R.E.M.: Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles CA

WHEN WAS the last time a real live rock band came through town with a Top 20 record and didn't bother to perform the future Golden Oldie, much less anchor the set with it? Such was the case Sunday night at the UniAmp, where R.E.M. managed to keep a capacity crowd of what the graysuits up in Marketing Research like to call "Core Actives" on its feet for nearly two hours without playing 'The One I Love' or 'Radio Free Europe' (their first college radio "hit") or 'I'm Sorry (So. Central Rain)' (their second college radio "hit") or pandering to the baser elements of BIGTIME ROCK AND ROLL SHOWS in general. (And they didn't have to get falling-down drunk to pull it off, either.)