1981
16 January 1981 - The Milestone, Charlotte, NC
Poster17 January 1981 - The Milestone, Charlotte, NC
22 January 1981 - 688, Atlanta, GA
30 January 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
set: Just A Touch / Sitting Still / Dangerous Times / There She Goes Again / Get On Their Way (Get On Back Home) / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Shaking Through / Wait / Windout / Gardening At Night / Ages Of You / Schéhérazade / Lisa Says / Mystery To Me (2 Girls) / Chappaquiddick
encore: White Tornado (Aunties Quilt) / I Can't Control Myself / Ska / Gloria - We're Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together - Respect / Tighten Up / (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 (w/ Paul Scales) / Shakin' All Over
notes: Michael Stipe says this is the first ever performance of 'Get On Their Way', which was titled 'Get On Back Home' at this show. 'Aunties Quilt' was the setlist name for 'White Tornado', & '2 Girls' for 'Mystery To Me'. Also the first known performance of 'Ages Of You', 'Shaking Through' and 'Ska'.31 January 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
set 2: Just A Touch / Sitting Still / Pretty Persuasion / Shaking Through / Get On Their Way / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Little Girl / Wait / Windout / Gardening At Night / Schéhérazade / Lisa Says / Mystery To Me / Radio Free Europe5 February 1981 - New York, New York, Augusta, GA
set included: (Theme From) The Monkees / Nervous Breakdown / Rave On / Tighten Up / Walk, Don't Run / Do You Love Me / Just Like Me / For Your Love / (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 / (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone / Gloria8 February 1981 - Bombay Recording Studios, Smyrna, GA
tracks recorded: Sitting Still / Gardening At Night / Radio Free Europe / Shaking Through / Mystery To Me / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Narrator / White Tornado
notes: R.E.M.'s first Recording Session with studio owner and producer Joe Perry.20 February 1981 - 688, Atlanta, GA
supporting: Joe 'King' Carrasco And The Crowns
set: Rave On / Burning Down / Dangerous Times / All The Right Friends / Get On Their Way / Different Girl / Permanent Vacation / White Tornado / Narrator / Windout / Gardening At Night / Mystery To Me / Radio Free Europe
notes: The earliest known video footage of the band playing live (with sound), from the archives of Wuxtry Records Dan Wall. Portions of this were first shown at the R.E.M. In Perspective: An Athens History, Seney-Stovall Chapel, Athens, GA on 21 October 2007, but the full footage was made available in November 2012. From comments made by Michael about a function at the University Of Georgia that occurred earlier that afternoon, it is most likely that it is from the 20th. White Tornado is introduced by Michael as 'Stronger Than Dirt', one of its many early titles.21 February 1981 - 688, Atlanta, GA
supporting: Joe 'King' Carrasco And The Crowns13 March 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
14 March 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
26 March 1981 - K.O. Jam's, Murfreesboro, TN
27 March 1981 - Cantrell's, Nashville, TN
support: The Ratz28 March 1981 - The Milestone, Charlotte, NC
31 March 1981 - Friday's, Greensboro, NC
notes: The bootleg 'T.G.I.F.' lists the show as this date, but is in fact 6 November 1981, although this show did take place, as confirmed by the poster.
About the venue itself, from an interview by David Fricke with Peter Buck on 15 November 1990 taken from The Rolling Stone Files book (pg. 114): "There was a place in Greensboro, North Carolina, called Friday's. It was a pizza parlor, and the guy had bands play. It was an L-shaped room; you could see through the bar to the ovens, with the guy with the long stick with pizzas on it, and see us, too. He'd charge a dollar, we'd get 150 people in there, and we'd get the door. People would let us sleep on the floor. There were clubs like that in every city".
Poster2 April 1981 - New York, New York, Augusta, GA
set 1: Rave On / Burning Down / A Girl Like You / Get On Their Way / There She Goes Again / Pretty Persuasion / Body Count / Different Girl / Action / Narrator / Hey Hey Nadine
set 2: Radio Free Europe / Sitting Still / Dangerous Times / All The Right Friends / Little Girl / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Windout / Gardening At Night / Wait / Schéhérazade / Lisa Says / Mystery To Me / Gloria
set 3: White Tornado / Just A Touch / I Can't Control Myself / 9-9 / Night Time / Pills / Nervous Breakdown / Baby I / Permanent Vacation3 April 1981 - Memorial Gymnasium, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
supporting: Joe 'King' Carrasco And The Crowns4 April 1981 - The Station, Carrboro, NC
notes: After this show, the band offer Jefferson Holt the position of full-time manager.6 April 1981 - The Pier, Raleigh, NC
10 April 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
set 1: Rave On / Burning Down / A Girl Like You / Get On Their Way / There She Goes Again / Pretty Persuasion / Body Count / Different Girl / Action / Narrator / Hey Hey Nadine / Baby I / Permanent Vacation
set 2: Radio Free Europe / Sitting Still / Dangerous Times / All The Right Friends / Shaking Through / Little Girl / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Windout / Gardening At Night / Wait (w/ Lynda & Cyndy Stipe) / Schéhérazade / Lisa Says / Mystery To Me
encore included: White Tornado
notes: Joined by Lynda & Cyndy Stipe for backing vocals on 'Wait'. This show was originally thought to have been from 10 January 1981, but has been attributed to this date instead because:
1. At the end of 'Get On Their Way' at the 30 Jan 81 show, Stipe says that was the first time they've played that - and sounds very basic as well - they called it 'Get On Back Home' - therefore it is an older set than the 30 Jan show.
2. The setlist is virtually identical to the 2 April setlist - it is easy to get the numbers wrong - 1/10/81 v 4/10/81.
This show can be found on the vinyl bootlegs "Georgia Peaches - Ripe!", as well as an edited version on "So Much Younger Then". The double CD bootleg "Tyrone's Athens 1981" also features the show, minus Rave On and White Tornado. 'Burning Down' comes after 'Action' on these bootlegs, however another recording has surfaced where 'Burning Down' appears to have been played after 'Rave On' instead. As such it is now accepted 'Burning Down' should be second in the setlist, and not after 'Action'.11 April 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
15 April 1981 - Drive-In Studio, Winston-Salem, NC
tracks recorded: Sitting Still (incomplete fast version) / Sitting Still / Radio Free Europe / White Tornado / White Tornado (incomplete version)
notes: First Recording Session with Mitch Easter. These tracks were recorded for R.E.M.'s 'Cassette Set' audio tape, to be sent out to clubs, magazines, and record companies. The Cassette Set features 'Sitting Still', 'Radio Free Europe' and 'White Tornado'. Also on the cassette are small clips of the fast version of 'Sitting Still', and the first take of 'White Tornado', which is halted half way through due to some wrong notes by Peter Buck. About 400 copies of the set were produced, of which 100 were produced with the 'Radio Free Europe (Radio Dub)'. These tracks and the Radio Dub Mix of 'Radio Free Europe' surfaced in 2011.23 April 1981 - Drive-In Studio, Winston-Salem, NC
tracks remixed: Radio Free Europe
notes: Remixing Session for 'Radio Free Europe' from 15 April by Mitch Easter, creating 'Radio Free Europe (Radio Dub)'. The mix was included on about 100 copies of the Cassette Set. This track & the other tracks recorded for the Cassette Set surfaced in 2011.24 April 1981 - The B&L Warehouse, Athens, GA
supporting: XTC
set: Radio Free Europe / Burning Down / Dangerous Times / All The Right Friends / Shaking Through / Body Count / Pretty Persuasion / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Hey Hey Nadine / That Beat / Sitting Still / 9-9 / Windout / Gardening At Night
notes: This was thought to be the 13 March 1981 show, but after unearthing a tape by Paul Butchart in 2011, it is now thought to be this venue & date.6 May 1981 - 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA
support: Oh-Ok
notes: 1066 Gaggle O'Sound show, Michael Stipe's solo noise project. Oh-Ok opened the show, in their debut performance.7 May 1981 - New York, New York, Augusta, GA
9 May 1981 - 'Beaux Arts Ball', Betts Auditorium, School Of Architecture, Architecture Building, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
notes: Playing at the summer ball whose theme was 'Lust In Space'. From the Q magazine R.E.M. special (pg. 118): "'Princeton Guys', recalls Buck. 'The young hearts and minds of America, walking around with big aluminium foil penises. We got five encores and people were throwing their metal dildos onstage'".12 May 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
notes: The CD bootleg "That Beat In Time" thought to be from this date is actually two shows, tracks from 23 July 1981 & tracks from 23 September 1981. Pylon played on this date, not R.E.M.13 May 1981 - Friday's, Greensboro, NC
22 May 1981 - 688, Atlanta, GA
supporting: The Swimming Pool Q's
notes: This show was the album release party for The Swimming Pool Q's album 'The Living End'.24 May 1981 - Drive-In Studio, Winston-Salem, NC
tracks recorded: Radio Free Europe
notes: The band return to the Drive-In with Johnny Hibbert to record overdubs for 'Radio Free Europe'.25 May 1981 - Drive-In Studio, Winston-Salem, NC
tracks mixed: Sitting Still / Radio Free Europe
notes: 'Radio Free Europe' and 'Sitting Still' are mixed by Johnny Hibbert for proposed release on his Hib-Tone Records label.2 June 1981 - Von Henmon's, Columbia, SC
set: Gardening At Night / 9-9 / Windout / Radio Free Europe / Shaking Through / Romance / Stumble / Pretty Persuasion / Laughing / Sitting Still / That Beat / Mystery To Me
notes: First known performances of 'Stumble' and 'Laughing'.2-3 June 1981 - Drive-In Studio, Winston-Salem, NC
tracks mixed: Radio Free Europe
notes: Mitch Easter mixes his own version of 'Radio Free Europe'.3 June 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
4 June 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
set 1 included: There She Goes Again
notes: The band played 2 sets.5 June 1981 - 688, Atlanta, GA
supporting: 9996 June 1981 - 688, Atlanta, GA
supporting: 999June 1981 - Bombay Recording Studios, Symrna, GA
notes: The band return to Bombay Recording Studios with Johnny Hibbert. They bring with them the two versions of 'Radio Free Europe', the one mixed by Johnny Hibbert, and the other mixed by Mitch Easter, and use the studio to decide which one to put on the Hib-Tone Records single. Hibbert's mix wins and can be found on the original Hib-Tone Records single. Easter's mix can be found on the 'Eponymous' compilation album.11 June 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
supporting: Limbo District
set: A Man And A Woman (Backing Tape) / Test Of Orthodoxy / Call To Worship / A Thousand Tongues / Bold Enough To Witness / Curb Of Trails / Wedding Feast At Cana
notes: First performance of 'Boat Of', with Michael Stipe. Featuring Mike Green on bass & recitation; Carol Levy on guitar & backing vocals, Tom Smith on tape, electronic drum pad & lead vocal; Don Fleming who contributed prerecorded organ & Michael Stipe on organ & recitation!. The first song was a prerecorded manipulated muzak version of 'A Man And A Woman'.16 June 1981 - Friday's, Greensboro, NC
17 June 1981 - Ritz, New York, NY
supporting: Gang Of Four
set included: Radio Free Europe / Stumble / Laughing / Romance / Gardening At Night / 9-9 / Mystery To Me / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Sitting Still / Burning Down / Body Count / Just A Touch / Shaking Through / That Beat / Pretty Persuasion18 June 1981 - Ritz, New York, NY
supporting: Gang Of Four19 June 1981 - Left Bank, Mount Vernon, NY
notes: the band were thought to be supporting the Gang Of Four, but the Gang Of Four were playing at Takoma Theater in Washington DC that evening.20 June 1981 - Emerald City, Cherry Hill, NJ
supporting: Bunnydrums, Gang Of Four21 June 1981 - The Bayou, Washington D.C.
supporting: Gang Of Four23 June 1981 - Agora Ballroom, Atlanta, GA
supporting: Gang Of Four24 June 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
supporting: Gang Of Four4 July 1981 - Club Foot, Austin, TX
supporting: The Judy's
support: The MakeJuly 1981 - Numbers, Houston, TX
set included: Whole Lotta Love
notes: The band were forced to play a version of 'Whole Lotta Love' for six people glowering at the band from the 'urine soaked dancefloor'.8 July 1981
event: 'Radio Free Europe/Sitting Still' 7" Single released on Hib-Tone Records in the US14 July 1981 - Ron's Place, New Haven, CT
16 July 1981 - Ritz, New York, NY
supporting: Wishbone Ash23 July 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
support: Oh-Ok
set 1: Hey Hey Nadine / Burning Down / Dangerous Times / There She Goes Again / All The Right Friends / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Body Count / Just A Touch / Stumble / Sitting Still / Wait / Narrator / Permanent Vacation
set 2: Radio Free Europe / Get On Their Way / Shaking Through / Romance / Laughing / Pretty Persuasion / Little Girl / 9-9 / Windout / Gardening At Night / Baby I / Mystery To Me
encore: White Tornado / That Beat - Ska24 July 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
support: Oh-Ok24 July 1981 - Night Gallery, Athens, GA
25 July 1981 - 688, Atlanta, GA
set included: Radio Free Europe / Sitting Still26 July 1981 - Cantrell's, Nashville, TN
6 August 1981 - Friday's, Greensboro, NC
7 August 1981 - The Station, Carrboro, NC
8 August 1981 - J.J.'s Music Factory, Greenville, SC
9 August 1981 - The Pier, Raleigh, NC
19 August 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
20 August 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
25 August 1981 - The Scorpio, Charlotte, NC
notes: This show was billed as "Charlotte's First Gay New Wave Disco and Costume Party", The Scorpio apparently being a lesbian bar. Tickets were $3 benefitting a variety of gay/lesbian charities.
Poster28 August 1981 - 688, Atlanta, GA
3 September 1981 - Colony Ballroom, Adele H. Stamp Student Union, University Of Maryland, College Park, MD
supporting: The Psychedelic Furs5 September 1981 - Cantrell's, Nashville, TN
support: Jason And The Nashville Scorchers
notes: This was Jason And The Nashville Scorchers 2nd ever show.September 1981 - Unknown Venue, Philadelphia, PA
16 September 1981 - New Pilgrim Theater, New York, NY
supporting: The Bloods
set: Ages Of You / White Tornado / 1,000,000 / Shaking Through / Romance / Laughing / Sitting Still / Pretty Persuasion / That Beat / Gardening At Night / Windout / 9-9 / Radio Free Europe / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
notes: First documented performances of 'Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)' and '1,000,000'.19 September 1981 - Emerald City, Cherry Hill, NJ
supporting: Bow Wow Wow21 September 1981 - Mudd Club, New York, NY
notes: This was a free show as mentioned by Michael during the New Pilgrim Theater show.22 September 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
set: Ages Of You / 1,000,000 / Shaking Through / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Body Count / Just A Touch / Little Girl / Wait / Sitting Still / I Can't Control Myself / Burning Down / Get On Their Way / Romance / Laughing / Pretty Persuasion / That Beat / Gardening At Night / Windout / 9-9 / Radio Free Europe / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
encore: White Tornado / There She Goes Again / Stumble - Ska - Saturday Night
notes: Vic Varney guests on vocals on 'There She Goes Again'.22 September 1981 - Night Gallery, Athens, GA
set: Backing Tape (prerecorded excerpt from WJIZ-FM, Albany, GA) / Worthy Of The Lamb / Boat Of Say (Put) / Sodomy And Splendor / Jesus' Name / The Richness Of Evening / Spur
notes: Performance by 'Boat Of' featuring David Gamble on percussion & vocals, Carol Levy on guitar & vocals, Sandra-Lee Phipps on percussion & vocals & Tom Smith on tape, electronic drum pad and vocals; choreography by Mike Green & Michael Stipe.23 September 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
soundcheck: Us And You (Instrumental) / Sitting Still / 1,000,000 / The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Stranded In The Jungle
set 1: Just A Touch / Ages Of You / 1,000,000 / Get On Their Way / There She Goes Again / Action / Wait / Sitting Still / Permanent Vacation / Mystery To Me
set 2: White Tornado / I Can't Control Myself / Burning Down / Shaking Through / Laughing / Romance / Pretty Persuasion / That Beat / Stumble / Radio Free Europe / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
encore: The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Stranded In The Jungle - Ska / Gardening At Night / Windout / 9-9
notes: Joined by Lynda Stipe and Cyndy Stipe on backing vocals on 'Wait'2 October 1981 - Drive-In Studio, Winston-Salem, NC
notes: The band arrive and set up their equipment.3 October 1981 - Drive-In Studio, Winston-Salem, NC
basic tracks recorded: 1,000,000 / Ages Of You / Gardening At Night / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars) / Stumble / Shaking Through / White Tornado / 9-9 (attempted but abandoned)
notes: Recording Session for 'Chronic Town', with Mitch Easter. Apart from '9-9' all tracks are available in some format or another. '1,000,000' and 'Stumble' made it onto the Chronic Town EP. 'Ages Of You' and 'Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)' can be found on the LP bootlegs Chronic Murmurings and Really Exciting Music and the CD bootleg The Essential Demos Vol. 1. 'Gardening At Night' was released on Eponymous. 'Shaking Through' is available on Essential Demos Vol. 1, and 'White Tornado' is on the LP bootleg Really Exciting Music.4 October 1981 - Drive-In Studio, Winston-Salem, NC
tracks recorded: Jazz Lips (This Is Jazz (Blow Nose))
notes: Recording Session for 'Chronic Town', with Mitch Easter. This song was referred to by name in the packaging for the 'Dead Letter Office' compilation, but wasn't included in the final tracklisting.5 October 1981 - Drive-In Studio, Winston-Salem, NC
notes: Mixing Session for 'Chronic Town', Mitch Easter mixes tracks.7-8 October 1981 - Drive-In Studio, Winston-Salem, NC
notes: Final Mixing Sessions for 'Chronic Town', with Mitch Easter.8 October 1981 - 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA
set included: Paint It, Black / Pills / California Dreamin' / I Was Just Watching / Through With You / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
notes: Joined on stage by members of The Side Effects, Oh-Ok and Pylon. Paul Scales joined on harmonica on 'Pills'.9 October 1981 - Von Henmon's, Columbia, SC
set included: Body Count / Just A Touch / Sitting Still / Hey Hey Nadine / That Beat / Mystery To Me / Burning Down / Romance / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville20 October 1981 - Friday's, Greensboro, NC
supporting: The dB's22 October 1981 - The Cellar, Queens College, Flushing, NY
supporting: The Bongos
notes: This show was advertised that it was to be broadcasted on WBAI 99.5 FM - it is unknown whether R.E.M.'s set was broadcasted along with The Bongos. If it was, it would be the earliest documented live radio broadcast.23 October 1981 - Zappa's, Brooklyn, NY
set 1: Ages Of You / Shaking Through / There She Goes Again / Laughing / Romance / Sitting Still / That Beat / Mystery To Me / Permanent Vacation / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
set 2: Just A Touch / 1,000,000 / I Can't Control Myself / Burning Down / Us And You / Pretty Persuasion / Stumble / Improv Instrumental (drum kit has a problem) / When You Were Mine (part) / Round Is Funny (part) / Gardening At Night / Windout / 9-9 / Radio Free Europe
notes: Described by Peter as one of the most pitiful moments in the band's career - "There were six people there. Maybe eight. The guy said he'd feed us, he gave us a box of Kentucky Fried Chicken that he'd sat under a drip in the ceiling so that it was covered in water; we lost $150 because we drank, and we didn't realise he was charging us for drinks; I got in a fight with a skinhead outside in the parking lot; and we got lost for four hours in Brooklyn before the show" - from It Crawled From The South, Marcus Gray (first edition, pg.43). When the drum kit broke down (while Bill was cursing & swearing), the band played an improv instrumental before Mike did a bass solo of Prince's 'When You Were Mine' then the band did Oh-Ok's 'Round Is Funny' before launching into 'Gardening At Night'.24 October 1981 - Left Bank, Mount Vernon, NY
supporting: Siouxsie And The Banshees
set included: Sitting Still / Pretty Persuasion / Gardening At Night / Radio Free Europe25 October 1981 - Mudd Club, New York, NY
notes: This was a free show, as announced by Michael at the Zappa's show.29 October 1981 - 688, Atlanta, GA
set included: Wolves, Lower (Instrumental)
notes: When 'Wolves, Lower' was played, Michael recorded the song from the audience on a walkman.31 October 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
3 November 1981 - Antenna, Memphis, TN
support: Barking Dog4 November 1981 - Cantrell's, Nashville, TN
support: Jason And The Nashville Scorchers6 November 1981 - Friday's, Greensboro, NC
set 1: Just A Touch / Burning Down / Us And You / Shaking Through / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / There She Goes Again / Permanent Vacation / Pretty Persuasion / That Beat / Mystery To Me / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
set 2: Rave On / Ages Of You / I Can't Control Myself / Laughing / Romance / Round Is Funny / Sitting Still / Wolves, Lower / Gardening At Night / 9-9 / Windout / Radio Free Europe
encore: Ska / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
notes: First known performance of 'Wolves, Lower' (with lyrics). This show can be found on the CD bootleg 'T.G.I.F' minus the encore. 'Round Is Funny' is an Oh-Ok song which is sung when the band have equipment problems. They play 'Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)' twice due to equipment problems during the song in the 1st set.7 November 1981 - Viceroy Park, Charlotte, NC
set 1: Just A Touch / Burning Down / Shaking Through / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / There She Goes Again / Permanent Vacation / Pretty Persuasion / That Beat / Mystery To Me / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
set 2: Ages Of You / I Can't Control Myself / Us And You / Laughing / Romance / Sitting Still / Wolves, Lower / Gardening At Night / 9-9 / Windout / 1,000,000 / Radio Free Europe
notes: 'Us And You' is a new song, originally arbitrarily called 'Ha! (We Get Paid For It)', & the title of the song is mentioned by Michael after the song finishes.11 November 1981 - 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA
set included: Treason / Meeting / Living By The Neck / Peter Pan
notes: Tanzplagen show. Band included Michael Stipe, William Lee Self, Neil McArthur, Linda Hopper & Lynda Stipe.13 November 1981 - 688, Atlanta, GA
support: Let's Active
notes: Peter Buck joins Let's Active during this, their debut show. In return members of Let's Active join R.E.M. for their encore.20 November 1981 - Cantrell's, Nashville, TN
support: Jason And The Nashville Scorchers23 November 1981 - Off The Wall Hall, Lawrence, KS
support: The Mortal Micronotz
notes: This show was originally thought to have occurred on 23 November 1982, however a poster confirms it as this date.
Poster24 November 1981 - Merlyn's, Madison, WI
set 1 included: Sitting Still / Mystery To Me / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
set 2 included: Ages Of You / 1,000,000 / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Wolves, Lower / Pretty Persuasion / Stumble / Gardening At Night
notes: Set 1 is incomplete, as the person who taped the show got there late. For those who have heard the show, 'Gardening At Night' is cut off due to the taper accidentally recording over the end of R.E.M.'s set with another artist, hence set 2 being incomplete as well. It's fairly safe to assume '9-9' and 'Windout' would have followed, with 'Radio Free Europe' or 'Ska' likely to end the set.25 November 1981 - Club C.O.D., Chicago, IL
26 November 1981 - Mainroom, Sam's, Minneapolis, MN
support: The Hypstrz
set 1 included: Romance / Sitting Still / Mystery To Me / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
set 2: Ages Of You / There She Goes Again / Pretty Persuasion / Stumble / Permanent Vacation / Gardening At Night / 9-9 / Windout / That Beat / Wolves, Lower
encore: White Tornado / Radio Free Europe / Ska
notes: R.E.M. were booked to play the smaller 7th St. Entry, but ended up playing the bigger capacity Mainroom (1,500) at Sam's (as the scheduled band didn't play) to 88 people. Sam's was renamed First Avenue a month later.
From an interview by David Fricke with Peter Buck on 15 November 1990 taken from The Rolling Stone Files book (pg. 114): "Minneapolis was very good to us from the beginning. We played to twenty people on Thanksgiving 1981, and every one of them came up to us afterwards and invited us to their house for a party".
Despite Peter's fond memories, there still seems to be a lot of heckling occurring throughout the show. During 'Mystery To Me' Michael adds 'Go home yourself!' and also 'Trying to look so cool/I Bet you think the Clash are really boss'. Before 'Permanent Vacation' Bill shouts 'We ain't faggots, we're Georgians'. During '9-9', half the audience seems to invade the stage, and some person can be heard howling into the microphone. When the song is over, Michael can be heard to say 'who the fuck are you?'. After 'Windout' he then says 'if anyone else wants to dance on stage you have to ask first'.
As if 'Ska' wasn't an unusual song already, on this occasion Stipe's lyric consisted of the phrase 'The opposite of plethora is dearth' for the most of the song, but not before someone in the audience managed to scream into the microphone 'come to Ann Arbor, Michigan!'.
In an interview a year later, Michael and Peter claimed that they accidentally hurtled themselves towards the drums, resulting in the drums, Bill, Michael and Peter all falling 10 feet off the stage onto 3 unsuspecting people, who being hardcore, loved it. Michael then claimed they stole Peter's shoes and made him sign them. Whether this is true, or something made up during a dull interview you can decide. It is not audible on the recording.28 November 1981 - Bunches Continental Cafe, East Lansing, MI
support: Dachau Club2 December 1981 - Underwood Auditorium, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
support: The Roys
notes: U2 show, as part of their October Tour. R.E.M. were supposed to open for U2, but were replaced at the last minute, & The Roys opened instead.3 December 1981 - Friday's, Greensboro, NC
support: Oh-Ok
notes: Tanzplagen show. Band included Michael Stipe, William Lee Self, Neil McArthur, Linda Hopper & Lynda Stipe.4 December 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
5 December 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
11 December 1981 - City Gardens, Trenton, NJ
supporting: Bow Wow Wow12 December 1981 - Tyrone's O.C., Athens, GA
13 December 1981 - Biltmore Hotel, Atlanta, GA
supporting: Bow Wow Wow31 December 1981 - Grand Ballroom, Cuban Club, Tampa, FL
support: Triple XXX Girls
set included: Gardening At Night / 9-9 / Windout / Pretty Persuasion / Wolves, Lower / Sitting Still / That Beat / There She Goes Again / Radio Free Europe / Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
notes: 'New Year's In New York', New Year's Eve concert which also included a fashion show. The show was also a benefit for WMNF-FM & the Playmakers Theatre Company.
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