R.E.M. 1985-08-31 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY

R.E.M.
Radio City Music Hall
New York, NY
August 31, 1985
Stonecutter Archive #19

AUD > cassette (master) > Tascam 424 Mk II > Sony PCM-M10 (Line In, 24/48) > WAV > SoundStudio > FLAC (16/44)
Recorded by Rich B.
Transferred and digitally mastered by neil d

01 Feeling Gravity's Pull
02 Harborcoat
03 Green Grow the Rushes
04 Skip A Rope (Henson Cargill)
05 Hyena
06 Maps and Legends
07 Fall on Me
08 Driver 8
09 So. Central Rain
10 Have You Ever Seen the Rain (CCR)
11 Pills (Bo Diddley)
12 Can't Get There From Here
13 7 Chinese Bros.
14 Auctioneer (Another Engine)
15 Old Man Kensey
16 Little America
17 Pretty Persuasion
18 Life and How to Live It
19 Second Guessing
20 (Don't Go Back to) Rockville
21 Behind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich)
22 See No Evil (Television)
23 Theme From Two Steps Onward
24 Sitting Still
25 Time After Time (AnnElise)
26 Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)
27 Moon River (Henry Mancini)
28 Windout

Rich B., aka Stonecutter, recorded hundreds of shows in New York in the '80s and '90s, and traded for hundreds more. Until recently, many of these have been stacked up in trays and trays of DATs and cassettes in his basement, never shared beyond a relative handful of tape trades back in the day. Through his generosity, a few of us are helping to digitize and share these hidden gems. No one can say how many of these there will be, as we haven't hit bottom yet.

I got so caught up in Stonecutter's Yo La Tengo recordings that I've been neglecting his equally excellent cassette masters from the '80s. This is an especially nice recording of a show from the Reconstruction tour, a difficult time for the band but a point when they were reaching new creative and performance heights. Here, let's listen to what the New York Times had to say about the show:

"R.E.M., the critically admired rock quartet from Athens, Ga., makes droning, astringently textured music that combines a backwoods American twang with the militant austerity of contemporary new wave music."

On second thought, maybe let's not.

Anyway, terrific versions of songs from throughout the band's first three albums, early versions of "Hyena" and "Fall on Me," and a slew of great covers. Peter Buck did not storm off in protest of anything even once. A must! 

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