Over the years, the band have demonstrated a fondness for taking the stage under assumed names:

TWISTED KITES
     The name under which the band played at their first ever gig, a friend's birthday party, on 5 April 1980.

IT CRAWLED FROM THE SOUTH
     That's the name of the book from which I am copying the from.....
     On 31 October 1983 R.E.M. supported the Cramps under this alias at the Peppermint Lounge in New York.

HORNETS ATTACK VICTOR MATURE
     On 12 February 1985, the band booked themselves into Uptown Lounge with this name, claiming to be a new Praxis-label signing from Nashville. Peter recalls: "We sent a press release that said it was a combination of Jerry Lee Lewis and Joy Division, and God knows how we got the date." The name was second-hand, Peter came across it in a "how to name your band" article in Trouser Press. It told of a Los Angeles band who had taken their name from a newpaper healine, which described an incident where furiouse wasps had attacked the actor during a game of golf.  "I figured anyone who'd pay a dollar to see a band with a name that silly is our kind of person," said Peter.

THE MYSTERY TWINS/TRIO
     On May 24 1987, following the mixing of Document in Los Angles, memeber of R.E.M. played two consecutive acoustic sets at a benefit for Texas Records in Santa Monica. The MC got up on stage and announced, "I don't know how to introduce these people, so we'll just call them the Mystery Twins, or Trio, or whatevfer they're going to be."  They were going to be Michael and Peter, who performed simple vocal and acoustic guitar renditions of four newly recorded songs.

BINGO HAND JOB
     On 14th March 1991, the band played the first of two nights at the Borderline in London under this psuedonym. It was chosen by Michael, "I think he just likes the idea of people standing in line to ask for tickets for the Bingo Hand Job," said Peter.