The gigs were working rehearsals for Accelerate and therefore every gig began with the announcement "This is Not A Show!" The band were trying to re-discover themselves somewhat at that time when Peter Buck in particular realised that they were no longer a guitar band. The band also peppered these sets with loads of old songs that had rarely got an live airing in decades.
I can still feel the buzz aroud these gigs, having to beg my dad to borrow his credit card at the time (cause mine was maxed) and having to queue up at the Olympia Box Office very early on a Saturday morning. You were only allowed buy two tickets per night and four tickets max, so I booked the first night (30th June, support by David Kitt) and the last night (July 5th, support by Mundy)
When the first gig finally came round I got to say hello to Bill Rieflen (drummer for the gigs) as he made his way in to the venue and also to actor David Morse (yes really) who had flown in just for the gigs!
The real joy of the gigs of course was getting to hear the early R.E.M. songs transformed, the band had added their acquired stadium rock muscle to the IRS era songs and made them sound completely fresh all over again.
A good example of this is the version of Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars) from these gigs which the band have very timely thrown up on their youtube channel.