All-star tribute to Big Star in Carrboro to feature members of R.E.M., The dB's & Big Star!!

There is going to be an amazing all-star tribute to Big Star at the Cat's Cradle in December with a line-up to knock your socks off. The two-night show, dubbed Stroke It, Noel, will feature a fully orchestrated performance of Big Star's album Third/Sister Lovers.

Chris Stamey is organizing the event and will be in the band, which will also feature none other than Big Star drummer Jody Stephens, R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, Jeff Crawford (of a boatload of bands), Mitch Easter and The Tomahawks' Charles Cleaver as well as members of Lost in the Trees, Birds and Arrows and the North Carolina Symphony. There will also be guest vocalists including members of The Love Language, Megafaun and The Old Ceremony.

Stream R.E.M.'s new double live album 'Live at the Olympia'

The south's favorite college rock icons, R.E.M., have a new double live album due out on Tuesday, October 27 titled Live at the Olympia. The album features 39 songs recorded at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Ireland during the band's live rehearsals in 2007. You can stream all 39 songs now on NPR's website.

There will also be a deluxe version of the album that will include a DVD shot by Vincent Moon and Jermeiah titled This Is Not a Show. Check out the trailer for the film after the break.

The dB's among star-studded line-up paying tribute to R.E.M.

An impressive line-up of performers including Throwing Muses, Patti Smith, Glen Hansard, Kimya Dawson, Guster and Darius Rucker among many others, will pay tribute to R.E.M. in New York in March and the Triangle's own The dB's will be right there with them. The event will be held at the prestigious Carnegie Hall on March 11 and has been dubbed "The Music of R.E.M. at Carnegie Hall."

There really is no better band than The dB's to cover R.E.M., especially the early stuff. Here's hoping the show is filmed or at the least some stuff makes it on YouTube.

The event will feature music from R.E.M.'s entire catalog. Calexico will be the house band for the evening. Check out the complete list of performers (so far) at the bottom of the post.

Tickets for the event range from $38 to $125 for standard tickets and VIP tickets cost $275. Tickets are on sale now. 100% of the net proceeds for the event will go to benefit musical education programs for underprivileged youth. Find out more information about the event here.

The Music of R.E.M. performers:
Throwing Muses with Kristen Hersh
Kimya Dawson
Ingrid Michaelson
Darius Rucker (of Hootie and the Blowfish)
Glen Hansard (of The Swell Season & The Frames)
The Apples in Stereo
Marshall Crenshaw
Tommy James and the Shondells
Jolie Holland
Patti Smith
The Feelies
Keren Ann
Guster
Fink
The dB's
Bob Mould (of Husker Du & Sugar)
Rhett Miller (of The Old 97's)
Vic Chestnutt & Elf Power
Rachael Yamagata
Calexico

R.E.M play old favorites, get political

R.E.M. threw the audience at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre last night a number of curveballs during the set, including the opening song. The band opened with "Harborcoat" from their second album Reckoning.

The set included many older/unexpected songs including "1,000,000," "Find the River," "7 Chinese Bros" among many others. The band announced early in the set that they were going to play a lot of older material in honor of their close ties with the Raleigh area early in their career.

R.E.M. did play a number of songs from their latest album Accelerate (which we dig). "Living Well Is the Best Revenge," "Man-Sized Wreath" and "Houston" made their way into the set. Stipe explained that "Houston" was written about the president/federal government's shameful response to Hurricane Katrina.

That certainly wasn't the only political rhetoric during the show. Towards the end of the set, Stipe said that he was proud to be from the south when North Carolina voted for Barack Obama. Most of the crowd cheered while a small portion were more than a little angry — like the guy next to us who said "fucking Democrats."

While politics came up a few times, the night was really about the music. Michael Stipe's energy level throughout the show was amazing, especially considering he was wearing a suit throughout the entire performance in 90 degree weather. "Welcome to the R.E.M. Weight Loss Plan, 2008," Stipe told the crowd. He bounded around the stage, danced, interacted with the cameras and just looked really happy to be on stage. Mike Mills and Peter Buck both seemed to really connect with the crowd as well. There was an energy on stage that you wouldn't expect from a band that's been together for over 27 years.

During the six song encore the band spanned their entire career, opening with the first single from Accelerate "Supernatural Superserious" before launching into their chart topping 1991 hit "Losing My Religion." Next the band played "Pretty Persusasion" (one of my personal favorites of the night) from Reckoning and then invited Johnny Marr (of The Smiths and Modest Mouse) to play with them on "Fall On Me" from their 1986 album Life's Rich Pageant.

The special guests didn't end there though. The band brought out local music legends and former R.E.M. producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon to play on the classic song "Sitting Still" from R.E.M.'s debut album Murmur. Easter and Dixon produced and engineered the band's first two albums which were recorded at Reflection Sound in Charlotte. It was a memorable moment seeing all of these guys together on stage (but not quite as cool as Bill Berry showing up 2003. I'm sorry I missed that one).

The band closed with "Man On the Moon," a big hit yet not the best closer. It was entertaining to watch Michael Stipe do his Elvis impersonation over and over each time Elvis is mentioned in the song.

In the end, I left the venue blown away by R.E.M.'s performance. They are truly one of the great bands to emerge from the south.

[photo by Amanda Parrish]

Here's the complete setlist from the show:
Harborcoat
Living Well Is the Best Revenge
Bad Day
What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
1,000,000
Man-Sized Wreath
Welcome To The Occupation
Accelerate
7 Chinese Bros.
Hollow Man
Imitation Of Life
Houston
Electrolite
Walk Unafraid
The One I Love
Final Straw
Find The River
Let Me In
Horse to Water
Auctioneer
Orange Crush
I'm Gonna DJ
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Supernatural Superserious
Losing My Religion
Pretty Persuasion
Fall On Me (w/ Johnny Marr)
Sitting Still (w/ Mitch Easter & Don Dixon)
Man On The Moon

#remnc

R.E.M. turn the guitars up to 11 on Accelerate

Almost every album released by a veteran band gets hailed as "a return to form." Well on Accelerate, R.E.M. lives up to the hype.

The album kicks off with a fuzzy, Peter Buck guitar riff before Michael Stipe launches into assault style vocals. The intensity continues through the next two tracks. "Supernatural Superserious" is one of R.E.M.'s catchiest songs in years. It has a great verse riff, an infectious chorus melody and nice background vocals by Mike Mills.

"Houston" and "Until the Day Is Done" harken back to the acoustic sounds of R.E.M. on Automatic For the People.

"Accelerate" and "Sing For the Submarines" is a darker sound for the band. The guitar riffs are droney and more dissonant. "Accelerate" has an apocalyptic vibe. It could easily be used in a movie trailer for an "end of the world" type movie.

The album ends with two barn burners that are downright punkish. "Horse To Water" and "I'm Gonna DJ" rock from beginning to end and both clock-in at just over 2 minutes.

Accelerate is R.E.M. at their best. They've returned to their roots as a guitar driven band and regained the youthful energy that their early records had. After a few meandering records, R.E.M. is back.

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We finally have R.E.M. ticket info. The show at Walnut Creek with Modest Mouse and The National will go on sale this Friday (April 4) at 10AM. Tickets will range from $69 to $29.

The Roots, Eve 6 to play (separately) in the Triangle

It's barely spring but dates are popping up across the area that will take us well into the sweltering days of summer.

The Roots will play a free show at Duke University on Wednesday, April 23, for the university's "last day of class" party. In our experience, there's no sort of ID check to keep these shows students only, so by all means head out there.

In a move proving once and for all that they are totally out of touch, Downtown Live organizers have booked Eve 6 to play in Moore Square on Aug. 23. What should be a really cool event is instead a parade of past-their-peak rock bands. My hope of redemption lives on, but I'm guessing it will quickly fade as each new show is announced.

State Fair organizers are also already hard and work and have booked Jason Aldean, TobyMac and Joe Nichols for their weeklong Christian 'n Country extravaganza. This year's fair will be held Oct. 17-26.

In another Van Halen update, the show has now been re-rescheduled for May 5. We're not holding our breath.

And for those of you who are, like us, wondering when the hell R.E.M. tickets will go on sale for their June 10 show at Walnut Creek, we have no idea. But you'll be the first to know when we do find out!

R.E.M. comes to the Creek, brings big openers

R.E.M. have announced plans to tour this summer in support of their new album, Accelerate. One of these dates is at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre in Raleigh. It's amazing that there's actually two shows worth going to so far at Walnut Creek this year (see Tom Petty to play Walnut Creek).

The Walnut Creek show will be on Tuesday, June 10. R.E.M. are showing impeccable taste in openers by bringing indie giants Modest Mouse and The National out for the entire tour.

Accelerate is due out on April Fools Day (April 1). Here's the tracklist.

01 "Living Well's The Best Revenge"
02 "Man Sized Wreath"
03 "Supernatural Superserious"
04 "Hollow Man"
05 "Houston"
06 "Accelerate"
07 "Until The Day Is Done"
08 "Mr Richards"
09 "Sing For The Submarine"
10 "Horse To Water"
11 "I'm Gonna DJ"

For a complete list of R.E.M. tour dates, go to REMhq.com. Also, check out NinetyNights.com for cool videos of the band rehearsing songs, talking about their new music and other tidbits.