[MF]#2 started with an image of a VHS tape and me lamenting that it wasn’t mine. This time, no such lament. The above VHS is mine. On a recent trip to Norfolk, for an Easter family visit to my family, I stumbled across this absolute gem of an artefact. The fact it was a film I hadn’t seen, despite being a huge fan of R.E.M. was a bonus. This month’s Music Films instalment is therefore a short reflection on seeing this collaborative concert film (the title is pleasingly misleading as I’ll get into) on returning from Kings Lynn.

R.E.M. are one of my favourite bands, although, I take them for granted, and when I am comfort listing my faves I often forget to include them in my impulsive, instinctive, first collation. Yet they are a band I return to a lot. To use a lovely phrase that Beth said to me the other day, they are ‘part of my furniture’. I used to think they deserved a great music film about them, and that is still kinda the case if someone could do it justice creatively. However, my thinking has shifted over time as I’ve realised that they aren’t that interesting a band in terms of narrative. Stipe is undoubtedly a fascinating character and they have some interesting elements in terms of biography and career but I’m not sure there’s enough to get into the weeds with/on. And they don’t deserve a rote wikipedia doc, a facts and footage churn-out content slop debacle.

Musically they are incredible, and live - I had the privilege of seeing them on more than one occasion - they were sensational. Tourfilm, directed in collaboration by Jim McKay and Michael Stipe - echoing the approach by David Byrne and Jonathan Demme on Stop Making Sense (1984) somewhat, albeit that wasn’t at the level of screen credit - captures the band as they are ascending to the zenith of Global fame and success, post Green (1988), pre Out of Time (1991). Despite the title, there is no aspect of tour-life or backstage life present in the film, just a single performance from the tour captured, for the most part, with four other shows providing some elements, but that wouldn’t be that evident from a first watch.

The film is a brilliant concert film. Aesthetically it’s interesting to watch, with a number of dynamic, experimental techiques deployed in camera, editing and post-production effects, in simple ways that elevate the music and performance of the band, while also feeling in tune to the emotional experience of being in the room(s) at the time. Visually, live, R.E.M. were assured and thoughtful in how they represented their sound and thematic narrative of a show. They thought visually, even if they were never overly bombastic [apart from the Monster tour in ‘95 maybe, my first time seeing them, but that bombast served that record beautifully]. So, Tourfilm delights in its thoughtfulness and the filmmakers know when to get out of the way and capture a song through a more streamlined and simple approach, and when to layer in something more Stan Brakhage.

Seeing the film on VHS was also a delightful form of time travel to the era of the tour and the show, and I was amazed and thrilled at the hold-up quality of the cassette. The requisite amount of ingrained and overlaid through watching, fuzz. A thrilling document of a band in a moment of confidence in their performance and back catalogue, but delightfully in modest rooms compared to where their next two records took them. I want to check out the other films that captured the band, and revisit Road Movie (Care, 1996). Hopefully on VHS too. Tourfilm is a gleeful reminder of what constituted enough success and curiosity to document, in a time not really that long ago. Or maybe that’s just me not wanting to feel old.