POP MUSIC REVIEW : IT’S ‘PLAY BALL’ DESPITE RAIN FOR R.E.M. AND FANS

“Wimps!”

That was the good-natured reaction of R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe to the news Wednesday night that the other three major outdoor Southern California events that evening--the Angels and Dodgers games and the Whitney Houston concert at the Greek Theatre--had been canceled because of rain.

However, the tickets for R.E.M.’s concert at the Pacific Amphitheatre read “Rain or Shine”--and apparently, few of the 3,000 drenched fans of the Georgia-based group would have had it any other way.

R.E.M. is the most acclaimed--and popular--of the independent breed of American rock bands that has surfaced in the ‘80s and the rain, fairly heavy at times, did little to soak the spirits of its mostly college-age audience (Pacific general manager Steve Redfern estimated that there were only about 200 no-shows).

In fact, many of the fans looked on the rain as a bonus. “I’ve been waiting two years to see these guys, so I didn’t think twice when it started raining today,” said Gregg Flynn, 21, as he pulled his heavily lined Detroit Tigers baseball jacket up around his ears. “I knew I had to be here.”

Marty Terrella, 18, was one of four Santa Ana buddies huddled together under a pair of weatherbeaten umbrellas. “I’m glad they didn’t cancel the show,” he said. “The rain is something we’ll all remember--the band, too. It makes the night more fun.”

Before the show, Peter Buck, the lanky guitarist for R.E.M., agreed that adverse conditions can add to the spirit of a concert.

“We just did a show in the rain in Arizona and it turned out to be really good,” Buck said backstage. “You feel bad for the audience because you know it’s not very comfortable, so you tend to play extra hard and talk to the audience more . . . to let them know you appreciate them. These are real hard-core fans, not just someone who shows up at a concert because they like your new single or think you look cute in the video.”

What about his own safety, with all that electric equipment on stage? There’s a covering above the amphitheater stage, but traces of rain still whip onto the musicians.

“It’s not real dangerous as long as you have the roof and all the wiring is secure,” Buck said. “If there weren’t a roof, there’s no way you could go on. A cable might have a short in it and a power surge could either blow out a speaker or blow out one of the musicians.”

In a playful mood, R.E.M. opened its two-hour show with an old Creedence song, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” Then the quartet, which was joined by a second guitarist on some numbers, went into its own songs.

Once heard only on adventure-minded college radio stations, R.E.M.’s combination of moody, frequently oblique, folk-accented tales about the search for integrity and values are connecting with a wider audience. The band’s new “Lifes Rich Pageant” is expected to go gold (500,000 copies sold) soon. Wednesday’s show was the start of a Southern California swing that also includes stops Saturday at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, Sunday at UC San Diego and Tuesday at Universal Amphitheatre.

Lead singer Stipe, looking more the arty eccentric than ever in his black wool coat and top hat, leaned against the microphone stand and conveyed his unusual blend of innocence and passion as Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry supplied the sharp, seductive rhythms and jangly guitar lines that are at the base of R.E.M.’s stirring sound.

Though Stipe sometimes turned his back on the audience and wandered to the rear of the stage while singing, the band’s overall presentation seemed more open than in the past. There’s more directness in both the sound of the new album and in the themes. Stipe even verges on accepting a mantle of leadership when he declares in one song, “We are young despite the years . . . / We are hope despite the times.”

One criticism raised about the band is that its themes are too vague. A cartoon accompanying the review of “Lifes Rich Pageant” in the Village Voice shows the four band members carrying signs with nothing written on them.

Buck nodded when the cartoon was mentioned.

“Yeah, I saw that and I understand the viewpoint,” he said. “But we are a more personal band. We don’t want to hold banners and have people march behind us . . . or march behind anybody.

“I loved some of those Dylan songs, like ‘Only a Pawn in Their Game,’ that had a message, but I laughed at others, like ‘Masters of War.’ One of my favorite Dylan albums is ‘Blood on the Tracks,’ which isn’t political at all.

“To me, the idea of what rock ‘n’ roll bands stood for was always intangible. When you’re a kid, you think rock ‘n’ roll stands for freedom and escape, but then you get older and you realize it doesn’t just mean that. It also means the price you pay for your freedom and stuff like that.

“I never felt so much that they ought to tell me how to dress or how to wear my hair or what to think. The only thing I think it should do, in this regard, is help open your mind . . . get you to think and feel about your own life and what’s troubling you.”

By the two-thirds mark in the concert, it was obvious that one thing troubling many in the audience this night was the rain. A few dozen people began heading for the exits. “I’ll just go home and listen to the record,” one fan said, sloshing through a puddle. “Besides I’ve got tickets to see them next week at Universal Amphitheatre. Thank goodness that place has a roof on it.”