Tuesday night's alright for ...

When I set out to enjoy a Happy Hour with Tim and Matt on Tuesday, I never envisioned I'd stay in downtown Athens until 1:25 a.m. and wind up seeing one of the most recognizable and respected rock bands of the past 25 years in a small, intimate venue. But, hey, I did ... and that's pretty friggin' cool.

I decided to attend the R.E.M. benefit/tribute concert at the 40 Watt Club since Tim already had tickets for him and some of his buddies from law school. It was expressed to me that extra tickets were on sale at the 40 Watt, though upon our arrival it was obvious they were incredibly sold out. And, upon our arrival at Clocked for dinner, it was slowly becoming apparent the band would play. Athens is an amazing town when it comes to covert, music-related rumors ... particularly those relating to R.E.M.

Being the ever-friendly and ever-charitable group of guys they are, they tend to pop up at these types of smaller events and do a song or two. So, as the rumor mill began to churn, the demand for tickets shot up drastically (one dude in our group was offered $100 for his $13 ticket).

Now, I'll be honest - I'm not really a big R.E.M. fan. I don't dislike them by any means, and I've always really respected and appreciated the music they put out. Every once in a while a song would come along I'd be partial to - like Monster or Second Guessing or Drive, but for the most part I just knew they were a really good rock band who had a sound which wasn't entirely in line with my tastes.

I mean, I had the chance to see them in Atlanta in 2004 and attend an after party, but I passed it up so I could stay home and watch Game One of the 2004 World Series.

Still, the opportunity to see them in a small environment like the 40 Watt was absolutely too good to pass up, so I began to press on for tickets. Thus I began to check around and see if anyone had any extra tickets anywhere, though it was definitely not a buyer's market. Fortunately, thanks to the extreme kindness and generosity of, shall we say, a couple who had the appropriate connections, two tickets were unearthed for me and Matt ... and for that I am immensely grateful (you guys rock!).

So ... here are a few highlights:

• Tim is a massive R.E.M. fan, and it was very clear that this was, quite possibly, the greatest night of his life. Even as my energy waned after midnight (I've become rather Bushonian in my sleeping habits, going past 10 p.m. is an accomplishment for me these days), he was there literally forcing me to wave my arms in the air.

• One of the coolest parts of the night for me? That Mayor Heidi Davison was looking for extra tickets on my behalf. Tim tells me that when one gentleman said he had extra tickets, she quickly popped up with 'Johnathan McGinty needs extra tickets.' Dude, I was already going to back her anyway, but this was the icing on the cake.

• That Patterson Hood is pretty good. So is Modern Tin Cup Prophettes. Of course, my knowledge of the local music scene is so incredibly lacking, so there's that ...

• I really think Matt took about 471 pictures with his camera phone.

• One of the other coolest parts of the night? That Tim was given a beer orginally purchased for Mike Mills, prompting him to immediately begin shouting 'Who has a camera phone!? Who has a camera phone!?' The photos turned out very greenlightish, but still ... that rocked on a random level.

• Hillary, I could tell, was absolutely stunned to see me at the concert. I told her today that I was trying to slowly become hip.

• I've always been rather indifferent to It's The End Of The World As We Know It, mostly associating it with the opening of cheesy sci-fi blockbuster Independence Day ... but seeing Michael Stipe sing it with an assortment of local bands as well as the rest of R.E.M. ... yeah, that was awesome ... awesome I say.