40 Years Ago Today; R.E.M. plays their first gig

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22. Saw them at Leaf Benefit in 1989

I saw R.E.M. several times when I lived in Georgia. In November of 1989, I was living in Atlanta. No internet or cells, I heard R.E.M. would do a benefit at the Fox Theater at the end of the Green tour. But it was too late to get tickets, the concert sold out immediately. I was disappointed but when I told that to my friend Bob he told me to go down to the Fox with my credit card. Tell the guy to take my card number and if any tickets opened up to charge them to my card and I would take them. I did, and sure enough the day of the concert I got a call. I had 3 tickets! Too late for a date, so I went with two of my friends. Probably the best R.E.M. concert ever. They threw away the set list and played "murmur" all the way through, took a break and then played all of "Green", and then an encore. They were at the height of their fame, top of the world in 1989. I still have my ticket stub. For a huge R.E.M. fan like me, nothing was better!