R.E.M. Barbecue Bushes in Texas

If you're going to pick a fight with a man, you might as well do it in his hometown, and -- what the hell -- you might as well call out his mom. So went the thinking of Michael Stipe, as he and his R.E.M. mates took the stage of Stubb's Bar-B-Que in Austin to cap off the opening night of South by Southwest.

Stipe blamed President Bush for turning this decade into an "overreaction to 9/11" and introduced the new song 'Houston' as a reaction to Barbara Bush infamously suggesting that many of the Katrina refugees actually benefited from the disaster. Lyric summary: R.E.M. disagree.
'Houston' was one of many songs that Stipe and Co. unveiled from 'Accelerate,' their first album in four years. "The good news is that they're all about two and half minutes," Stipe joked to the crowd of music industry faithfuls, "so if you don't like this one you can go take a pee."


The band also rewarded those out past midnight with re-energized versions of 'Auctioneer (Another Engine),' 'Second Guessing' and 'Drive.' Stipe did do a notable positive shout-out, dedicating 'Until the Day Is Done' to Heath Ledger, who had gotten a sneak preview of the song before his death and "loved it."

Oh, and the singer even had a few kind words for a politician: "Austin came out strong for Barack Obama, and I want to salute you for that."

Obama's mom never came up.