Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and Friends, Life’s Rich Pageant, March 6th, 2026 at Royale in Boston

Friday night, the tour of Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and Friends Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of R.E.M.’s “Life’s Rich Pageant” came through Boston with a killer show at Royale on Tremont.

As they did with “Fables of the Reconstruction” at the same venue, they played the album in sequence. Yes, this included Shannon (who played General Zod in Man of Steel) singing “I Am Superman”:

After the playing the full album, which sounded great but short, they launched into an extended set of songs from throughout the catalog – forward to Up and New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and back to Chronic Town.

After a pretty lengthy set, they also came back for an encore.

This time the “Friends” included Dag Juhlin (Poi Dog Pondering, Sunshine Boys, Exo ’76) , John Stirratt (Wilco, The Autumn Defense), Vijay Tellis-Nayak (composer, arranger, in Kick The Cat), and Jon Wurster (Superchunk, The Mountain Goats, Bob Mould). What a great band! I think they are spot-on with all the music from Chronic Town through Document (coming next year), though there were some stumbles in a few of the more recent songs deeper in the set – maybe the first time they’ve played them.

Look forward to seeing the Document tour.

Michael Shannon And Jason Narducy Bring R.E.M.’s Jangle Pop Masterpiece To The UK

Following their rapturously received run honoring R.E.M.’s Fables of the Reconstruction, Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy and Friends will embark on a UK tour in Autumn 2026 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of R.E.M.’s iconic alt-rock album, Lifes Rich Pageant. Kicking off September 1st, the collective—including Jon Wurster and John Stirratt—will play the album in full each night, in addition to many other beloved R.E.M. classics, bringing this celebrated indie-rock tribute to UK stages.

Artist pre-sale begins 10am GMT on Monday 24th November. General sale begins 10am GMT on Friday 28th November. Tickets available here.

Full 2026 UK tour dates are listed below.

01 Sept – Thekla, Bristol, UK
02 Sept – Chalk, Brighton, UK
04 Sept – KOKO, London, UK
05 Sept – New Century Hall, Manchester, UK
06 Sept – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK
08 Sept – Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh, UK
09 Sept – Saint Luke’s, Glasgow, UK

#alternative #indiePop #indieRock #janglePop #jasonNarducy #michaelShannon #music #news #rEM

Jason Narducy announces first book, third R.E.M. covers tour with Michael Shannon

https://www.stereogum.com/2323078/jason-narducy-announces-first-book-third-r-e-m-covers-tour-with-michael-shannon/news/

#music #JasonNarducy #REM

Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy will tour R.E.M.’s Lifes Rich Pageant next

https://www.stereogum.com/2300773/michael-shannon-jason-narducy-will-tour-r-e-m-s-lifes-rich-pageant-next/news

#music #Indie #IndieMusic #CollegeRock #REM #MichaelShannon #JasonNarducy

Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and Friends play R.E.M.’s Fables of the Reconstruction at the Royale Boston, March 7th, 2025

I missed the last Shannon-Narducy recreate R.E.M. tour, when they came through doing Murmur at the Sinclair. This time I was not going to miss out.

The band includes Jon Wurster (who’s played with Bob Mould, Superchunk, and The Mountain Goats) on drums, John Stirratt (of Uncle Tupelo and Wilco) on bass, Dag Juhlin (Poi Dog Pondering) on guitar, and Vijay Tellis-Nayak in addition to Shannon’s vocals and Narducy’s guitar work. (Narducy has also played in Bob Mould’s band and with Superchunk, as well as Verbow).

Comedian Dave Hill opened, with some musical numbers of his own as well as pickup lines tailored to a Boston Audience.

Honestly they undersell the whole tour – while they are careful to note it isn’t a tribute band, they do recreate what I imagine it was like to see R.E.M. in a smaller venue earlier in their career. (Maybe it should be called Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy play the R.E.M. catalogue). By the time I saw R.E.M. on the Work tour in 1987, they were big enough to play the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul – a 5000 seat arena.

We got there early enough to get seats in the balcony – the view’s a bit obstructed when you’re sitting, but standing it’s a great view.

A few clips:

After playing Fables through, they went into what was actually the longer set of other songs from across the R.E.M. catalogue, including covers they played around the time, like this one (one of several they played from Dead Letter Office):

They also went back and forward in the R.E.M. catalog, to “Daysleeper” from Up and back to Chronic Town (Wolves, Gardening at Night). Some of my favorite Reckoning tracks made it too.

They called this one a deep cut for the true followers:

If you get a chance to catch the show – on this tour or hopefully on tours to follow for other R.E.M. album anniversaries – don’t miss it

#BostonMA #DagJuhlin #DaveHill #FablesOfTheReconstruction #JasonNarducy #JohnStirratt #JonWurster #LiveMusic #MichaelShannon #REM_ #TheRoyale #VijayTellisNayak

Watch Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy Perform “Feeling Gravitys Pull” At Their Latest R.E.M. Covers Tour Kickoff

https://www.stereogum.com/2297230/watch-michael-shannon-jason-narducy-perform-feeling-gravitys-pull-at-their-latest-r-e-m-covers-tour-kickoff/news/

#music #REM #MichaelShannon #JasonNarducy

Jason Narducy on how The Clash, Articles of Faith, Cheap Trick and more influenced Verböten’s debut album

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/jason-narducy-tells-us-how-the-clash-articles-of-faith-cheap-trick-more-influenced-verbotens-debut-album/

#music #punk #PunkRock #JasonNarducy #TheClash #ArticlesOfFaith #CheapTrick #verboten

Verböten will (finally) release their debut album next month. Ahead of that they've shared new single “No More Indecision”

https://www.stereogum.com/2279844/verboten-no-more-indecision/music/

#music #punk #PunkRock #Verboten #JasonNarducy

Jason Narducy’s ’80s Band Verböten Share First New Music In Over 40 Years

https://www.stereogum.com/2274881/jason-narducys-80s-band-verboten-share-first-new-music-in-over-40-years/music/

#music #PunkRock #JasonNarducy ’#Verboten #BobMould #Superchunk #DaveGrohl #FooFighters #Nirvana

Watch: Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy lure all four members of R.E.M. on stage in Athens | Georgia Public Broadcasting

"It wasn't a reunion — and they didn't perform together. But the sight of all four members of R.E.M. on stage last night at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Ga., has already rippled around the world."

https://www.gpb.org/news/2024/02/09/watch-michael-shannon-and-jason-narducy-lure-all-four-members-of-rem-on-stage-in

#REM #40WattAthens #Athens #MichaelShannon #JasonNarducy #Music