Tuesday 5th July 05 - REM at Hull KC Stadium contd By Steve Rudd photos by Matt Rudd & SMC

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The gig itself was an incredible sight to behold, with the stage being just as grand as the stages that are used at major festivals. No element of the band's live show was compromised, so that this date in Hull really did feel like an integral and important stopping-place on their seemingly never-ending world tour. The lights stunned, the cameras whirred and the action was non-stop and always thoroughly entertaining, as the ever-grinning Stipe wonder constantly ran from side to side across the stage, shape-throwing, deftly dancing and posing as only true rock stars can.. and in a way that Pulp's Jarvis Cocker so loved to do.

To pick out highlights would almost be impossible, as every single song was outstanding in its own right, but their latest material in The Outsiders, the futuristic Electron Blue (which might go some way in explaining Michael's blinding face paint) and the beautifully melancholic Leaving New York sounded amazing, as though these guys are right now at their peak of creativity.

Still, their classic Losing My Religion anthem was the song that really got the 18,000-strong crowd the most riled up, before the band left the stage for a couple of minutes to dry off and calm down. Their encore, rather than being a short and sweet three-song special that many bands opt for, was a grand 5-track affair that included The Great Beyond, a wicked cover of The Undertones' Teenage Kicksv and Man On The Moon, the latter gem being in-part written in tribute to the comic - if undeniably eccentric - genius of US Taxi-star Andy Kaufman.

At a great deal of REM shows, the very last song that is played is It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine), during which Michael bounds down off the stage and races along the front row of fans to shake their hands and to literally interact with the crowd, but such a classic closing song never materialised this time around. Maybe the stage was too high and he would have found it impossible to get down, let alone back up. Maybe Michael thought Hull wasn't worthy - but that's very unlikely.

Everybody showed both Michael and the rest of the band due respect, and thus the night that REM hit Hull will live on in the memories of all those who were there to witness such a colossal event forever... courtesy of Rapid Eye Movement, as though the show was all merely a dream. Check KC Stadium Website www.kcstadium.co.uk

Photographs courtsey and Copyright © MAtt Rudd and SMC 2005

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