Unregistered, Murmurs is now new!
Two features which are quite cool: Social Groups makes it all Facebook like and albums lets you have your own photo albums to share with friends.
ALSO: your profile is a full social profile now, letting you buddy list with friends and more.
COMING SOON: more cataloging of REM on the web including YouTube, Twitter and Flickr.
Just spoke to a lady in the ticket office at Twickenham Stadium.
She told me that Fan club members would be able to enter Twickenham Stadium at 1530 that is only 1/2 hr earlier than the general public.
There is no cordoned off area for Fanclub members or gold circle as done for other shows.
According to the lady I spoke to; there are no restriction getting to the front.
So just one general standing area.
Anyone been to Twickenham Stadium for a show with just general standing, how far could the stage be away?
Not sure what the advantage is in getting in earlier than 1600hrs when you go to the toilet or go for food or a drink later you might lose you position.
A podcast is available of Mike's interview with Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 5Live at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/mayo/. I haven't had the chance to listen yet - lunch break probably - but Mayo is, in my opinion, one of the very best interviewers around who also happens to love the band, so should be worth a listen.
R.E.M. play Cardiff International Arena this evening. Mobile signal allowing, I might try doing a couple of live broadcasts again - so, if you see a man with too much stubble and a black backpack holding a Nokia, come and tell me what you thought of the gig.
Quite separately, the Flickr tag for tonight is "remcardiff" and the Twitter hashtag is "#remcardiff".
Local bar 10 Feet Tall - on Church Street just off St Mary Street - is tonight holding what it's calling an "R.E.M. aftershow club night" - unofficial, of course.
Hi Everyone
Looking forward to Southampton next Weds and Twickenham the following Saturday. Tickets have arrived along with the wristbands. I have a question to ask those who have seen the band already this year.....is there a section cordened off at the front (similar to "the gold section" three years ago) for those with the wristbands or is it just a matter of them opening the gates early for us guys, so we can get to the front first?
Thanks
Rich
We did it our way... REM's rules of rock
By Louise Gannon
Last updated at 11:59 PM on 16th August 2008
How many successful bands have fallen apart over rows about money, drugs and egos? Here, REM reveal how a simple set of rules they wrote 28 years ago saved them from destruction.
Back in 1996, four former students from Athens, Georgia, made rock n roll history by signing an $80 million recording contract with Warner Bros the biggest ever in the business.
Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Bill Berry and Mike Mills otherwise known as REM instantly became the most valuable and richest musicians in the world.
Rolling Stone magazine quipped, And if youre ever wondering what REM stands for, its not Rapid Eye Movement, its Rapidly Earning Money.
When we meet, Stipe, Buck and Mills are about to perform to a sell-out audience at the Red Rocks stadium near Denver, Colorado, just one of many stops during their current world tour (drummer Berry quit in 1997, two years after collapsing on stage with a brain aneurysm).
Songs such as Losing My Religion, Man On The Moon and Everybody Hurts have become rock classics. Their latest album, Accelerate, is a critical and commercial triumph.
Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain described them as his inspiration. When Barack Obama was asked to name his favourite band, REM was top of his list. They are, unquestionably, superstars.
Yet in the reconstructed cave that serves as a dressing room at Red Rocks, Stipe and Buck are in the middle of a pre-show discussion about the amount of fruit and vegetarian food organised for the after-show party.
In the alternative reality that applies to most rock bands, its likely that fruit and vegetarian food would simply be code words for groupies and drugs. The Rolling Stones allegedly used mirrors and cushions; Mötley Crüe merely used the code one (cocaine), two (women) and three (alcohol).
It turns out, however, that when Stipe and Buck refer to fruit and vegetarian food, they actually mean fruit and vegetarian food. Its a small detail but, as Buck says, Its about respect'.
Michael Stipe
Roadies, technicians and the musicians in the opening bands need to be looked after. Anyone who enters REM World discovers what founder member Buck describes as a small piece of democracy where everyone gets treated the same.
Surely this cant be true. But an hour later, bass guitarist Mike Mills is quietly waiting in line behind a group of other musicians to grab a bottle of water.
Isaac Brock, lead singer in Modest Mouse, one of the bands supporting REM, shakes his head. These guys are pretty cool. A lot of big bands dont even speak to the support these guys are just, you know, around. Doors are open.
Peter Buck is sitting in a corner of the backstage catering area. He is 51, tall and solidly built, his dark hair is a shoulder-length tangle and hes wearing jeans and a leather jacket in the style of an artsy college professor.
Although the charismatic Stipe is seen as the focus of the band, its Buck who defines it. Born to middle-class parents in California, Buck grew up obsessed by rock n roll.
I never wanted to do anything but be in a band, he says. But to be honest, I spent my teenage years reading books on bands, finding out everything I could and just studying what I knew of the rock n roll world.
What I thought was that whole world was just bull****. You know, the tight jeans, the money, the egos. You could see how some amazing band would start out one way and just implode because of all of those things you were meant to be just because you were a rock star. Bull****!
After moving to Athens, Georgia, he met Stipe in the record shop where he worked, and they teamed up with fellow students Mills and Berry to form a band. What made their band different was that they had rules. Unbreakable rules.
Its not hard to work out that there are a few things that split up a band, says Buck.
Basically, its money, ego and drugs. If you know that from the start, then you avoid the traps.
The first rule was that all the money and all the songwriting credits should be equally split between the band and the manager.
'There are no faces on album covers, so no one gets the ego trip. Michael never wanted to lip-synch, so that was a rule, and none of us wanted to sell out, which meant all offers from advertisers got turned down flat.
We went into this all agreeing that we would rather be beautiful losers than rock stars.
'All of us have a pretty sharp sense of self and sanity. Weve never thought the image of a man in spray-on jeans with a bad drug habit is anything other than pretty stupid.
'Getting money, getting success that was never the point. When you dont do things for those reasons, then its easier not to be motivated by them.
'Im not saying we havent all had our moments (Buck himself had a well-publicised air-rage incident seven years ago), but the reason why were here, the reason why were still doing what were doing, is because all of us have pretty much stuck to the rules.
I like to think weve helped redefine what a rock star should be. We all still like each other. We all still like what we do. I have more money than Id ever want to spend, but I can walk down a street and not be recognised.
We started out living on $5 a day, and if I had to do that again, I could. When we were earning $150 a month, we got asked to sell our song for an advert for $25,000, and none of us even thought for a second about saying yes.
I grew up in an era of Nixon and corruption, then as a teenager I was hit by punk ideals. In the mix of it all, I came out wanting to live like a hippy.
I think Im just incredibly lucky to have made money, but I dont ever have a new car.
Ill travel economy and Ill check into cheap motels.
'Someone asked me the other day if I had a personal shopper. I was stunned.
'Not many bands get to their third decade. Sometimes the good guys win out' - Michael Mills
Im actually wearing quite an expensive jacket, because I had to buy new clothes a couple of months ago when all my luggage was lost the day they opened Heathrows Terminal 5.
'When they finally sent my suitcase back it was full of water and everything was ruined. I bought a leather jacket and some jeans, but theyre not designer labels.
You dont have to be that type of person. Going to the Grammys for me is a pain in the backside.
'Its a reminder of what the world thinks rock stars are, not the reality.
I have two teenage girls. The only things I buy them are books and music. Clothes are for Christmas and birthdays. They think thats cool. They dont expect to be Paris Hiltons because of their dad.
Id made more money than anyone in any generation of my family by the time I was 27. Its an interesting fact. Its not a thrill. Playing music is always a thrill.
Stipe with model Helena Christensen
Unlike Buck and Mills, Michael Stipe, 48, does belong to the world of celebrity.
But while I live a very fortunate life I pretty much do whatever I want to do, when I want to do it I still dont get to pull my pop-star attitude with the band, he says.
It wouldnt work. And thats a good thing. The insecurities are there, as they are with anyone. But fame has been great for me in finding some confidence.
Buck spent the morning walking around Denver unrecognised, buying his $5 lunch from a Mexican stall vendor near the citys train station, but Stipes cadaverous features, shaved head and vivid blue eyes make him instantly recognisable.
I dont think I carry a sense of false modesty nor do I have a huge ego, says Stipe.
And I get really tired of talking and reading about myself and seeing pictures of myself.
'Its weird, but I was pathologically shy when (REMs first two albums) Murmur (1983) and Reckoning (1984) were made. I could barely put a sentence together with people I knew, much less strangers. Imagine being a journalist trying to get two sentences out of me then. It wasnt easy.
'Im a fairly inarticulate person and Im incredibly insecure about it.
He is godfather to Kurt Cobains daughter Frances Bean Cobain, and was the first person Courtney Love called when Cobain, her husband, shot himself in 1994.
Cobain hasnt been his only friend to die. River Phoenix overdosed the year before and Heath Ledger died in January this year.
There was a recent piece that made me out to be this impossible person, but I was having a really bad week, and for a good reason. Heath, a friend of mine, had just died, and really tragically. It was obvious why I wasnt that excited about talking about my new pop record. But I answered the questions, you know.
Stipe, it seems, is drawn to troubled souls, yet he never discusses his friends.
You do what you can, is all he says. If someone wants to talk, you say how you see it. You say what you know.
'A lot of people out there have it hard. There are a lot of people just struggling to get by. You have to listen. You have to be aware; otherwise whats the point?
Stipe is also a relentless campaigner for human rights, green issues, gun control and animal rights.
You figure out the best possible way to present yourself, because theres the idea that a pop star has no right to voice their opinion.
'Im a pop star, for ****s sake! Im not going on television and presenting myself as some great academic or political thinker whos going to direct you towards the right path to follow and the right way to think.
Right now, Stipe has political issues on his mind.
Are there words to describe President Bush? he asks, rhetorically.
He shakes his head. Hes made our country not proud to be America. He just needs to get out of the White House. We need to move on to better times. We have to believe better times are ahead.
Stipe who, like Mills, still lives in Athens believes the success of REM is the result of having standards.
We all agreed to stick to what we believed in. There are only temptations if you dont know exactly what you believe in. Its true that money, drugs and egos wreck bands.
'Peter and Mike were completely clear on that from the outset. Im glad of that. I could never have worked with anyone else. I know that I would not be alive if my first record had sold five million.
'In those days, I did everything in the extreme. I was in self-destruct mode back then, and that kind of big success would have been extremely dangerous.
There are so many assumptions about how you should live your life if youre a rock star. That you have to go out and buy a mansion or a Maserati to prove to yourself youve arrived. Says who?
The amazing thing is that you are in a position to do more. Its great to be able to do what you believe in.
Stipe has invested in several movies, including Being John Malkovich, and recently
held his debut art show, featuring bronze sculptures of obsolete modern technology, including cassette tapes, cameras and a clock radio, some of which will be displayed on the new 3G iPhone.
Openly gay, he lives a fairly modest life. No flash cars, no sprawling mansion, no collection of fine wines.
I do have collections, he says. I collect flight boarding passes and hotel cards. Now you get boarding passes on fax paper. I had to go up to the guy at check-in and ask for a proper one. Hardly a diva demand.
A few hours later, on stage, Stipe is ecstatic.
Barack Obama is going to be the next president of America, he announces to the crowd. Hillary Clinton has backed out. This is a great day.
He says later, Im buoyed by Obama, as I think hes arriving at a time when people have lost faith in Washington and politics.
'He is not beholden to anyone. Theres something there that speaks of a level-headedness and competence that I respond to. I really hope he becomes the next president.
Later, backstage, bass guitarist Mike Mills, 49, says, REMs greatest achievement is not how much money weve made its that were here.
'Were family, were making music. Were making people happy. There have been times along the way when the easiest thing for each of us at some particular stage would have been to bow out.
'But none of us ever did. We all saw the bigger picture, which is here, now.
Not many bands get to their third decade. We never expected this.
'There was no plan, except we all knew we would absolutely refuse to do anything we didnt want to do.
'Sometimes the good guys win out.
REMs single Man-Sized Wreath is out now. The band tour the UK from August 24, for dates visit remhq.com
From REMhq
R.E.M. has added a show at the Nokia Theatre in Dallas to their current world tour in support of ACCELERATE. The show will take place on October 24th and will include support from Dallas band Old 97s. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, August 22nd. Fan Club and Online Fan Community sales will take place on Monday and Tuesday (August 18th and 19th) next week.
Please stay tuned for further tour announcements in the coming days.
The promoters of this event have informed us that, due to unforeseen circumstances, the R.E.M. event at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff will move to Cardiff International Arena. The date of the event remains the same; Monday 25 August 2008.
You dont need to take any further action; your new tickets for the CIA are being printed and will be sent out to you as quickly as possible. Fans who bought seated tickets from us will get seats in the new venue.
Should you not wish to go to the new venue then we are able to offer a refund on requests received by 17:00 on Friday 8th August. Please email remtickets@sandbag.uk.com confirming your order number.
REM have revealed they're happy being seen as a geeky group.
In fact, lead singer Michael Stipe has said it's their strong point and that the band, currently on the European leg of a world tour to promote new album 'Accelerate', are never going to be seen as cool.
He said: "We are always going to be an imperfect, weird and geeky outfit. We were that way to begin with and, to a large degree, always will be."
Stipe then added: "In fact that may be one of our strengths. Hard as we may try to make something supercool, it's just not going to happen."
Speaking to the Mirror.co.uk Stipe also said the American trio look to their past records when writing a new album.
He said: "Every time we make a new album I listen to old REM records. What I usually hear are the mistakes, and that's not something I want to repeat."
Stipe also revealed he has a great admiration for his bandmates Peter Buck and Mike Mills - even 28 years down the line.
He said: "Both Mike and Peter are much smarter than I am and better read. I'm jealous of that."
Stipe added: "Mike'd know about this place and the history of the city. Same thing with Peter, and he's also got an ability to summarise a situation quickly."
The tour recently called at the T In The Park and Oxegen festivals in Scotland and Ireland, but the band come back to the UK in August for shows of their own.
The dates are:
Manchester Lancashire County Cricket Ground (August 24)
Cardiff Millennium Stadium (25)
Southampton Rose Bowl (27)
London Twickenham Stadium (30)
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