Glastonbury Festival 50th anniversary celebrations continue with the release of R.E.M.’s historic headline set from the Pyramid Stage on June 25, 1999. Fans globally can now experience the entire BBC broadcast of R.E.M.’s 1999 Glastonbury performance beginning Thursday, August 6 at 8:00pm BST / 3:00pm EST and remaining live for a limited 72 hour window on YouTube. Audio from this headline set was recently released as part of R.E.M. at the BBC collection.
Michael Stipe recalls of the event, “Hole did such a great set, I was like—I’ve got to ramp this up, I’ve got to be great. I think it was maybe a moment for R.E.M. and the UK where we had kind of been forgotten or pushed aside by younger bands, and that was a particular moment at Glastonbury where I think we pulled ourselves back to the front of the line and actually proved, this is what we’re capable of. It was a great show for us!”
The band, backed by flashing neon lights, presented a carefully crafted set which included “Daysleeper,” “The One I Love,” “Losing My Religion,” “Everybody Hurts,” “Man on the Moon” and “Its the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”
Glastonbury Festival co-organizer Emily Eavis said the recent UK-specific airing of the show at the end of June “brought back so many memories and emotions – it was a great, great gig. What a band!” Stipe adds, “I felt triumphant every time we played Glastonbury. The band really stepped up. It’s such a beloved and legendary event that, y’know, whatever stars are aligned for us personally and as a group, we managed to show the best of ourselves at each of the shows we played there.”
