REM - Hyde Park, London 16 July 2005

The second outing for me and Mrs M to see REM came in 2005. The gig was originally scheduled for 9 July (a week after Live 8 at the same venue) but was put back a week following the London bombings on 7/7. The special guests were Jonathan Rice, Idlewild and Feeder. I remember Idlewild being excellent, though they did prompt Mrs M to say "Oh, they're the Scottish REM".

I also remember enjoying this show a lot more than the one at Milton Keynes ten years earlier. We secured a good vantage point front right and the show was completely different in feel. Where MK had been dark, sombre and moody this was sparky, bright and uplifting. Not even the appearance of Patti Smith for the dirge that is E-bow the letter could spoil the mood. That might have been because it was the last date on their world tour, but whatever the reason they were superb. Stipe in particular was at his electric best. They finished with I'm Gonna DJ which was unreleased and new to me at that point, but stuck in my head for ages after. Inevitably the recorded version when it finally surfaced didn't have the attack of the live version. All in all a great show.

For a much better review of the gig head over http://www.dreamdust.co.uk/2005/07/17/rem-in-hyde-park/