Maybe this shouldn't feel so miraculous, but it sure seems like the four members of R.E.M. like getting back together, hanging out with each other, and even playing music in public if it feels right. Last year, the actor Michael Shannon and the indie rock lifer Jason Narducy went out on tour, playing R.E.M.'s classic debut album Murmur in full every night. During that tour, they hit the 40 Watt Club in R.E.M.'s Athens hometown, and all four members ofR.E.M. came out to join them onstage. It was the first time they'd all shared a stage since their Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction, 17 years earlier. Last night, Shannon and Narducy returned to the 40 Watt Club, and it happened all over again.
This is starting to become a regular thing, isn't it? Last year, shortly after that 40 Watt show, R.E.M. were inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. Before their induction, they gave their first full group interview in almost 30 years, and they said that they'd never do a proper reunion because "it'd never be as good." But all of them still got together to perform "Losing My Religion" at their induction. Right now, Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy's R.E.M. cover band is back on the road, playing R.E.M.'s 1985 classic Fables Of The Reconstruction. At their Portland show earlier this week, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck and touring member Scott McCaughey joined them. On Thursday night, Shannon and Narducy returned to the 40 Watt, and the crowd got a full one-song R.E.M. reunion.
When Shannon and Narducy played the 40 Watt last year, all four R.E.M. members were in the building, and they all shared the stage at one point, but they didn't all four play together. At last night's show, things were different. During the 32-song set, all four R.E.M. members came up onstage one by one, in ways that often seemed unplanned. Per Setlist.fm, Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye also helped out on a pair of Velvet Underground covers, and comedian Dave Hill joined the band on a show-closing version of Aerosmith's "Toys In The Attic."
Michael Stipe, dressed like a raver on safari, was the final member of R.E.M. to come up onstage, and he and Michael Shannon sang R.E.M.'s Reckoning banger "Pretty Persuasion" together, with Bill Berry and Peter Buck among the musicians up there. Halfway through, Mike Mills rushed the stage to sing the harmonies, to the evident surprise and delight of everyone up there. When the song was over, Michael Shannon -- an actor so growly and intimidating that his whole salty vibe was just the subject of a Super Bowl commercial -- was giggling like a little kid: "Oh my god. Oh my god! Oh my fucking god. This is a special place where dreams come true." Watch video shot by attendee Jason Billips below.
While they were in Athens, Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy also visited an R.E.M. landmark.
Had to
— Jason Narducy (@jasonnarducy.bsky.social) February 27, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Shannon and Narducy will return to 40 Watt for another show this evening. "Who knows what night two, tonight, will have in store…," R.E.M. wrote on Instagram.
UPDATE: As teased, they did it again on Friday night. Here's some video:
More fun with great friends
— Michael Stipe (@michaelstipe.bsky.social) March 1, 2025 at 3:47 PM
