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Rating: One wonders in life if dreams can eventually become reality, if one day you will be able to fulfill at least one. One of those that stays within you, that will always accompany you, that will make you smile in difficult moments. One of those that gives and will give you thanks to memories unique, indescribable emotions. Because deep down we are human beings, and we get emotional easily. It takes nothing to feel like you are the happiest person in the world at that moment.
As soon as I found out that R.E.M. were coming to Italy, I immediately thought that maybe the dream was really attainable. I grew up with R.E.M., spent incredible moments with their records. A unique and sincere passion that made me adore this band.
Well, yes, their tour would stop in Naples, precisely in Bagnoli. R.E.M. were invited to the Neapolis Festival in 2003.
Slowly the dream began to materialize. The first step was purchasing the tickets, and I tell you the truth, when I had the ticket in my hand, and it said R.E.M., I couldn’t believe it. But inside of me, the emotion was great because I knew that soon I would see them live. Then we set off for Naples, and already in the city streets, there were huge billboards with one name written on them: R.E.M. So yes, I was there, and it was all true.
The day of the concert was splendid. R.E.M. were expected around 11:00 PM, but there would be some opening acts first. I arrived in Bagnoli at 4:30 PM, but I didn't care about waiting hours and hours. There was already a great hustle, but I positioned myself a few meters from the stage. Under the sun, sweating, but I didn’t care. Around 10:00 PM one of the most beautiful moments of the day occurred, I saw a black container arriving, one of those carrying instruments, and in white, it was written R.E.M. Then it’s all true, I thought. The atmosphere was getting more and more intense, occasionally cries calling Stipe could be heard, but it was still early.
It was 10:40 PM, and a bald man with glasses was glimpsed, everyone thought it was Michael, but it wasn’t him. At 11:10 PM, the lights went out, and I get chills just thinking about it. It was the much-awaited moment. The first to step on stage was Peter Buck, with the usual pink shirt and his faithful white and black Rickenbacker guitar, then Mike Mills with a red shirt and his typical yellow and black bass, but the most awaited was him, the Great Michael Stipe, as always with his sunglasses.
They start playing ‘' Begin The Begin ‘' and one quickly realizes that on stage they are monstrous, Stipe is a stage animal, with incredible and coordinated movements. Live, his singing style is impeccable. The songs are interpreted as on the records, flawlessly. Buck and Mills are also fantastic and very precise live. In this concert, R.E.M. also presented the two unreleased tracks included in the Best Of: ‘' Bad Day ‘' and ‘' Animal ‘'. They played the most famous songs from their discography, but the most intense moment was with ‘' Losing My Religion ‘', their most known song, a wonderful track with a unique text. Another memorable moment was Stipe’s duet with his ‘' Muse ‘' Patti Smith. Together they sang ‘' It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). After this song, the band's goodbyes and the concert ended.
Throughout the concert, I was as if asleep, so much was I in ecstasy, in fact, I only remember a few snippets of the evening. But maybe it’s better this way. There are things that shouldn’t be explained. Like the emotion I felt being there, even now I can’t believe it. The emotion of a dream that came true thanks to the two most cherished people in my life. All told, all lived, all dreamed, all reality.
In the end, here’s the concert setlist:
Begin The Begin
Get Up
Drive
All Way To Rno (You're Gonna Be A Star)
Animal
Gardening At Night
Maps And Legends
Bad Day
The One I Love
Daysleeper
Orange Crush
Talk About The Passion
............Losing My Religion
Country Feedback
The Great Beyond
Find The River
Walk Unafraid
Man On The Moon
Everybody Hurts
She Just Wants To Be
Imitation Of Life
It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) with Patti Smith
Each of these songs marked my life......
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