Rock in Rio

R.E.M. REHEARSE IN RIO:

Peter, Mike, and Michael are currently rehearsing in Rio De Janeiro with a cast of side musicians, including Joey Waronker on drums and multi-instrumentalists Ken Stringfellow and Scott McCaughey, in preparation for their January 13th performance at Rock in Rio. The January 13th lineup also includes Beck and the Foo Fighters.

01/11/2001

R.E.M. ROCK IN RIO PERFORMANCE--SATURDAY, JANUARY 13TH

Michael at rehearsal

R.E.M.'s performance at the Rock in Rio Festival on Saturday, January 13th, will begin at approximately 1:30 AM (technically Sunday morning), Rio De Janeiro time. Meanwhile, REMHQ has learned that there will be significant web coverage of the festival on Rock in Rio's site, www.rockinrio.americaonline.com.br/. On Saturday, January 13th at 11:00 PM (Rio time), R.E.M. will participate in a webchat (please see time zone info. below). Furthermore, three R.E.M. songs will be webcast on the Rock in Rio site.

For further details, please visit www.rockinrio.americaonline.com.br/. The site is available in Portugese, Spanish, and English.

TIME ZONE INFO:
*Sydney, Australia is 13 hours ahead of Rio De Janeiro
*London is 2 hrs ahead of Rio
*New York is 3 hours behind Rio
*Los Angeles is 6 hours behind Rio
for further information, please see www.worldtimezone.com

Mike and Peter at Rehearsal

The guys decide which songs to play.
(all photos by: Bob Weber)

01/12/2001

POSTCARD FROM BRAZIL

Bertis writes a postcard.

Well, it's hot, windy and perfect beach weather in the summer heat of Rio de Janeiro. But we aren't enjoying any of that--too much work to do. The guys have been rehearsing for several days at a recording studio in the Barra district of the city, which like everything else, is about an hour away in heavy traffic. Although I never look at set lists in advance, I keep hearing that they are planning on doing a couple of the new songs from the forthcoming album, so that should be pretty cool.
Today, the band is doing press, talking with everyone from MTV Brazil, CNN, and Much Music, to a Brazilian fanzine called Orange Crush. They did a huge press conference at the hotel--far from their favorite way of communicating, but they are pretty funny and really good at it.
Tonight the festival kicks off with Sting, Daniela Mercury, James Taylor, Gilberto Gil, and Milton Nascimento, among others. Our night is tomorrow, and we follow Beck and the Foo Fighters. Sunday night is the big Guns N' Roses, Oasis, and Papa Roach rock show. The whole thing is being heavily documented on the official website, www.rockinrio.americaonline.com.br. It is fun to be here, although it has been almost a year and a half since Boston, the last time everybody played before an audience. Of course, in addition to Peter, Michael, and Mike, the semi-regular backing musicians are here--Ken Stringfellow, Scott McCaughey, and Joey Waronker--so it definitely seems like old times. From here, on to Buenos Aires, another city we have heard a lot about but never experienced.
Anyway, having fun, spirits high, everyone excited about REVEAL to come out some time in May. Glad to be here--finally got to South America.

All best,
Bertis

01/12/2001

POSTCARD FROM SOUTH AMERICA

Well, the band played their first show in 16 months the massive Rock in Rio Festival, early this morning at a sprawling site in the middle of agricultural parking lots. The show had a lot of nice moments--a set list with familiar and welcomed numbers that 135,000 (one estimate had it at 190,000, but who really knows?) people sing along to, some less-often -performed treasures like "Find the River" and "Finest Worksong" and two new additions to the band's body of work: "The Lifting" and "She Just Wants to Be" from the upcoming album, Reveal. But beyond the songs themselves, the show had a spirit and an energy that seems overwhelming in such a large place filled with people who truly love the music. The band naturally feeds off that and it becomes a night full of memories.
Some of mine:
--In broad daylight, around 6:30 pm, going out to the main stage to check out one of the Brazilian acts that was doing a lot more than warming up the audience-- Fernanda Abreu and her band Pop and Lata. The place was completely full, as far as you could see in any direction, and the crowd was going absolutely wild to a type of music I had never heard before-- sort of a high-energy hybrid of latin and hip-hop pop. I wondered how they would possible have the stamina to still be standing 7 hours later when R.E.M. went on. They did. Ah, youth...
--Early in the day, during a security meeting, a guy parachuted onto the field--he was promptly set upon by security guys and shown the exit. Don't think he tried during the show--hope not.
--During R.E.M.'s painfully early sound check around noon, as soon as they started playing one of the new songs, a parade of kids started running toward the stage. It ended up being a few hundred and they had a great time. Turns out, the police had opened the doors early due to security concerns, so we had a little impromptu sound check party. A good time was had by all.
--The people we encountered over the past few days --our local guides, the hotel, and the festival staff, the band's fans --all have been kind and warm. The guys have always hoped to get here for a tour -- we finally did, at least for a short one.
--The band being served capharinha, the Brazilian national drink some consider firewater on stage during the encore.
--Michael adventuring into the slightly-elevated midfield walkway during "The One I Love," which caused quite a commotion and made for some great drama on the huge screen.
--Our whole production crew worked ridiculously hard the whole time, and especially the lighting guys, under the able direction of Bruce Ramus -- they started hanging the ropelights and assorted other bells and whistles after Sting's loadout early Saturday morning, sometime around 4:30 a.m. They finished in time for soundcheck at noon, rested only a little in the evening, worked the show and then loaded out, only to be delayed on leaving the venue because the driver would not budge due reports of bandits on the road to the airport. But they somehow made the noon-ish flight, a little worse for the wear. (By the way, the lights have never looked better)

All in all, a tremendous first visit to this part of the world. And as a veteran of a few festivals over the years, I can say that I've never seen one better presented than Rock in Rio III--the safely aspects, the sound system, technical arrangements, media coverage, comfort level for the artists, and so forth. Everything was first-rate and we felt very privileged to be a part of it.
Overall, tired but happily to Buenos Aires. Home for the weekend.

Abrigado,

Bertis