Losing Their Aversion to Arenas : R.E.M.’s first tour in nearly six years will probably hit the Forum, Pond and Blockbuster Pavilion in the spring.

R.E.M. fans know that the band wasn’t exactly thrilled about playing big arenas on its last tour, in 1989. The intimacy and character of the Georgia rockers’ music was often lost in the cavernous settings--which is one reason the group has taken nearly six years off from live shows.

So now that R.E.M. is returning to the road, guess where they’ll be playing in the U.S. Big arenas.

Southern California dates are being held in May at the Forum in Inglewood and the Pond of Anaheim, each seating more than 16,000, and at the Blockbuster Pavilion in Devore, with a potential capacity of more than 50,000.

“I personally am not looking forward to seeing them in an arena again, but there really doesn’t seem to be an alternative,” says Denise Sullivan, author of a new book about R.E.M., “Talk About the Passion: An Oral History.”

Buck Williams, the group’s concert booking agent, says that there is in fact an alternative, but it’s an even less appealing one.

“They could play stadiums ,” says Williams. “They’ve now got a huge amount of fans who want to see them, and they have to go to arenas just to accommodate the numbers.”

Anything smaller, says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert trade magazine Pollstar, is just unrealistic.

“We’d all love to see the Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd or R.E.M. in a small theater or club, but the economic reality is that it wouldn’t work,” he says. “I suppose we should be thankful that (road-shy singer) Michael Stipe is agreeing to do a tour at all, and I certainly don’t think the band wants to stay on the road for the next five years to satisfy the demand there would be if they played small theaters.”

How will this set with R.E.M. loyalists?

Megan McLaughlin, editor of the college and alternative rock trade weekly CMJ, says that only the band’s longest-term fans, who may have seen the group in small clubs a decade ago, won’t be happy. The more recent fans, especially those who have never seen the band perform, she says, will get swept up in the magnitude of the event.

“There are a lot of young fans--and adults, too--who only go to big shows,” she says. “There won’t be too many people sitting there saying, ‘I saw R.E.M. back when there were only 50 people.’ ”