R.E.M. Reunite Again, And Play “Pretty Persuasion” During Hometown Show In Athens

On Thursday night (February 27), all four members of R.E.M. joined Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy’s R.E.M. cover band during their performance at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia. Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Bill Berry all performed the Reckoning track, “Pretty Persuasion,” with Shannon and Narducy’s group. While that was the only song Stipe took part in, Berry joined Shannon and Narducy for “Wendell Gee,” while Mills played on several songs in the set, including “Strange” and “1,00,000,” and Buck sat-in on “Letter Never Sent” and “Little America,” and joined Mills during “Second Guessing” and “(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville.” Patti Smith‘s guitarist Lenny Kaye was also in attendance, and he played on two Velvet Underground covers, “Femme Fatale” and “There She Goes Again.” Shannon and Narducy are currently touring the country performing 1985’s Fables of the Reconstruction in its entirety, along with other R.E.M. fan favorites. (Rolling Stone)