Two-time Academy Award-nominee Michael Shannon, and Jason Narducy (Bob Mould Band, Superchunk and more) will be touring the UK with a live show that pays tribute to R.E.M.’s classic 1985 album ‘Fables of the Reconstruction’. The album celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and the tour will see them play the album in full along with other R.E.M. hits.
The pair are long-time collaborators, and have previously played entire albums by some of their favourite artists such as Neil Young, The Modern Lovers, Bob Dylan and The Smiths. In July 2023, they performed R.E.M’s ‘Murmur’, which saw the four original members of R.E.M. come together for the first time in 17 years. Initially planned as a one-off performance to honour both the album and venue’s 40th anniversary, the show’s success inspired Shannon and Narducy to take the project on the road.
Kicking off Tuesday, August 19th at Gorilla in Manchester, the tour will see Shannon & Narducy—alongside Jon Wurster (drums), Nick Macri (bass), DagJuhlin (guitar), and VijayTellis-Nayak (keyboards)—playing Fables of the Reconstruction in full each night in addition to many other R.E.M. songs. The tour also sees two nights at The Garage in North London, a short journey from the city’s Livingston Studios where Fables was originally recorded with producer Joe Boyd.
Shannon said, “I had never done a tour before. Jason nudged me after the Murmur set in Chicago at Metro. Now it’s all I want to do….. This music is beyond comprehension and I cherish every chance I get to deliver it, even second generation. R.E.M. means the world to me. And this band led by Jason is stone-cold ridiculous. Even if I never walked onstage, you would get a hell of a show.”
Narducy adds: “After Michael and I took the band on the road playing Murmur, we discussed possibly trying something again in 2025. It will be the 40th anniversary of Fables Of The Reconstruction so we will open with that album, in sequence. Then we will dig deep into the R.E.M. catalogue to round out the performance. Each show will have unique setlists. We love celebrating the music of this great band.”
Tickets go on general sale on Friday 31st January at 10am GMT, and are available here. Full UK tour dates are listed below.
Photo credit: Christy Bush
