Real Estate Market Report

Ok, so that's not what R.E.M. stands for, but this is your R.E.M. Report.  Michael Stipe & Co. rolled into Berkeley this past weekend and put on an outstanding fan-pleasing show.  But not until after The National and Modest Mouse warmed up the chilly night with some crowd-pleasing work of their own.

The National kicked it off with Airbag favorite, 'Start A War' and the old folks in the crowd could be heard saying, "Wow, these guys are actually pretty good."  The band's setlist was primarily centered on last year's critically acclaimed Boxer, but featured some back catalog as well.

Modest Mouse came out, guns blazing, with the 1-2-3 punch of 'Black Cadillacs,' 'Satin In A Coffin,' and 'Dance Hall' and the old folks in the crowd could be heard saying, "What the hell is this?"  Legendary Smith's guitarist Johnny Marr was along for the ride, which leads us to believe that the longtime wandering gun-for-hire may be settling in for a second album with the Mouse.  Other set highlights included 'Fire It Up' and 'Dashboard.'

And finally, the hour was upon us.  The sun set, the cold settled in and the old folks could be heard saying, "I won my tickets on KFOG...  How did you hear about the show?"  When R.E.M. finally took the stage, it was clear that they are back and they are back to rock.  The set bounced around from fast-paced material off the new album Accelerate to old favorites to obscure gems.  The peak of the show occurred at it's lone acoustic moment, when the band gathered around the piano, guitars in hand, for an haunting rendition of "Let Me In."  As the encore came to a close with "Man On The Moon," the old folks could be heard saying, "This was fun...  We should do this again sometime!"

What does R.E.M. stand for anyway?  We'll give you two points if you can guess the answer without hitting up that Google search bar.