{"id":4695,"date":"2025-08-23T17:23:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T17:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/michael-shannon-jason-narducy-and-friends-reviewed-a-deep-diving-tribute-to-r-e-m-150938\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:23:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T17:23:12","slug":"michael-shannon-jason-narducy-and-friends-reviewed-a-deep-diving-tribute-to-r-e-m-150938","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/michael-shannon-jason-narducy-and-friends-reviewed-a-deep-diving-tribute-to-r-e-m-150938\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and Friends reviewed: a deep-diving tribute to R.E.M."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Hands crossed on his chest in a stoic cap and shades, or summoning down a chorus with arms stretched wide, he\u2019s suitably enigmatic. The voice is a perfect Georgian tremble, albeit brushed here and there with a touch of Eddie Vedder<\/strong>. As he tells the tale of a man building a wall down the middle of his house to live in different sides as the mood takes him, there\u2019s a fitting hint of calm derangement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
Click here and subscribe to Uncut<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\u201ca fitting hint of calm derangement\u201d<\/h2>\n

Hands crossed on his chest in a stoic cap and shades, or summoning down a chorus with arms stretched wide, he\u2019s suitably enigmatic. The voice is a perfect Georgian tremble, albeit brushed here and there with a touch of Eddie Vedder<\/strong>. As he tells the tale of a man building a wall down the middle of his house to live in different sides as the mood takes him, there\u2019s a fitting hint of calm derangement.<\/p>\n

If Michael Shannon<\/strong>, Hollywood star of\u00a0Knives Out<\/strong> and\u00a0Nocturnal Animals<\/strong> among many other notable movies, is auditioning for the starring role in a Michael Stipe<\/strong> biopic, he\u2019s a shoo-in.<\/p>\n

He has, though, gone seriously method. Having previously played full-album cover shows of records by Lou Reed<\/strong>, The Modern Lovers<\/strong>, Neil Young<\/strong> and The Smiths<\/strong> in Chicago over the course of a decade, in 2023 Shannon and a backing band put together by sometime Bob Mould<\/strong> and Robert Pollard<\/strong> bassist Jason Narducy<\/strong> began touring a 40th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary tribute show to R.E.M.<\/strong>\u2019s Murmur<\/strong> across the States.<\/p>\n

Click here to read our interview with Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and R.E.M.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201ca committed and powerful impressionist\u201d<\/h2>\n

Skipping\u00a0Reckoning<\/strong>\u2019s birthday, they mark four decades of\u00a0Fables Of The Reconstruction<\/strong>\u00a0with a full run through, faithful to its southern gothic murk and building an archivist\u2019s world around the record in a sprawling second set: The Velvet Underground<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cFemme Fatale<\/strong>\u201d, an R.E.M. live favourite from the era, given a gentle Athens twist; Wire<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cStrange<\/strong>\u201d delivered in the post-punk country rock form it would take on\u00a0Document<\/strong>; a take on \u201cCrazy<\/strong>\u201d by R.E.M.\u2019s hometown neighbours Pylon<\/strong>. At their Athens stop in February, in the ultimate stamp of authenticity, R.E.M. themselves hopped up to play the closing \u201cPretty Persuasion<\/strong>\u201d with Shannon\u2019s band.<\/p>\n

Close your eyes during their impressively dense and dank version of\u00a0Fables<\/strong>\u2026<\/em>\u00a0tonight \u2013 an album recorded \u201ca stone\u2019s throw for this very building\u201d Shannon claims, although you\u2019d need quite an overarm to hit Wood Green\u2019s Livingston Studios<\/strong> from here, three miles away \u2013 and you\u2019re never going to think Stipe is in the room.<\/p>\n

Shannon is certainly a committed and powerful impressionist. These tales of rural eccentrics, railroaders and misunderstood ministers find flesh in his hands, and he musters some convincingly Stipean wails on \u201cMaps And Legends<\/strong>\u201d, masters the heavenly drift of \u201cWendell Gee<\/strong>\u201d and carries the Americana pop momentum of \u201cDriver 8<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cCan\u2019t Get There From Here<\/strong>\u201d with enthusiastic ease.<\/p>\n

This is a deep-diving tribute from the heart of a super-stan. \u201cThis is for the diehard afficionados,\u201d Shannon says ahead of a coast through B-side \u201cBandwagon<\/strong>\u201d, and the second set only gets marginally more arena-friendly from there.<\/p>\n

\u201cthere\u2019s genuine thankfulness at work\u201d<\/h2>\n

The mid-\u201880s era is the bedrock \u2013 \u201chow about some\u00a0Chronic Town<\/strong>?\u201d Shannon asks before a funk-punk \u201c1,000,000<\/strong>\u201d and an effervescent \u201cGardening At Night<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 and the big \u201890s hits are passed over for sublime deep cuts from\u00a0New Adventures In Hi-Fi<\/strong>\u00a0(\u201cNew Test Leper<\/strong>\u201d),\u00a0Monster<\/strong>\u00a0(\u201cLet Me In<\/strong>\u201d) and\u00a0Up<\/strong> (\u201cDaysleeper<\/strong>\u201d). \u201cRomance<\/strong>\u201d, from the 1987 movie\u00a0Made In Heaven<\/strong>, gets a fiery pop outing despite Shannon having been told by a member of R.E.M. themselves that even they couldn\u2019t remember it.<\/p>\n

When populism sporadically strikes, it\u2019s with good reason. \u201cWorld Leader Pretend<\/strong>\u201d, by turns melodic and sinister, is indulged because \u201cit feels particularly relevant right now\u201d. A punchy \u201cRadio Free Europe<\/strong>\u201d is repurposed as a protest against the dismantling of the titular organisation and a wonderful, chant-along \u201cCuyahoga<\/strong>\u201d is framed as a preview of a possible future\u00a0Life\u2019s Rich Pageant<\/strong>\u00a0tour.<\/p>\n

As Shannon and Narducy lead the encore with a hushed and tender acoustic \u201cSo. Central Rain<\/strong>\u201d, laced with lines from Peter Gabriel<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cRed Rain<\/strong>\u201d, there\u2019s genuine thankfulness at work.<\/p>\n

And artful reconstruction too.<\/p>\n

\n
R.E.M. were on the cover of Uncut\u2019s June 2025 issue \u2013 click here and buy a copy<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

Setlist for Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and Friends, The Garage, London, August 22, 2025:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Feeling Gravity\u2019s Pull
Maps And Legends
Driver 8
Life And How To Live It
Old Man Kensey
Can\u2019t Get There From Here
Green Grow The Rushes
Kahoutek
Auctioneer (Another Engine)
Good Advices
Wendell Gee
Femme Fatale
Romance
Strange
New Test Leper
Bandwagon
1,000,000
Gardening At Night
World Leader Pretend
Moral Kiosk
Daysleeper
Sitting Still
Cuyahoga
So. Central Rain
CrazyRadio Free Europe
Let Me In
Pretty Persuasion<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and Friends reviewed: a deep-diving tribute to R.E.M.<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hands crossed on his chest in a stoic cap and shades, or summoning down a chorus with arms stretched wide, he\u2019s suitably enigmatic. The voice is a perfect Georgian tremble,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[548,46,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live","category-rem","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4695\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}