Confessions of a Fanboy

R.E.M. Accelerate Tour 05/23/08 Vancouver, CN: “Ignoreland” Debuts, 6 IRS Songs

Posted on May 24th, 2008 by Josh Hathaway

May 23, 2008 Vancouver, CN

For all of you who’ve grown tired of the nightly obsession over what Springsteen plays each night on his tour, I proudly bring you the latest Fanboy obsession: R.E.M.

The band kicked off their North American tour in support of their new album Accelerate and already I feel I owe a tip of the cap to 11. You guys think I’m a Fanboy? You ought to suffer through the myriad e-mails I’ve gotten from him assuring me that this tour is going to be an IRS-era lovefest. For weeks he’s been telling me the consciously retro sound of Accelerate would lead the band to fill the set list with songs from their formative ’80s years. I scoffed. I never denied some of these songs would be part of the set list. R.E.M. has become Springsteen-like on tour and are liable to play anything. I had no problem believing some of these songs would get played. 11 took it a step further and one night in he appears to have been correct.

Let’s take a look at a few of the songs played: “Second Guessing” and “Time After Time” (Reckoning), “Gardening at Night,” (Dead Letter Office), “Disturbance at the Heron House” (Document), and “West of the Fields” (Murmur). I didn’t mention “The One I Love” because it’s been played so many times over the years, but it also belongs in that group. “Get Up” is another from the ’80s but it’s from Green which was their first album for Warner Bros. and isn’t an IRS goodie but it is an oldie. All told, that’s six IRS sonsg from a 25-song show that saw the band play eight from the new album.

Also notable is that “Ignoreland” was played and while it’s my least favorite song from my favorite R.E.M. album, 11 says it’s the first time that song has been played. I’m not surprised. It fits with the political tone of Accelerate far better than it did on Automatic for the People. Speaking of AFTP, “Sweetness Follows” was played and that makes me happy. I fucking love that song. 11 says “Drive” was soundchecked but not played. We could be in for a wild tour.

All in all, it was a pretty strong set list to open the tour and we’ll be tracking the setlists for the remainder of the tour.

1. Living Well is the Best Revenge
2. What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
3. Ignoreland
4. Second Guessing
5. Gardening at Night
6. Man-Sized Wreath
7. Disturbance at the Heron House
8. Hollowman
9. Accelerate
10. West of the Fields
11. Houston
12. Electrolite
13. Losing My Religion
14. Time after Time
15. Let Me In
16. The One I Love
17. Country Feedback
18. Bad Day
19. Walk Unafraid