Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy Deliver Celebratory Tribute to R.E.M., Welcome Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey at Portland, OR’s Revolution Hall (SHOW REVIEW)

For whatever reason, the public has always been open to actors personifying musicians and actually singing their parts. This is especially top of mind lately as music nerds endlessly debate Timothée Chalamet’s performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, and Jeremy Allen White is gearing up to be Bruce Springsteen in a new biopic. Michael Shannon is a masterful actor with well-documented respectable music taste, so when he decided to take it to the next level by actually touring as the frontman for an R.E.M. cover band, it somehow made sense. After all, this is a guy who played George Jones and did a halfway decent job. Couldn’t he channel his deep love of one of rock music’s most iconically cool acts into a respectable performance? The answer to that question is mostly yes, as was evidenced when he brought his all-star collaboration with venerable indie rock ax man Jason Narducy to Portland, Oregon’s Revolution Hall on Saturday, February 22nd. 

If there is anyone who has put in the hours and effort to tackle the lofty job of emulating Michael Stipe, it may just be the guy who shares his initials. Shannon and Narducy have been at this R.E.M. thing for several years and even toured playing the band’s masterful 1983 album Murmur. This time around, they have fast-forwarded two years to the now 40-year-old Fables of the Reconstruction, playing the album in full along with a slew of other tunes from the Athens legends. 

Following a genuinely hilarious thirty-minute set from comedian and rocker Dave Hill, the band hit the stage and Shannon wandered out wearing pajamas with a dazed expression as he led the band through the ominous march of “Feeling Gravity’s Pull.” Throughout the next forty-five minutes, Shannon led the band through this work of power pop meets Southern gothic. While the actor’s voice struck a less soulful, emotionally commanding tone than Stipe, he also didn’t phone in his performance as the band injected fresh life into songs like “Driver 8,” “Life and How to Live It” (dedicated to his “asshole” stepdad), and “Can’t Get There From Here.” Shannon gesticulated wildly at the crowd and did his best to capture the intensity of Stipe, eventually taking a wardrobe change into more reasonable clothing and bouncing around like a young punk singer. Of course, the all-star band featuring Narducy, Wilco’s John Stirratt, drumming powerhouse and all-around class act Jon Wurster, guitarist Dag Juhlin, and keyboardist Vijay Tellis-Nayak kept the songs sharp and faithful to the original. This could be heard on standouts like “Auctioneer (Another Engine)” with its jagged guitar explosions and the album’s final track, the folksy “Wendell Gee” that saw Narducy swapping his ax for a banjo. 

Once Fables was played, the band was just getting started as they veered into what felt like an R.E.M. hoot night that just happened to be stacked with incredible musical talent. At times, it was hard to get over Shannon’s voice that, in some instances, took on more of a nasally drone, but his passion for the music was evident in every song, and he only seemed to get more excited as the night wore on. His eccentricity illicit more than a few chuckles from the audience, but mostly they were elated to bask in the glory of a band that is unlikely to ever play live again. His manic punk energy complemented songs like “Strange,” as Narducy and Juhlin laid down triumphant guitar blasts, while “Daysleeper” was nearly flawless in its execution. The jangly melodicism of “World Leader Pretend” and the grungy power of “Let Me In” were standout moments, and then R.E.M. member and Portland resident Peter Buck emerged from the shadows to join the band with his signature twelve-string for a punchy rendition of Pylon’s “Crazy.” Much to the joy of the fans in attendance, Buck stuck around and truly seemed to be enjoying himself as he lent his guitar prowess to songs like “Letter Never Sent,” “Pretty Persuasion,” “Sitting Still,” and “Cuyahoga.” Nearly two hours in, the band welcomed another R.E.M. member as Scott McCaughey lent his acoustic skills to the rousing and beloved rocker “(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville” to close out the night before they stretched past that mark with an encore that included the bouncy “So. Central Rain” and “7 Chinese Bros.” played with enough fervor to send the fans smiling into the night.  

It’s unlikely that Shannon is prepping for a role as Michael Stipe in an R.E.M. biopic, so that leaves his fandom. Obviously, his privilege as an actor enables him to live out his fantasy of playing and touring in the role of a band he clearly loves. While nobody will ever sound like Michael Stipe and it’s hard to say how much Shannon was trying to copy his sound or provide his own interpretation, his performance in Portland showed that he had done his homework and then some. He may have been the one in the spotlight, but Shannon often appeared as giddy to sing these songs as the audience did to see them performed. In this sense, catching this show felt less like a chance to judge how perfectly he could cover R.E.M. and more of a celebration of their music. If judged on this merit and the fact that the stage is filled with wonderfully talented musicians, then this tour is not to be missed.

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