R.E.M. to kick of world tour in 2003
ByDec 9, 2002 11:00 PM
R.E.M., which hasn’t embarked on a full-scale tour in nearly four years, will kick off a 2003-2004 world tour with 18 summer-festival and headlining dates in Europe.
R.E.M., which hasn’t embarked on a full-scale tour in nearly four years, will kick off a 2003-2004 world tour with 18 summer-festival and headlining dates in Europe.
According to the Athens, Ga.-based band’s official website, the outing opens on June 27 at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival. The tour is expected to hit North America in the autumn; dates will be announced “after the first of the year,” according to the site. “As for other parts of the world ... 2004 is a good guess.”
The band is currently in Vancouver recording an album for release sometime next year. “We have been locked up in the studio and are anxious to see the outside world again,” frontman Michael Stipe said in a statement. “So we will spend some of the next year on tour with other people who love music.”
A new R.E.M. “Best Of” compilation is expected to hit stores in the fall of 2003.