R.E.M. has unabashedly supported Barack Obama from very early on. When I saw them in June less than an hour from D.C., Michael Stipe very openly talked about how much he wanted Obama to win. That pissed off some people in the crowd, but, as he said, the great thing about the country is that we all have that freedom to support who we want and get mad at the other side.

When I heard rumblings the band would tour through November, I fully expected some special dates right around the election. After all, they played Madison Square Garden the night after the 2004 election. When the results didn’t go the way they had hoped, Peter, Michael and Mike opened – yes, opened – the show with “End of the World,” the only time they played it on that entire tour. Elections mean a lot to them.

That’s why I found it curious that they are spending November in South America. I know they need to hit many areas of the globe on their tour and had never been to many of the cities they are visiting, but I thought the election would trump all that. Instead of playing in New York or D.C. or Chicago around the time Obama found out his fate, the band was in Santiago, Chile.

These videos show what ensued when they found out Obama had pretty much sealed up the election. They played the trio of “I Believe,” “Radio Free Europe” (second video) and “Cuyahoga.” Amazing.