Although sprouted from the garage rock revival of the early eighties and balancing somewhere between and , the American REM was never a smashing live band. It is not without reason that the group broke through in the early nineties with more fragile, mandolin-decorated songs such as Losing My Religion and Everybody Hurts. This live double CD can therefore mainly be heard as a somewhat tidy 'greatest
… hits plus'. In addition to the successes, the group (officially a trio, supplemented with three extra musicians) never manages to add anything substantial to the originals. On the DVD of the same concert (in Dublin), which clocked about forty minutes, singer Michael Stipe is the added value. With a grim black stripe painted over his eyes and a snake-like motor skills, he claims the entire stage. The rest of the band sees it and mainly concentrates on playing the repertoire as precisely as possible. (MR)more
