With the end of the tour, this blog will take a rest as well. Any news about R.E.M. will be reported on athensmusic.com, but this page will remain for archival purposes. The commenting feature will be turned off to prevent spam. Thanks for visiting ... and rest assured we'll be back with something special when album No. 14 starts to take shape.

With a rousing show in front of 80,000 fans at London's Hyde Park on Saturday, R.E.M. wrapped up their 123-show, 10-month, five-continent tour. We asked Bertis for a brief comment on where the band heads now. His response:

***
And now ... everybody rests

for the first time since 1996, r.e.m. will be taking a nice long break

Rest? Yes;
Side projects? Likely;
Back in the studio in the near future? Not very soon, but sometime. . .

It has been the best r.e.m. tour ever in so many ways....music, people, memorable moments, fun

And I hope we do it again before too long

Bertis, London, July 16th, 2005
***

A review in The Sun was downright gushing: "ROCK gods REM sizzled in the sun as their sell-out world tour came to a thrilling finale in London’s Hyde Park at the weekend. Thousands of fans were treated to a barnstorming Saturday night show as the US legends thrashed out their greatest hits in the capital."

The Guardian review gave the show five stars.

If it weren't for the London bombings, the band and crew members would probably be back home with family and friends starting a well-deserved break, but they have to wait a few more days for their finale at Hyde Park in London this Saturday in front of 85,000 fans. Perhaps that is a more fitting end to this world tour. A few links of interest:

• Bertis reflects on the bombings on huffingtonpost.com.
• R.E.M. joins the Daniel Pearl Foundation.
• The BBC interviews Michael and Mike (audio files included).
• You can watch video of R.E.M.'s performance at Live 8.
• An interview with Mike on IC Wales.

This story was passed along from the record label of Mardo, which was hand-picked to open the June 5 show in Graz, Austria:

The story:

So there we were, Mardo. Another day trekking across the country on tour, when we got the call... We had been moved up to the main stage at the Rock-am-Park and Rock-im-Ring Festivals in Germany, where the headliner is R.E.M. Very cool! Then comes the kicker... R.E.M. has hand picked us, Mardo, out of all the bands on the festival to go on and open for them in Graz, Austria on the 5th of June. Now this is unbelievable!

When we got to the venue, we did not expect the royal treatment being the opening act, but man, were we wrong. We were greeted, and then greeted even more by the R.E.M. crew and shown to our dressing room (which was first class by the way!) At show time, Peter Buck stopped to chat and wish us the best. We spent some time with him talking about Seattle, and how tight they sounded on stage. Very nice guy.... We played a blistering set and the crowds were going berserk! We later learned that some of the band were watching from the sides of the stage bouncing along with our set. ...

The full postponement story from today's Banner-Herald:

R.E.M. delays show after 'a sad day'

By Julie Phillips
julie.phillips@onlineathens.com

Athens-based R.E.M. postponed its Saturday show at London's Hyde Park in the wake of Thursday's terrorist attacks in London.

The band was in London when the attacks occurred, and R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs said he realized something was amiss Thursday morning when he couldn't get a cab.

"I've been on the phone and on e-mail ever since," Downs said Thursday evening. "Our hotel is overlooking Hyde Park, so we're kind of in the middle of the city. ... It's been a sad day." ...

From remhq: Due to the tragic circumstances today in London, the Safety Advisory Group for Hyde Park has agreed that R.E.M.'s scheduled concert for this weekend, July 9th, will be postponed until Saturday July 16th.

All tickets will remain valid for the new shows and an information line has been set up on 0870 060 1767. If ticket holders are unable to attend on the rescheduled dates, they should contact their point of purchase by 6pm on Wednesday 13th July for a refund.

Those who bought a ticket from getLIVE or Ticketmaster and need a refund should call 0870 400 0750.

R.E.M.’s shows in Ipswich (8th July) and Cardiff (10th July) will go on as planned.

With less than a week to go on this world tour, R.E.M. pulled some double duty over the weekend, performing three songs ("Imitation of Life," "Everybody Hurts" and "Man on the Moon") during the Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park (saying farewell, above) and then performed a full show at the Open Air Festival in St. Gallen, Switzerland (Stipe at left during the performance). Bertis sent a Postcard about the day to remhq.

The band has also been getting some good publicity out of the UK, landing some music magazine covers. More here.

The band's show this Saturday at Hyde Park will be broadcast on BBC2. I assume it'll be webcast. More info here.

The R.E.M. juggernaut keeps blasting through Europe. As the world tour starts to wind down, the band is running around the continent in high gear, playing almost nightly to sold-out and enthusiastic crowds, including the headlining slot at the Isle of Wight Festival (pictured) which more than one journalist called "stunning."

A couple of links:
• You can find a few new Bertis postcards and several pix from Messrs. Weber and Belisle on remhq.com.
• Here are a few great candid photos of Michael from the Guardian Unlimited, including one taken in his guest house here in Athens.

Some recent press:
• Michael Stipe: You ask the question (The Independent)
• REM perform Burma protest concert (BBC)

• Sheffield review (musicOMH.com)
• Glasgow Green review (The Herald)
• Glasgow review (Glasgow Evening Times)
• Manchester review (Manchester Online)
• A Mike Mills interview with The Metro (transcribed on murmurs.com)

"American Way," the magazine of American Airlines and American Eagle, features Michael on the cover in its most recent issue talking about Paris, one of his favorite cities in the world. Excerpt: "In 1983, a little-known rock band from Athens, Georgia, was rolling through Europe to promote its debut full-length album. What the quartet didn’t know at the time was the influence the trip would have on the band and the effect a certain city would have on its lead singer. That city was Paris, the band was R.E.M., and the lead singer was Michael Stipe. A curly-haired youth of 23 at the time, Stipe remembers the City of Light as being one of the most amazing places he’d ever seen.

"Between gigs, we sat down with Stipe at the bar at the Peninsula hotel in Chicago, where, armed with a laptop full of notes he’d jotted down about Paris for the interview, he proceeded to take us through the city that left such a vivid impression on him some two decades ago."

Full story here.

"Wanderlust" will be released as the fourth single from "Around the Sun" in the United Kingdom on July 11. It will be available in the following formats with the following special B-sides:

2 Track CD
1. Wanderlust
2. Low (alternate version)

Maxi CD
1. Wanderlust
2. The Outsiders (alternate mix)
3. Bad Day (live video from the screens in Zaragoza, Spain)

7" Red Vinyl
1. Wanderlust
2. The Outsiders (feat. Q-Tip)

Digital Single
1. Wanderlust (Album version)
2. Wanderlust (live from Santa Barbara)