This morning, though, “Sitting Still” came on the iPod, and the song managed to conjure up the old mid-80s REM jones. I got to know the band thanks to a camp counselor, Ed, back in the day. Ed was cool, and I’m pretty sure he had “Radio Free Europe” on a mix tape or something. From there, I bought the band’s stuff on vinyl, which explains why my REM collection is so paltry these days. I also saw REM live, at the New Haven coliseum, in November of 1986. My dad took me and a friend to the show. Set list, via REM Chronicle:

• These Days
• Harborcoat
• Lightnin’ Hopkins
• Sitting Still
• The One I Love
• Feeling Gravitys Pull
• The Flowers Of Guatemala
• Ghost Riders In The Sky
• (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville
• Tired Of Singing Trouble
• Finest Worksong
• I Believe
• Swan Swan H
• Seven Chinese Bros.
• Superman
• Can’t Get There From Here
• We Walk
• 1,000,000
• Pretty Persuasion
• Auctioneer (Another Engine)
• Oddfellows Local 151
• Driver 8
• Long Legged Girl (With A Short Dress On)
• Just A Touch
• Fall On Me
• Cuyahoga
• Radio Free Europe

There are some great songs on that list, for sure, but I seem to remember that the band’s live act was somewhat underwhelming. I think I was perhaps spoiled by my first ever show: U2′s Unforgettable Fire show at Nassau Coliseum in April 1985. At the REM gig, I remember Michael Stipe having not much of a rapport with his audience. Certainly not like Bono, who literally embraced his fans. At one point, Stipe yelled out something like “How’s everybody doing?” After the crowd let out a big cheer, he replied, “That was a rhetorical question – you had no need to reply.” The crowd cheered again, so Michael Stipe repeated the bit about the rhetorical question. I remember it being odd.

Anyway, it’s amazing how music stirs up memories. Here I am, in my late thirties, walking to my job in Washington, DC, and I’m reliving high school bus rides with REM on the walkman.

• Atrios on the Meadowlands stadium complex getting rail access after decades of having none:

I assume it was built at the peak of the what the fuck were they thinking era.

I remember going to the Meadowlands by bus, from the Port Authority, to see Yes on the “Big Generator” tour at Brendan Byrne arena. That’s about all I remember about the gig, which from the looks of it took place in 1987.

• Today, FBdN son #2, under the age of one, appeared to have fun banging on the piano. If I had been quick on the draw, I would have whipped out the iPhone to record some of the cacophony. It would have made for a serious, atonal musical microblogging challenge.

• Very Short List recommends a clever beer ad:

Among other things, this blog is a chronicle, a daily update on how music enters and affects the lives of its contributors.

It’s also about turning back the clock now and then.

I bring this up, because the other day, rummaging, I found a stack of ticket stubs in a closet bureau. I think I walked around with these stubs in my wallet for years before they finally made it into the closet. Yes, I’ve got a bit of pack rat in me. Not terrible, but it’s there.

Anyway, last night I thought I might post a list of these shows, just for the record. I created the list in Excel, with columns for date, artist, venue, and a quick note. Then I spent about 15 minutes trying to work the table into WordPress. Finally, I gave up and posted the image of one of the tickets, a bit out of desperation.

But then it occurred to me that perhaps that format might be a good one to blog around, using the relic – the stub – as a point of reference.

So this is the first in a series. Turning the clock back to March, 28, 1990, here are some of the memories that the stub, pictured above, conjures for me.

In 1990, I was a senior in high school. One day, as I was running to class, my roommate yelled out to me, asking if I had some money (I can’t remember the exact amount he asked for). I think I told him to buzz off or something, at which point, he replied that in that case, fine, no Grateful Dead ticket for me. Ha ha. I gave him the cash and got the ticket.

Memory shifts from there to the parking lot out at Nassau Coliseum. I have a distinct recollection of buying hot dogs off a vendor. At one point, I had two of them in my hand. A sort-of good looking young woman asked me if she could have one. I gave it to her. That was it. No conversation, no followup, just sure, you can have my hot dog. See you later.

Inside the gig, I remember not much, except that we were behind the stage. The seats actually weren’t terrible, if you didn’t mind the band having their backs to you for most of the gig.

After the show, we had a nasty surprise when we got back to our car (the Jeep of my roommate’s girlfriend): the tires had been slashed. I don’t recall the sequence of events, but fortunately someone had a credit card or something, and we spent the night in a hotel nearby.

And that’s all I remember about the gig.

Now, I’ve just looked at the set list for this show, courtesy of Dead.net.

It’s killer.

• Cold Rain and Snow
• New Minglewood Blues
• Easy to Love You
• High Time
• Queen Jane Approximately
• Loose Lucy
• Cassidy
• Deal

SET TWO

• Foolish Heart
• Looks Like Rain
• Cumberland Blues
• The Weight
• Hey Pocky Way
• drums
• The Other One
• Wharf Rat
• Good Lovin’

ENCORE

• Revolution

Apparently, according to the notes at Dead.net, the “Looks Like Rain” is the one that appears on the live record “Without A Net.” Holey smokes. I’ve listened to that recording dozens of time since, without realizing that I was at the show. I knew that “Without a Net” was recorded from that tour, but I didn’t put it together.

Looking at the set list, I’m sort of conjuring memories of the show itself now, but I’m not sure if those are real or imagined.

PHISH – BONNAROO 2009 – MIKE GORDON
Uploaded to Flickr by simpsonradio

Two things crossed my transom this afternoon.

First, Mike Gordon is hitting the road this fall. He’s playing in the greater DC area on September 12, a show I will strongly consider attending.

From Phish.com:

After two highly acclaimed runs last year touring on the release of his album The Green Sparrow, Mike returns with the same five-piece lineup, including longtime collaborator Scott Murawski on guitar, Vermonters Craig Myers on percussion and Tom Cleary on keyboards and Brooklyn drummer Todd Isler.

Scott Murawski, for anyone wondering, is of Max Creek fame. I’ve seen that band twice. The first time was at my high school, where I only remember them putting on a killer show and a student administrator complaining about their backstage demands (I think their contract stipulated a bunch of random things, like spaghetti and meatballs). The second gig was at some club in Providence, RI – I’m pretty sure it was the Living Room – freshman year. That was a good show too, although I remember not much about it. They played “Just a Rose.” You can find that number here.

Next, Warren Haynes is keeping very busy, according to Billboard.com. And check this shit out:

Haynes is also enthused about the eventual release of a solo album he recorded that he says “hearkens back to my earliest influences…soul music but it also kind of sounds like when Freddie King and B.B. King and Albert King did their more crossover records, where they were mixing funk and soul with blues.” Haynes recorded the album with Meters bassist George Porter, Jr., Ivan Neville and Ian McLagan on keyboardist and Ron Holloway on saxophone. Neville and Ruthie Foster sing, along with Haynes.

Holy guacamole. Sign me up for that one.