Courtesy of Craft RecordingsR.E.M.‘s 1999 headlining performance at the U.K.’s famed Glastonbury Festival will be streamed globally via the band’s official YouTube channel starting next Thursday, August 6, at 3 p.m. ET.
The free video stream of the concert will be viewable for just 72 hours.
The show took place on June 25, 1999, on the festival’s Pyramid Stage following a day of performances by bands including Blondie, Bush and Hole.
“Hole did such a great set, I was like — ‘I’ve got to ramp this up, I’ve got to be great,'” frontman Michael Stipe recalls about the concert. “I think it was maybe a moment for R.E.M. and the U.K. where we had kind of been forgotten or pushed aside by younger bands, and that was a particular moment at Glastonbury where I think we pulled ourselves back to the front of the line and actually proved, this is what we’re capable of. It was a great show for us!”
The concert featured a lengthy set that boasted a mix of old and new R.E.M. tunes, among them “The One I Love,” “Losing My Religion,” “Everybody Hurts,” “Man on the Moon,” What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” and “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”
Adds Stipe, “I felt triumphant every time we played Glastonbury. The band really stepped up. It’s such a beloved and legendary event that, y’know, whatever stars are aligned for us personally and as a group; we managed to show the best of ourselves at each of the shows we played there.”
The audio of R.E.M.’s 1999 Glastonbury show was included on the 2018 live box set R.E.M. at the BBC.
By Matt Friedlander
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