First off, the theater got struck by lightning before R.E.M. could even come on the stage, forcing the evacuation of the theater. The show got rescheduled for 10PM, and by around 9:50 they were letting people back to their seats. Though the major part of the storm had passed, there was still a quite steady rain throughout the whole show. I had lost my umbrella and had nothing else, so I wound up getting absolutely soaked, until soemone handed my umbrella back to me (come to think of it, I don't think it was actually mine - though it was the same model and color).
Michael started with "Welcome to R.E.M. Survivor 2008!", and burst into Credence Clearwaters's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain". Following that, "So. Central Rain", then a song I can't for the life of me remember (again, relating to rain). Then on to the normal set, starting with "Living Well Is The Best Revenge".
Some of the highlights of the evening were a mostly acoustic version of "Let Me In", a great (supposedly unrehearsed) "It's The End Of The World As We Know It", and of course all of the stuff from the new album - highlights including "Hollow Man" and "Man Sized Wreath"
The peformance through the whole thing was absolutely spectacular. You might think that a band getting to their age couldn't tour anymore - think again. These guys sounded GREAT! I would have loved to see these guys at MSG instead of (or maybe in addition to) Jones Beach, but alas, I'll be at the Summit and FUDCon in Boston on Thursday when they play at MSG.
Transportation to Jones Beach was easy and relatively fast - PATH to Penn Station, LIRR to Freehold and on to the N88 bus to take me to Jones Beach. The buses were waiting at the LIRR station, and right outside at the end of the concert - no worries there.
UPDATE: Apparently I got the original artist wrong on "Have You Ever Seen The Rain". That error has been corrected.
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