REM
UNIVERSAL AMPHITHEATER
LOS ANGELES, CA
1986-09-30

LINEAGE=SONY WM-D6/939LT MIC>MASTER CASSETTE>CD SPIN DOCTOR
A MOE-B-WAN MASTER
AUDIENCE 8/9

First, I hope this will be a treat for all you REM fans, a master tape never before circulated, excellent quality and, I believe, the first complete version to surface. Now this is going to be kind of a long story but I know how you Dimers (myself included) love the details so here goes. I had just moved to LA in Fall 1986 and this was my first show at Universal Amphitheater (and in Los Angeles, in fact) and I landed seats around 15th row center, so I was very psyched about my location, perfect sound! Unfortunately, while my physical location was excellent, I was surrounded by drunken "frat boy" assholes (how or why they landed in such good seats, I'll never know), who were shrieking, talking, puking, you name it. I was alone, minding my own business, doing my thing, and at some point one of these assholes took it upon himself to complain to an usher, at which time I luckily was able to bolt to a couple of rows back where I watched the remainder of the show. Having seen REM 3 times previously in the Bay area, with a reverential crowd, I was completely taken aback by this LA crowd. Also, I had seen them a couple of nights earlier at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, which remains perhaps my favorite REM show of all time, so my expectations were high, and my disappointment great. Anyway, the events of the evening were so negative that I stashed the tapes away and never even listened to them again, until this month, that is! I am pleased to report that the recording is excellent, you can occasionally hear the assholes (and if you listen carefully you may even hear one of them harassing me!) but it really does not detract much from the experience. It captures REM at their best, IMHO. Awesome stripped down South Central Rain to close the show--do not miss this one!

As anyone who saw REM in that era would remember, sound was a challenge at their live shows, with a very overmodulated mid range from Buck's collection of Rickenbackers. I slightly eq'd the recording on Spin Doctor to reduce some of the midrange, and it is definitely an improvement. Otherwise, just as it was! I would rate the recording an 8 to 9, although I know many may differ so please don't hold me to it. I know other recordings of this show have circulated and hopefully this will be an upgrade, although I haven't heard them so I couldn't tell you myself, I'll leave that up to you. And damn, do I miss Bill Berry! Enjoy!

SETLIST

DISC ONE

1. THESE DAYS
2. RADIO FREE EUROPE
3. HARBORCOAT
4. SITTING STILL
5. THE ONE I LOVE
6. SHAKING THROUGH
7. FEELING GRAVITY'S PULL
8. LAST DATE
9. DRIVER 8
10. FLOWERS OF GUATEMALA
11. I BELIEVE
12. SWAN SWAN HUMMINGBIRD
13. SUPERMAN
14. CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE
15. PRETTY PERSUASION

DISC TWO

1. AUCTIONEER
2. JUST A TOUCH
3. FALL ON ME
4. CUYAHOGA
5. 1,000,000
6. STRANGE
7. FUNTIME
8. L&HTLI RAP
9. LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT
10. EVENING COMES
11. BEGIN THE BEGIN
12. LITTLE AMERICA
13. SOUTH CENTRAL RAIN