January 14, 2001

REM, FOO FIGHTERS & BECK, ROCK IN RIO

REM debut two new songs, Foos have a blast and Beck bossa novas in Rio

Beck was the first international
artist to perform before an estimated 190,000 people on the second night of Rock In Rio.

The singer is not
very well known in Brazil and struggled to engage the crowd. Only the familiar singles 'Loser' and 'Devil's Haircut' and
his bossa nova excursion 'Tropicalia' really connected.

On the other hand, Dave Grohl and his Foo Fighters gave the rest of the line-up a lesson in how to really rock Rio. Opening their set with 'Breakout' and crashing through hits such as 'Learn To
Fly', 'I'll Stick Around', and 'Monkey Wrench', they completely triumphed. The highlight was when Grohl's
girlfriend, bass player Melissa Auf Der Maur (Smashing Pumpkins,
Hole) came on
stage bringing a birthday cake to the singer

. But the biggest cheers were reserved for the main attraction of the night, REM. The band unveiled two never-heard-before songs from the forthcoming album 'Reveal' (see News story) and also played hits from different points in their career such as
'Fall On Me',
'Pop Song 89', 'The One I Love' and 'Losing My Religion', which was sung in unison by the audience.

"Forget the fact that this is the largest group of people we've performed in front of in our entire career", Michael Stipe told the crowd. "Forget the fact
that this is the year 2001. Who would ever believe that? Forget the fact that this is the first time I've ever been to Brazil and I threw up on
the concrete,
it was so hot. I didn't mean to. It just happened".

Tonight Papa Roach, Oasis and Guns N' Roses perform.
The organizers
expect a full capacity crowd of 250,000 people.

Valeria Rossi and Luciano Vianna