Sing Me Back Home

When I look at back at some of my favorite shows, very rarely do I think of the actual vocals. It's usually a combination of the energy from the stage, the people I'm with and the words and spirit of the songs. But this morning, as I walked to grab some morning breakfast, R.E.M.'s perfect cover of Richard and Linda Thompson's "Wall of Death" came on the iPod. I listened four times in a row. Like many R.E.M. songs, Michael Stipe's vocals on this track are damn near magical. And it brought me back to the few shows when I was mostly moved by the vocals. And there are two that stand out, both in New York, separated by about a decade.

I think it was 2000 when my friend Lisa and I went down to the Mercury Lounge to see Ryan Adams. Fresh into his solo career, I still longed for Whiskeytown, one of my favorite bands of the 90s. Adams sat in the small room before 200 or so people with nothing but a guitar and a notebook. He sang almost all new songs, some from his critically-lauded solo debut Heartbreaker, and some that he claimed to have written that day. I honestly can't even recall if the songs were that good, because all I really heard was Adams' voice. With a slight drawl, the clarity and cadence of that voice left me in awe. At least for one night, I didn't miss Whiskeytown, and despite Adams' solo career pretty much totally sucking, I'll never forget his singing that night.

Then came this year's tribute to Big Star's Third back in March. With about the same number of people in attendance, I sat in an auditorium seat at Baruch College and watched one spellbinding cover after another. There was word that in addition to the amazing cast of Matthew Sweet, Mike Mills, Jody Stephens, Norman Blake and others, that R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe might make an appearance. And with the show seemingly over, a few members rummaged around near the drum kit, and out walked Stipe. Peering around to make sure the band was ready, he leapt into The Box Tops' mega-hit "The Letter." I'd seen R.E.M. once before, at Great Woods in Massachusetts in the mid 90s, but hearing Stipe's vocals in this tiny hall was not just chilling, but a few minutes I won't soon forget.