This tour wasn't supposed to happen, but the 40,000 REM fans at Lansdowne Road were delighted that the Athens, Georgia, band decided to go back on the road again.
As the sun set behind the vast outdoor stage, the crowd calmly waited for their American heroes to arrive, basking in the evening warmth, and strolling around the grounds with beer in hand.
REM are one of the world's biggest bands, towering over the 1990s pop landscape with albums such as Out of Time, Automatic for the People, Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Their classic hit singles include Loosing My Religion, Man on the Moon, The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite and the anthemic Everybody Hurts.
In recent years, however, REM's star has waned, and their current album, Up, has disappointed both critics and record-store owners. Ironically, Warner had re-signed the band for a reported $80 million just as sales started to drop.
Rumours circulated that REM had been persuaded by their record company to go on tour in an effort to boost flagging sales of the album. However, REM have insisted that this jaunt is their own, and that Warner continues to give the band a free hand.
"This is a band that has been the biggest in the world and sold millions around the world," said Mr Denis Woods, head of Warner Ireland. "They don't need the money." When asked if REM were still worth their advance, Mr Woods replied: "Are you kidding? Of course, they are".
The last time REM went on the road in 1995 the tour almost ended in tragedy when drummer Bill Berry suffered a brain haemorrhage on stage.
The tour was temporarily suspended, but Berry recovered in time for the band's Slane Castle show that summer.
When Berry announced his retirement from REM in 1997, the band seemed unsure of their future, but when they bounded on stage at Lansdowne Road last night they looked like a band who are ready to fight on.
Wearing blue eyeliner and punching the air like a pugilist, Michael Stipe led an expanded line-up through uptempo songs such as Lotus, What's the Frequency Kenneth and The Wake-Up Bomg, as giant screens on either side of the stage showed his shaven head in sharp relief.
Like Bono, Stipe elicits almost religious devotion from fans and he lived up to his legend by giving an animated, eccentric performance.
