An R.E.M. cover band performance nearly turned into an R.E.M. reunion on Thursday as all four members joined actor Michael Shannon and guitarist Jason Narducy onstage at the 40 Watt Club for a performance of “Pretty Persuasion.”
As they did last year for Murmur, Shannon and Narducy are covering Fables of the Reconstruction in its entirety on tour, and they stopped in Athens for a two-night gig at the 40 Watt Club. On Thursday, Michael Stipe joined Shannon on vocals for “Pretty Persuasion,” while Peter Buck pitched in on guitar, bassist Mike Mills sang backup vocals and drummer Bill Berry played tambourine.
All four got up to play with Shannon and Narducy at one point or another during their February 2024 stop at the 40 Watt, but not at the same time.
Band members have long insisted that although they remain friends, they will never reunite. They did break that rule briefly last year to perform “Losing My Religion” during a ceremony to induct them into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame.
R.E.M. sightings do seem to be getting more frequent, though, at least in comparison to the years following the band’s breakup in 2011. Stipe previously thrilled fans with a three-song set at a Kamala Harris rally in Athens last October featuring her husband Doug Emhoff. He and Buck also joined Mickey Dolenz during an event at Wuxtry Records in 2023 to promote the former Monkee’s EP of R.E.M. covers.
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