Michael Shannon And Jason Narducy With Friends Play R.E.M.’s ‘Fables Of The Reconstruction’ And More

Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy And Friends recently announced a 2025 UK tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of R.E.M.’s iconic 1985 album, Fables of the Reconstruction. After the pair’s acclaimed, sold out run honouring R.E.M.’s famed debut album Murmur, which saw the four original members of R.E.M. come together for the first time in 17 years at the tour’s Athens stop in the US, the Fables tour will bring Shannon & Narducy together again for a run of very special live performances in the UK.

Today, the pair are sharing the news that Ted Leo will be joining on bass guitar, completing a line-up that also boasts JonWurster (drums), DagJuhlin (guitar), and VijayTellis-Nayak (keyboards). The celebrated New Jersey songwriter, and frontman of the beloved Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, was recently announced as guitarist in Gang of Four.

Kicking off Tuesday, August 19th at Gorilla in Manchester, the tour will see the band playing Fables of the Reconstruction in full each night in addition to many other R.E.M. songs. The tour also includes two nights at The Garage in north London, a short journey from the city’s Livingston Studios where Fables was originally recorded with producer Joe Boyd.

Tickets are on sale now and are available here. Full UK tour dates are listed below.

Aug 19 – Gorilla, Manchester, UK
Aug 20 – The Garage, Glasgow, UK
Aug 22 – The Garage, London, UK
Aug 23 – The Garage, London, UK
Aug 25 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK
Aug 26 – Thekla, Bristol, UK

Watch Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy perform R.E.M.’s ‘Driver 8’ on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon below.

Shannon, an actor/musician known best for his film/series/stage work (for which he is twice Oscar-nominated), and Narducy (BobMouldBand, Superchunk, Sunny Day Real Estate, Verböten, SplitSingle) have been collaborating for the last eleven years, playing entire albums by some of their favourite artists such as Neil Young, The Modern Lovers, Bob Dylan, The Smiths, and T. Rex at various Chicago clubs. In July 2023, they performed Murmur at Chicago’s Metro to a full house, with a guest appearance from R.E.M.’s own MikeMills. Initially planned as a one-off performance to honour both the album and venue’s 40th anniversary, the show’s success inspired Shannon and Narducy to take the project on the road.

“I had never done a tour before. Jason nudged me after the Murmur set in Chicago at Metro. Now it’s all I want to do,” Shannon says. “I’m happy this one is twice as long. The last one was too short. This music is beyond comprehension and I cherish every chance I get to deliver it, even second generation. R.E.M. means the world to me. And this band led by Jason is stone cold ridiculous. Even if I never walked onstage, you would get a hell of a show.”

Narducy adds: “After Michael and I took the band on the road playing Murmur, we discussed possibly trying something again in 2025. It will be the 40th anniversary of Fables Of The Reconstruction so we will open with that album, in sequence. Then we will dig deep into the R.E.M. catalogue to round out the performance. Each show will have unique setlists. We love celebrating the music of this great band.”