With less than 50 days until Accelerate comes out, I find myself pretty much unable to contain my excitement.

• The first single, “Supernatural Superserious” is pretty cool, and you can buy it at iTunes. The band has also set up a site where you can see the raw footage from the song’s video shoot. You can create your own version of the video or just watch the different acoustic performances of the song. I love it.
• Tour dates are all set
• You can pre-order the album on iTunes

Life as an R.E.M. fan is pretty damned good, but it always gets a little better. A friend told me that he heard from a friend of his that the band might headline the Virgin Festival in Baltimore in August.

They held the event there for the first time last year and had The Police, Beastie Boys, and Smashing Pumkins, among others. Modest Mouse, who will open for R.E.M. this time around North America, played Virgin last year.

Nothing about 2008 has been announced, but the festival web site does say information is on the way. And the early August dates they held it last year would fit because the band’s European tour include much of the first two weeks of August clear.

I know I will see them when they come to Merriweather Post Pavilion in June, but a second trip to the Baltimore-Washington area two months later – and closer to my 40th birthday – would be too much to handle.