POP MUSIC REVIEW : After 5-Year Layoff, R.E.M. Opens Tour Down Under

Ending a five-year hiatus from full-scale touring, R.E.M. returned to the stage in Australia with a bold new show that found the band firmly planted in its recent history.

In its concert Wednesday at the 13,000-capacity Sidney Myer Music Bowl here, the Georgia band played material that dates no earlier than 1986’s “Lifes Rich Pageant” album. The result was a forward-looking and vigorous performance dominated by material from its current album, “Monster.”

Given the unusually long time away from the road, R.E.M.--which begins a series of Southern California shows on May 9 at the Forum--proved that neither time nor age has dulled its ability to deliver a driving, no-nonsense rock ‘n’ roll concert.

The material from “Monster,” mostly numbers featuring electric guitar layered with tremolo and distortion, made for many of the high points. “Star 69,” for example, a noisy rant about a telephone feature that allows one to display the number of the last caller, wowed the audience. Drummer Bill Berry and bassist Mike Mills laid out a solid beat while guitarist Peter Buck and supplemental musicians Scott McCaughey and Nathan December poured on a three-guitar assault that rivaled any of R.E.M.’s past outbursts.

“I Took Your Name” proved equally stunning but more subtle. Meanwhile, the band played versions of “Try Not to Breathe” and “Man on the Moon” that were noisier and less subtle than the more serene arrangements on 1992’s “Automatic for the People.”

But the show fared equally well on songs such as “Country Feedback” and “Tongue,” which feature not distortion, but mandolin, acoustic guitar and organ. To be sure, singer Michael Stipe seemed to conserve his strength and concentration most for the band’s stellar performance of “Everybody Hurts” in the encore.

Much of the show’s relatively uncomplicated music owes its success to the band’s remarkable chemistry. Stipe’s evocative vocals carried the slower, moody numbers, while he was content to let the other musicians carry the weight and work up their chops on some of the up-tempo numbers.

Fans used to seeing an animated, often thrashing Stipe will be treated instead to a more subdued artist, one seemingly aware of his maturity and stature. Although he may move about less than on previous tours, his edge remains sharp. On “Revolution,” an unreleased R.E.M. original, Stipe lamented the state of affairs in the United States--some of which may have been lost on the Australian audience--and then dubiously conceded that “revolution is a silly idea.”

While the performance of a brand-new song keeps with tradition and pleases even a casual fan, R.E.M.’s well-publicized decision to leave out songs from its earliest records has displeased some longtime fans. Ironically, the show’s oldest material provided its least interesting moments. On a tour where age is clearly a concern, even the sure-fire “Fall on Me” and “Finest Worksong” can’t hide the miles. The band may do itself and its fans a disservice by not revisiting some of its early-to-mid-’80s material at least occasionally.

Nevertheless, one must give R.E.M. credit for following its muse. And in Australia, it was clearly giving them a green light.