WINNIPEG -- R.E.M. made up for a lot of lost time last night.

The legendary Athens, Ga. trio played Winnipeg for the first time in their 24-year-career. But instead of lulling fans into a daze with their dull new material, the group pulled out a set of classics for the sold-out crowd of 2,300 at the Centennial Concert Hall.

R.E.M. hasn't been a "rock" band for a long time, spending much of the later part of their career exploring their sensitive sides, so it was a treat to hear older numbers like Begin the Begin and Orange Crush and only four new songs from the subdued and uninspired Around the Sun.

With black raccoon-like makeup around his eyes, vocalist Michael Stipe looked like The Riddler from the Batman television series and was just as energetic as the young Frank Gorshin, roaming the stage and kicking his legs in the air, while his arms flailed above his head. On either side of him was guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills, neither of whom are as flashy as Stipe but rock solid in their roles, getting a little dirty on Finest Worksong or turning it down a notch on songs like Drive and Strange Currencies.

The trio filled out their sound with multi-instrumentalists Scott McCaughey and Ken Stringfellow providing an extra guitar here, keyboards there or some melodica. Former Ministry drummer William Rieflin capably filled the shoes of founding drummer Bill Berry, who left the group seven years ago.

As the evening wore on Stipe warmed up and spoke more, explaining how he was inspired to write certain songs and how happy he was to be in the country.

"We've been in Canada for a week and it's been a total blessing. Last night was the first night I didn't dream about a vote recount," he joked.

That was as political as Stipe got, and nothing else was said about the election. R.E.M. can be a serious band but last night they just let loose and had fun.

It was by no means a greatest hits set and many of their well-known singles were missing, but the band did a good job with pacing, never allowing their heavy ballads to take over the show.

What did have the tendency to cause people's eyes to roam was the futuristic looking stage set consisting of metallic screens which reflected light and let it through, while a series of multi-coloured fluorescent lights dangled jewel-like from the ceiling.

Oxford, Miss., native Charlie Mars and his band opened the show with a 45-minute set that mined the same pop territory as the headliners, albeit with a slight country twist, and failed to draw much response from the crowd.