| J-Card Comment | It's quite interesting that over the years one of the most requested shows from the up Tour was not Los Angeles, it
was not Earls Court or Dublin, but rather Hungary. I would always find some Hungarian crawl out of the corner of the
internet and request this. It speaks plenty to either the level of R.E.M. fandom in Hungary or that I just might be
the most popular R.E.M. fan among Hungarians. I think it would not be wise to choose the latter.
I think that Hungary typifies about the average show that would come out of the Up Tour soundwise. In this particular
episode, we are treated with plenty of ecstatic fans that can keep a beat and even sing in English. Songs such as
Losing My Religion are given the star treatment as you can probably hear the fans more than the band, and while in
many situations this might be a negative thing, when you hear a song like Losing My Religion 200 times, you do not
hear it 200 times with a choir of Hungarians. I actually like it.
Some of the in-between song banter by the Hungarians is fun to listen to as well, and I will obviously be pleased if
there is anyone out there that can make out what is being discussed especially during 'So Fast, So Numb'.
As an American, I am always amazed when english-speaking bands can have as great an influence on the global society
as they do because you do not get that same type of respect for other cultural groups. While they might have a
limited audience, they are typically not the super groups.
Now, I do understand that America and Europe are two completely different monsters. In America, the main language in
Illinois is the same as Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, or Minnesota and typically it just comes down to the inflection or
whether its Coke, Cola, Soda or Pop. Do you pronounce Apricot like Ape-ri-cot or Ap-ri-cot.
Anyhow, back to this show, when I was compiling this show together, I decided to provide the entire show rather than
skipping songs for "Artistic" merit. As it has been determined by the industry elites, having someone sit for over an
hour and a half is way too long. It would have been easy to kill a song like 'Half A World Away' due to the fact it
was a bit of a rarity on the Up Tour, however, even the Hungarianites kept quiet during this delicate song, off a
very underrated album. It was also during this period where R.E.M. turned on the tealites and allowed everyone to
chill out to this and the insomniac induced Daysleeper and the REMring favorite Sweetness Follows. (There should be
no need to comment about this track, amongst you ringers out there reading this. Even Mr. Dave Sanchez changed his
typical rendition of "Get Up" during our morning office exercise plan to sing his acoustic version of "Sweetness
Follows" in Spanish. It's a hit.
(I am listening to the song right now from this particular show as I write this and it is giving me goosebumps. I am
not sure what else there is to say. Even the "ooooohs" from the audience just make the moment so perfect.)
And may I say something, for a moment this would be a great time to mention that R.E.M. should re-record Sweetness
Follows ala the live performance for the studio. This is not to say that the original sucks, far far from it, but I
would be awesome to listen to the song performed in this organic manner in the studio. The same could be said for
Country Feedback. R.E.M. should go through the tracks and cover their own songs.
Anyhow, enough of me talking, let's get onto the music.
1999-7-9, Budapest, Hungary
1. Intro - Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
2. Lotus
3. Wake-Up Bomb
4. So Fast, So Numb
5. Fall On Me
6. Suspicion
7. What's The Frequency, Kenneth
8. The Apologist
9. Half A World Away
10. Daysleeper
11. Sweetness Follows
12. The One I Love
13. Electrolite
14. Find The River
15. Losing My Religion
16. Cuyahoga
17. At My Most Beautiful
18. Finest Worksong
19. Walk Unafraid
20. Man On The Moon
Encore
21. Hope
22. I'm Not Over You
23. Why Not Smile
24. Crush With Eyeliner
25. The Great Beyond
26. Tongue
27. It's The End Of The World As We Know It |
