Friday, Sept. 12, 2003 | 8:25 a.m.
Who: R.E.M. with Wilco.
When: Thursday.
Where: Thomas & Mack Center.
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Las Vegans love to complain about high concert ticket prices, for good reason.
Seats for top-tier headiners routinely sell for a significantly higher cost in Southern Nevada than at other stops along the same tours.
Thursday night, however, locals caught a major break when the Thomas & Mack Center priced a huge block of R.E.M. tickets at $20 in celebration of the venue's 20th anniversary.
But shockingly, those scaled-back costs didn't result in a packed arena. The concert drew an announced crowd of 9,658, leaving more than 2,000 seats empty, many of those in the $20 sections.
There's no telling exactly what kept so many Las Vegans from turning out. Maybe the date -- Sept. 11 -- had something do with it. Or perhaps it was because the show fell on a Thursday instead of during the weekend.
Regardless, those who opted to stay away missed one of the best local values in recent memory. Along with a spirited two-hour R.E.M. retrospective, early arrivals were also treated to an engaging 60-minute performance by opening act Wilco.
Billed as R.E.M.'s "Greatest Hits Tour," the Athens, Ga., band's gig actually began esoterically. Eschewing their usual opening numbers, the core trio of Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills started with "World Leader Pretend," a song they had played live just twice since 1991.
That surprise set the tone for an unpredictable night, as R.E.M. delved deep into its 21-year-old catalog for a few all-but-forgotten goodies.
One such gem was "These Days," an up-tempo cut off 1986's "Life's Rich Pageant." Before launching into the song, Stipe explained that a fan "who's in this room" requested it on the band's official website, www.remhq.com.
To satisfy another online suggestion, R.E.M. reached far back to first album "Murmur" for the obscure "Sitting Still." And the band included the lush "Cuyahoga" -- another track from "Pageant," on a personal appeal from Mills.
To Stipe's right, a music stand held lyrics to some of those infrequently performed numbers. But the bald, rail-thin vocalist hardly glanced at it, eventually crumpling his crib sheets and tossing them into the crowd during one of many fits of exuberant dancing.
Of course, fun as it must have been for R.E.M. to play a few rarities, most of the audience showed up to hear the hits.
With an eye toward next month's new "Best of R.E.M." compilation, the band brought its fans to their feet with many of their familiar modern rock classics, "The One I Love," "Losing My Religion," "Man on the Moon," "Everybody Hurts" and the encore finale, "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," among them.
The latter portion of R.E.M.'s performance also demonstrated the danger of constructing a set list on the fly.
As the show moved toward its finish, the band leaned heavily on mellower, late-era material from 1992's "Automatic for the People," 1998's "Up" and 2001's "Reveal." A song or two from the early, jangle-pop period would have worked nicely in that stretch to mix the pace up a bit.
R.E.M. also performed three new compositions: "Animal," "Bad Day" and anti-war anthem "The Final Straw." The crowd responded warmly to all three, particularly "Bad Day," a frenzied rocker propelled by some intense drumming from newcomer Bill Rieflin.
Those expecting Stipe to be in a somber mood on the second anniversary of the 9-11 attacks were in for yet another surprise. Though he wore a green "New York City" T-shirt for the occasion, Stipe kept the mood light for most of the night, joking with fans frequently between songs.
"Someone told me that at the end of the night she sings the song and then she's going down with the Titanic," Stipe quipped, referring to Las Vegas headliner Celine Dion. "This is nothing like that. You've probably figured that out by now.
"But everybody likes different things. That's why we don't all look the same, and why we don't all have the same facial hair. I don't think Celine Dion has facial hair. She's French-Canadian."
The shaggy-haired, spectacled Mills was also in fine spirits, grinning even as he belted out his trademark vocal harmonies.
And although Buck has ditched the bright red jumpsuit of 1995's "Monster" tour for a more laid-back look, the lanky guitarist remains a goofball at heart, kicking his legs awkwardly during solos and swooping down for a few silly rock-star poses.
Stipe made his lone reference to the anniversary of 9-11 during the encore, setting up an emotional rendition of "Nightswimming," albeit one halted briefly by a lyrical miscue by the singer.
"We're gonna do a beautiful song about memory and what it does to you. Raise your hand please, who remembers where they were two years ago?" Stipe asked, inducing a sea of outstretched arms in response.
R.E.M.'s most shrewd move might have been its choice of an opening act. Over the course of 13 selections -- most drawn from its four studio albums -- Wilco proved that an intimate sound crafted for small clubs could also sparkle in an arena setting.
The Chicago outfit, fronted by ex-Uncle Tupelo singer/guitarist Jeff Tweedy, is generally described as an alternative-country outfit, but that label seemed far too simplistic Thursday night.
Blending elements of folk, country and noisy, distorted indie rock, the five-piece band weaved a strangely inviting tapestry without relying on pop hooks or catchy singalong choruses.
In that respect, Wilco was the perfect match for R.E.M., another band that defied the traditions of popular music when it burst onto the scene two decades ago.
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