Living in Athens, home of REM, I never was a fan, mostly due to everyone else being a fan. I never really listened to their music. I would often see M Stipe at Wuxtry, 40Watt, or the Taco Stand on Milledge. Most locals just let the band members be themselves, and never disturbed them. M Mills joined the ACC to play golf, which seemed very weird to me, but whatever. P Buck's house was always on the REM Private tour of homes, for my friends who wanted to see the glamorous life of these rockstars. Buck's house was pretty cool, but Stipe's house was rather uneventful from the street, though I personally dig that type of set up.
Just before B Barry changed courses to become a farmer, a friend of mine invited me to go to an REM show at Chastain Park, a very cool outdoor amphitheater in Atlanta, so I did. I found the guy sitting behind me, singing every word to every song, off-key, a little annoying
, but that is just how much REM fans like their music. That night, I realized that I, too, mysteriously seemed to recognize many of their songs, and knew some words to many of their songs. Other songs, I had never heard before. I was SOLD, and the next day, I went to the other music store (not Wuxtry, but I cannot remember the name) and loaded up on REM CDs. The show was incredible, and one of the best shows I've ever seen.
I'll share a quick little story about a friend's brother visiting us in Athens from NY. He was a huge REM fan and my friend told him that M Stipe was occasionally seen around town, so I planned our agenda for the night, hitting all of the most likely places to see Stipe. Nearing the end of the night, we had given up. I was hungry and jumped in the line to get a hot dog from John, the hot dog man, on the corner of the Ga Theatre. My friend jumped in line, too, but his brother, not hungry, decided to walk across the street to wait on us. He caught my eye, when he passed by the Globe, where outside, three people were lined together giving each other a shoulder massage. The guy in front grabbed my friends brother by the shoulders and pulled him into the massage line. That guy was M Stipe.
It was a short massage and was over before we received our hotdogs, and Stipe and friends had moved on. We were served the dogs, and caught up with my friend's brother, who was completely unaware that M Stipe was the person giving him the shoulder massage. We told him and he about peed his pants with excitement. He was slow to believe us, but finally did. He was kicking himself a little for not noticing it was Stipe and for not talking to him after the shoulder rubbing, but he left Athens having his wish of running into a member of REM.
Enjoy the show, Olive. I'm sure it will be exciting.
Just before B Barry changed courses to become a farmer, a friend of mine invited me to go to an REM show at Chastain Park, a very cool outdoor amphitheater in Atlanta, so I did. I found the guy sitting behind me, singing every word to every song, off-key, a little annoying
, but that is just how much REM fans like their music. That night, I realized that I, too, mysteriously seemed to recognize many of their songs, and knew some words to many of their songs. Other songs, I had never heard before. I was SOLD, and the next day, I went to the other music store (not Wuxtry, but I cannot remember the name) and loaded up on REM CDs. The show was incredible, and one of the best shows I've ever seen. I'll share a quick little story about a friend's brother visiting us in Athens from NY. He was a huge REM fan and my friend told him that M Stipe was occasionally seen around town, so I planned our agenda for the night, hitting all of the most likely places to see Stipe. Nearing the end of the night, we had given up. I was hungry and jumped in the line to get a hot dog from John, the hot dog man, on the corner of the Ga Theatre. My friend jumped in line, too, but his brother, not hungry, decided to walk across the street to wait on us. He caught my eye, when he passed by the Globe, where outside, three people were lined together giving each other a shoulder massage. The guy in front grabbed my friends brother by the shoulders and pulled him into the massage line. That guy was M Stipe.
It was a short massage and was over before we received our hotdogs, and Stipe and friends had moved on. We were served the dogs, and caught up with my friend's brother, who was completely unaware that M Stipe was the person giving him the shoulder massage. We told him and he about peed his pants with excitement. He was slow to believe us, but finally did. He was kicking himself a little for not noticing it was Stipe and for not talking to him after the shoulder rubbing, but he left Athens having his wish of running into a member of REM.Enjoy the show, Olive. I'm sure it will be exciting.
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;-)
