R.E.M. have broken up

[Maoilbheannacht]

Originally Posted by cobl04

You didn't get that impression when the idiotic thread with moggio was closed? No one gives a fuck.

Thats what I thought, no harm done.

[MrPryck2U]

Originally Posted by The_acrobat

Also it should be noted that REM played a show at the 15,000 capacity Jones Beach Amphitheater (or whatever corporate name it has now) in the NYC area in June of 2008, which was supposedly nearly full. Sadly, they just weren't a big concert draw. Which is strange, because they were so popular in the late 80s and throughout the 90s. In 2003 I saw them at a 20,000 seat amphitheater outside of Cleveland, and it was probably half full.

I was at that show at Jones Beach. The show was delayed due to lightning. It rained the whole night, but REM were full throttle. Michael's voice was in vintage form. The only thing that sucked was the rain. Especially since I wear glasses. Despite the weather, the place was packed to capacity. I also saw them at MSG in 2003. Great show and they sold the place out.

[cobl04]

Originally Posted by Maoilbheannacht

Thats what I thought, no harm done.

:bvs:

[MrPryck2U]

Originally Posted by lazarus

Uhh, this is the band that played Ignoreland every night on their last tour, one of the worst songs I've ever heard from a good band.

That's an anti-Bush Sr. song. Gotta like it at least on principle.

[Maoilbheannacht]

Originally Posted by The_acrobat

Also it should be noted that REM played a show at the 15,000 capacity Jones Beach Amphitheater (or whatever corporate name it has now) in the NYC area in June of 2008, which was supposedly nearly full. Sadly, they just weren't a big concert draw. Which is strange, because they were so popular in the late 80s and throughout the 90s. !

Thats true, but then again it is New York where the level of business you do there is usually double that of other big cities like Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, San Francisco etc. I don't think the Cure or Iron Maiden had second shows in the area like R.E.M. so that Jones Beach show is an important distinction.

In 2003 I saw them at a 20,000 seat amphitheater outside of Cleveland, and it was probably half full.

It's a shame, because they really were an awesome live band. They rotated their setlists so that each concert was different, and they really would play just about anything from their back catalog. Of course they have their own set of "warhorses", but The R.E.M. Timeline will show you that they truly put thought into their setlists and live shows. I'm so sad I'll never see them again

I agree, the change from the position they were at in 1994-1995 when they released Monster is stunning. They were red hot from a commercial stand point around the world at that time. The Monster tour was what everyone was talking about. First chance to see R.E.M. since 1989. The majority of fans at that point had never seen the band live given the massive surge in popularity that started in 1991.

What the hell happened to the fan base, especially in the United States? Collapse Into Now only sold 118,000 copies before it dropped out of the Billboard 200 chart in the United States after just 7 weeks. That means there are probably some states in the US where the album only sold a few hundred copies at best.

Of course, more people have the album than that, but unfortunately these days, the majority of people don't actually PAY for music because its so easy to obtain for free.

[The Panther]

Yeah, their fall from commercial grace (in the US, at least) is interesting, isn't it? It sort of reminds me of how 60s' generation stars were commercially washed up in the immediate post-punk / early-MTV era (the 80s, basically). From about 1982 to the mid-1990s, it was common for new albums by Dylan, McCartney, Joni Mitchell, etc. to chart around #30 or #40 and fade quickly. This, despite the fact that they'd been multi-generational platinum best-sellers just ten years earlier. It seems to rarely happen nowadays when everything is 100% post-modern retro recycled crap (and fools will pay $300 to see some washed-up band reproduced their greatest hits in the flesh), but back in the 80s this was common. R.E.M. seemed to be suffering that sort of "this-generation-doesn't-give-a-shit-about-us-and-neither-do-most-of-our-old-fans" thing.

[LemonMelon]

Well, it probably didn't help that the majority of those albums were awful. The 60s and 70s icons did not know what to do with synthesizers.

[iron yuppie]

Except for Pete Townshend.

[LemonMelon]

Townshend had great influences:

Terry Riley - A Rainbow In Curved Air [part 1] - YouTube

[Maoilbheannacht]

Originally Posted by MrPryck2U

. I also saw them at MSG in 2003. Great show and they sold the place out.

Actually there were more people at the MSG show in 2008 than in 2003, and the 2003 show did not sellout, even by the industry definition of the term.

R.E.M.
October 4, 2003
New York, New York
Madison Square Garden
GROSS: $759,228
ATTENDANCE: 12,842
CAPACITY: 13,801
SHOWS: 1
SELLOUTS: 0
Average Ticket Price: $59.12

Here is the Jones Beach show they played the day before the Garden

R.E.M.
October 3, 2003
Wantagh, New York
Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theater
GROSS: $378,690
ATTENDANCE: 8,853
CAPACITY: 14,105
SHOWS: 1
SELLOUTS: 0
Average Ticket Price: $42.78



Here are a few other US shows from that tour:

R.E.M.
September 6, 2003
Mountain View California
Shoreline Amphitheatre
GROSS: $332,786
ATTENDANCE: 9,380
CAPACITY: 22,000
SHOWS: 1
SELLOUTS: 0
Average Ticket Price: $35.48

R.E.M.
September 13-14, 2003
Morrison Colorado
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
GROSS: $560,914
ATTENDANCE: 10,823
CAPACITY: 18,900
SHOWS: 2
SELLOUTS: 0
Average Ticket Price: $51.83

R.E.M.
September 16, 2003
St. Paul Minnesota
Xcel Energy Center
GROSS: $393,401
ATTENDANCE: 6,306
CAPACITY: 10,000
SHOWS: 1
SELLOUTS: 0
Average Ticket Price: $62.39

R.E.M.
September 26, 2003
Chicago Illinois
United Center
GROSS: $623,695
ATTENDANCE: 10,641
CAPACITY: 12,500
SHOWS: 1
SELLOUTS: 0
Average Ticket Price: $58.61

R.E.M.
September 28, 2003
Auburn Hills Michigan
Palace Of Auburn Hills
GROSS: $223,783
ATTENDANCE: 8,216
CAPACITY: 15,064
SHOWS: 1
SELLOUTS: 0
Average Ticket Price: $27.24

R.E.M.
October 1, 2003
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Liacouras Center
GROSS: $343,512
ATTENDANCE: 6,262
CAPACITY: 9,105
SHOWS: 1
SELLOUTS: 0
Average Ticket Price: $54.86

R.E.M.
October 5, 2003
Mansfield Massachusetts
Tweeter Center For Performing Arts
GROSS: $385,685
ATTENDANCE: 8,490
CAPACITY: 19,900
SHOWS: 1
SELLOUTS: 0
Average Ticket Price: $45.43

R.E.M.
October 8, 2003
Fairfax Virginia
Patriot Center
GROSS: $287,204
ATTENDANCE: 5,330
CAPACITY: 8,124
SHOWS: 1
SELLOUTS: 0
Average Ticket Price: $53.88

R.E.M.
October 11, 2003
Atlanta Georgia
Philips Arena
GROSS: $620,838
ATTENDANCE: 9,988
CAPACITY: 12,788
SHOWS: 1
SELLOUTS: 0
Average Ticket Price: $62.16


Seems like they actually did better on the tour in 2008 in the USA than they did back in 2003 in the USA.

[KhanadaRhodes]

i'm going to kill you, cobbler.

[cobl04]

Not before I kill myself...

[LemonMelon]

Tour statistics have come to your little town.

[elevated_u2_fan]

I think we need some statistics on who cares. I'm thinking somewhere around 2-3%

[MrPryck2U]

Originally Posted by elevated_u2_fan

I think we need some statistics on who cares. I'm thinking somewhere around 2-3%

Yeah, I'm with you. Who the fuck cares?


Mao- At that 2003 show at the Garden, all I can tell you is when I looked around the place, it "appeared" to be full. Maybe a lot of people received free tickets and they weren't counted.


I'll just reiterate that I was fortunate to see them live three times and they were awesome each time.

6/22/95- MSG
10/4/03- MSG
6/14/08- Jones Beach

[lazarus]

[bollox]

I saw REM three times. I don't really remember what songs they played or if the shows were any good, but I'd LOVE to tell y'all what the attendance was and what the box office receipts were.

[lazarus]

Yeah, break me off the math or GTFO.

[Maoilbheannacht]

Originally Posted by MrPryck2U

I'll just reiterate that I was fortunate to see them live three times and they were awesome each time.

6/22/95- MSG
10/4/03- MSG
6/14/08- Jones Beach

I got to see them once in 1995. Great show! Any fans on here see them in the 1980s?

[u2popmofo]

Originally Posted by elevated_u2_fan

I'm thinking somewhere around 2-3%

There's no way it's that high.