10.05.03 - 2:58 p.m.

R.E.M.'s MSG set list from Saturday night:

Finest Worksong
What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
Driver 8
Drive
Animal
Fall On Me
Daysleeper
Bad Day
The One I Love
World Leader Pretend
(Don't Go Back To) Rockville (with Mike Mills on lead vocals)
The Great Beyond
Country Feedback
Losing My Religion
Find The River
She Just Wants To Be
Walk Unafraid
Man On The Moon

Life And How To Live It
NYC (Interpol)
Nightswimming
Final Straw
Imitation Of Life
Gardening At Night
It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

Almost exactly 11 years after Automatic for the People was released (October 6, 1992), another Bush is in the White House and Michael Stipe is just as angry about it. That hasn't changed. But Bill's not there any more. Whoever's drumming does a fabulous job, but I just miss the four guys together. It's sad to admit that their music has lacked a certain quality since Bill left -- I know the words to Up if I'm singing along with the album, but I couldn't remember most of them on my own like I can do with anything from Reckoning or Fables. And it's also sad to say, but Reveal doesn't get a lot of play in my stereo. I think I've listened to the green Weezer album I bought the same day twice as often since the day of their purchase.

Quite a surreal experience to see all of Madison Square Garden rocking out to "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville." Not that I didn't expect the sensitive aging Gen-Xers making up the majority of the audience to know every word, but I was so ALONE in my R.E.M.-love for most of my formative years. It's what Bassett and I termed "The 'Harborcoat' Syndrome" -- there's this great song out there that you know every note and breath of, and you can't believe that no one else is familiar with this genius piece of work. When I was a ninth grader listening to R.E.M., everyone knew "Losing My Religion," but no one in my age bracket was interested in the back catalog. That was for people who'd left college (and college radio, when there was such an influential thing) long ago. The only people I had in my little fan-circle were my sister and my mom, both captives of my stereo domination.

God love that girl in front of us for dancing her little geeky heart out.

It was great. "Driver 8" was great. "Gardening at Night" was great. "Find the River" was great. They said they were working from a lot of requests from both emails and friends of the band as well as personal favorites, so it was a nice touch to see them working through a few nuggets that aren't specifically on the greatest hits album. And despite the raging snot-fest going on in my head, I was able to sing and dance (a little) and ignore the fact that I couldn't breathe through my nose. There probably aren't a lot of bands that could get me off the couch when I'm feeling sick but that, combined with the hefty price tag on these tickets and the presence of Bassett, were a pretty persuasive (hah) combination.

Scattershot thoughts, but I wanted to get them down before I forgot them in my semi-lucid sickness state. To interview, and then to nap.