Michael Stipe joins The National for ‘E-Bow the Letter’ at Dessner birthday show
The R.E.M. singer joined Matt Berninger and the Dessner brothers in Biarritz for AB100, bringing a song with a connection to the celebration’s next stop.
Michael Stipe joined members of The National at Atabal in Biarritz, France, on October 17 to perform R.E.M.’s ‘E-Bow the Letter’ during AB100, a celebration of Aaron and Bryce Dessner’s 50th birthdays. Matt Berninger sang with him at the opening concert.
Stipe had already performed ‘No Time for Love Like Now’, his 2020 collaboration with Aaron Dessner, earlier in the show, SPIN reported. Before ‘E-Bow the Letter’, he handed the Dessner brothers small handmade sculptures and said he had made them in the year R.E.M. toured with The National.
Why ‘E-Bow the Letter’ fit the night
Aaron Dessner recalled that The National opened for R.E.M. in 2007–08 and would ask the band to play particular songs. ‘We did it today again, and Michael gracefully said yes,’ he said, according to SPIN. Berninger then joined Stipe for ‘E-Bow the Letter’, originally released on R.E.M.’s 1996 album New Adventures in Hi-Fi with a guest vocal from Patti Smith.
Stipe also connected the song to the festival’s other city. He told the Biarritz audience that it began in New York in 1975 and took shape in San Sebastián in 1995, SPIN reported. The Spanish city was due to host AB100’s closing concert on October 18.
What is AB100?
AB100 is a two-day event across Biarritz and nearby San Sebastián for the Dessner twins. Their birthday was April 23, making the October concerts a belated celebration, according to SPIN. NME reported that the Biarritz opening show, billed as ‘Mixtape’, brought a rotating group of the brothers’ friends and collaborators to the stage, including Ben Howard, Kevin Morby and Jon Hopkins.
The National were scheduled to headline the October 18 finale at San Sebastián’s Kursaal Auditorium, billed as ‘The National And Friends’. SPIN reported that the group had also played together in Berlin on October 11, ending a two-year stage hiatus.
The Biarritz appearance comes as Stipe works on his debut solo album. NME reported that he shared the spoken-word track ‘Hum Desiderata’ in July and performed the previously unheard ‘The Rest Of Ever’ on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in April. The National’s latest studio album, Laugh Track, came out in 2023, after First Two Pages of Frankenstein earlier that year.
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Sources and context
- Watch Michael Stipe join members of The National for R.E.M.'s ‘E-Bow The Letter’NME
- National Members, Michael Stipe Perform In FranceSPIN (republished by Yahoo)
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.