Live at the Olympia is a live album by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was recorded during the band's five-night residency at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, between June 30 and July 5, 2007, and released on October 27, 2009. In this series of "working rehearsals" the songs on Accelerate were debuted, with many still works in progress. Every song from "Accelerate" appear on the album with the exception of "Hollow Man" and "Sing for the Submarine". The album is a two-CD release, and contains a total of 39 songs. In addition, a DVD with a documentary titled This Is Not a Show directed by Vincent Moon is included. A special edition box set containing the album on four LPs as well as the two CDs and the DVD is also available.

Promotion

To promote the album, R.E.M.'s Dublin website had full streaming clips of "Driver 8", "I've Been High" and "Harborcoat", along with videos for "Living Well Is the Best Revenge" and clips from the Reckoning EP, while the video for "Drive" was made available on R.E.M.'s Myspace page. On October 22, 2009, National Public Radio streamed the entire album for free.

Reckoning Songs from the Olympia

A digital EP containing songs from the album, Reckoning Songs from the Olympia, was released on July 7, 2009, through the iTunes Store and other distributors. It contains "Harborcoat", "Letter Never Sent", "Second Guessing" and "Pretty Persuasion", songs from the band's 1984 studio album Reckoning.

Reception

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe, except where noted

The Times Presents R.E.M. Live in Dublin

A 10-song live album, with all songs recorded live in Dublin, was made available by UK newspaper The Times as a reader download through the iTunes Store during October 2009. The first five tracks were originally released on R.E.M. Live (recorded on February 26–27, 2005); tracks 6–10 would later gain an official release on the then-upcoming Live at the Olympia.

Personnel

R.E.M. Additional personnel

Chart positions