R.E.M. Plan Preview Screenings For Concert Film

The R.E.M. creative process is on full display in the new concert documentary This Is Not A Show: Live at the Olympia in Dublin. The 60-minute film is part of R.E.M. Live At the Olympia—a brand-new live CD/DVD that debuts October 27th.

The band teamed with theatrical distributor Cinema Purgatorio to present a series of sneak preview screenings of the concert, which will screen in movie theaters, rock clubs, college campuses, and other venues across the country throughout October and early November.

Check below for screening dates and locations.

The 39 songs captured on the audio section of the Live at the Olympia package were recorded over five nights at the intimate Dublin theatre, perhaps the ideal venue for the band to tweak new songs (that would eventually end up on the 2008 studio album Accelerate) and dust-off early tunes for an updated spin.

The film, which includes concert and backstage footage, was shot by French filmmakers Vincent Moon and Jeremiah. This Is Not A Show premiered in late September 2009 at the Sound Unseen festival in Minneapolis.

Think of it as a working rehearsal recorded and filmed for us to enjoy; oldies like “Second Guessing,” West of the Fields” and “Letter Never Sent” – songs that longtime fans perhaps never thought they’d hear live again – get mixed in with new (really new) songs, still in development at the time.

From video clips and album streams it feels like a band in the process of being re-energized by the creative process, reborn for a new chapter in their career.

Said guitarist Peter Buck:

“We were just trying to do something we hadn’t done before,” Buck says, “which meant there was no relaxing during the set. Every second we were playing something we didn’t know all that well. Which was kind of good — there were all kinds of terror elements going on during that show.”

This Is Not A Show / screening dates:

• Cambridge, Massachusetts: IFF Boston at the Brattle, October 14, 9:30pm
• Atlanta, Georgia: The Plaza, October 16, 7:30pm
• Asbury Park, New Jersey: The ShowRoom, October 18, 9pm
• Boise, Idaho: The Egyptian, October 22
• Columbus, Ohio: The Drexel, October 22, 8pm
• New Haven, Connecticut: Criterion Cinemas, October 23
• Tempe, Arizona: Madcap Theatres, October 23
• Columbia, South Carolina: The Nickelodeon, October 23
• Urbana-Champaign, Illinois: Savoy 16, October 23-24
• Bloomington, Indiana: The Ryder, October 24
• Montgomery, Alabama: The Capri Theatre, October 24, 9pm
• New York, New York: Cinema Purgatorio at the Kraine Theatre, October 27
• Los Angeles, California: Downtown Independent, October 27
• Burlington, Vermont: UVM Davis Center, October 27, 8pm
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 941 Theater, November 1, 8pm
• Dallas, Texas: Dallas Video Festival, November 5
• Athens, Georgia, R.E.M. has arranged an event at Hotel Indigo, October 26
• Seattle, Northwest Film Forum screens the film, October 23-25

We’ll keep you updated when more cities are added to the screening list.