There’s a secret stigma, reaping wheel
Diminish, a carnival of sorts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger to these parts
This video for “Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)” comes from an October 1982 performance at The Pier in Raleigh, North Carolina. The entire show was recorded for a local cable channel so the footage is jaw-droppingly excellent for a concert that just turned twenty-seven.
“Carnival of Sorts”–from 1982′s Chronic Town EP–was wedged into their first encore, between a yet-to-be-recorded “We Walk” and Michael Stipe’s freeform “Skank (Marble Table)” According to R.E.M Timeline, Peter Holsapple of The dB’s was the opening act and–sure enough–you can see him on guitar behind Mike Mills. Before this encore, Stipe asked for requests that “[they] didn’t know”, and someone shouted for “Black and White”, a song by The dB’s. Another audience member yelled “What’s New, Pussycat?” and Stipe laughed and sang a few bars.
Fun Fact: Michael’s shirt bears the logo of the Tri-Sigma sorority, which had a chapter at nearby UNC-Chapel Hill. No, I don’t have any limit to how dorky I let myself get.
