - Revolution
12 - Tongue
13 - Man On The Moon
14 - Country Feedback
15 - Bang And Blame
16 - Losing My Religion
17 - Star Me Kitten
18 - Departure
19 - Finest Worksong
20 - Get Up
21 - Star 69
22 - Let Me In
23 - Everybody Hurts
24 - Band Intros
25 - Fall On Me
26 - So. Central Rain
27 - ItÕs The End Of The World As We Know It
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Do not profit in any material way from this recording.
**************end original text*************
Notes:
-It was apparently quite rainy. After Crush With Eyeliner MS "What is going on here? Are you wet? I'm just damp. And if there's one place I would like to be more than where I am right now, it's back there on the grass, without my clothes on. And someone pushes me down in the dirt and kisses me on the mouth and it doesn't matter who it is and I don't know what to do with myself so I just roll around and get more wet. This next song has nothing to do with my sexual fantasies, or the fact that it's been pissing down Old Testament rain all day". He goes on to note that D@THH was written during the Reagan presidency. This is the first time I know of that MS used the "Wish I was at the back of the venue..." which had many variations.
-After Me In Honey, MS "Nope we're not going to do that song. We're not a jukebox, we're a band. We're gonna play what we wanna play, and if you don't like it you can move to Wyoming or something. I thought you'd like that. So turn that shirt inside out I'm tired of looking at it".
-After Revolution MS interrupts his 'sending this out to boys/girls' commentary with "Don't throw money at me. I've got enough".
-After Bang And Blame MS "It's a real effort to come acroos as a warm human to 23,000 people. That being said, I have just one complaint, besides the rain: Someone over here smells like fried chicken. Can you shuffle that off somewhere because it's making me nauseous. I never liked fried chicken (?) growing up in Georgia I never ate it".
After LMR MS "Let me say one more thing and then I'll shut up the rest of the show. Last night someone gave me a video tape of this show in Great Britian called 'Stars In You Eyes', has anyone ever heard of it? No? Well let me tell you what it is: people that impersonate famous people come out and they do this act. They put on makeup and lips and stuff. So last night I watched I watched this videotape on the bus coming from...wherever the fuck we played last night to wherever we stopped last night...I know where we played I'm just kidding. Anyway this guy came on and they introduced him as Michael Stipe and he walked out and sang most of my words. He actually sang, he didn't lip synch it. And the frightening thing is you know up close he looked like an English guy (?) and he had this American accent that wasn't anything like mine but he was a good singer, but he was doing these moves. And...halfway through the song and I'm trying to remember the words, cause I'm tryin to extricate myself from the music stand here. So I'm over here trying to be real cool and I was also having to not do those moves cause I was thinking of that guy and it was gonna make me laugh and I was gonna fuck up and everyone would say we lost. Because you can't forget the words to Losing My Religion at an R.E.M. show or you're fucked". He goes on to dedicate Star Me Kitten "to all the people who haven't gone to the bathroom yet".
-Everybody Hurts sounds different than rest of tracks.
-After band intros MS asks for better weather when they come back, that after the last three songs they are going to go back stage and eat some microwaved food that has been sitting cold for three hours.
-MS states that they are subbing So. Central Rain in for an un-named song because it is about rain.
Grade: B