PLAYING to a packed room, the ‘definitive tribute’ to REM were welcomed back to Worcester last weekend.

Stipe: REM have been performing at The Marrs Bar on Pierpoint Street for the past six years, Covid apart, so met with some familiar faces when they returned last weekend.

They’re a must-see for REM enthusiasts and quite frankly anyone who at all appreciates one of the alternative rock pioneers.

REM emerged from Georgia in 1980, amassing an incredible back catalogue with 63 singles, and their numerous albums have generated 90 million-plus sales worldwide to be among the best-selling music artists of all time.

But fans will appreciate that Stipe, of course named after legendary frontman Michael Stipe, are not afraid to mix it up with album tracks and dips into the 1980s vault.

Opening for them as support was relative newcomer Becky Peters, a singer-songwriter from Bridgnorth.

Playing a mixture of her own material and indie covers from bands such as Oasis, The Zutons, The Cranberries and more, Peters warmed the crowd up — never a small ask — but she went down a storm.

Peters learned to play guitar in lockdown and has since launched her music career by playing shows around the West Midlands and showcasing her talent on social media.

Stipe, who hail mainly from the north-west, kicked off promptly at around 9.30pm, opening with Bad Day and What’s the Frequency Kenneth?.

After a few hitches with guitars refusing to tune they blazed through the first half with the likes of All the Way to Reno, Drive and Bang & Blame alongside an excellent rendition of Country Feedback, said to be Michael Stipe’s favourite.

Following a short break Stipe were back with fan favourites Leaving New York and Near Wild Heaven.

The whole set was fuelled by Kronenbourg 1664 lager, which the band apparently brought with them, and surely helped frontman Richard Southern — who sounds incredibly like Michael Stipe himself and adopts many of his mannerisms — get through Shiny Happy People.

While the crowd went crazy for it, Southern assured us it wasn’t his favourite but he made a professional go of it.

It’s not my favourite either — in fact it was probably my least favourite song in the world at one point — but even I enjoyed it.

From this point on it was all the iconic hits from The One I Love, Losing My Religion, Man on the Moon and Everybody Hurts before a no-fuss three-song encore, including The Great Beyond and Imitation of Life, ended in an insanely well-rehearsed, rousing rendition of It’s the End of the World as We Know It.

The band put every setlist together specifically for each show so every gig is different and with a huge back catalogue to choose from the challenge falls to drummer Chris Bate — and you couldn’t fault his choices.

For anyone who missed out on the band this time, you can catch Stipe at Worcester’s Fake Festival at Pitchcroft on Saturday, August 24 where they will play alongside tributes to P!nk, Arctic Monkeys, The Police, Oasis and Green Day.

Sofia Jones reviewed the show on Saturday, April 20.