R.E.M. bassist, Southwest Florida Symphony are rocking Fort Myers with 'guardrails off'

"Everybody Hurts." "Man on the Moon." "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)."

You'll hear those R.E.M. songs and more Saturday, Oct. 21 when founding member Mike Mills joins the Southwest Florida Symphony for "R.E.M. Explored."

But it might take you a while to figure out the songs, Mills says. They’re all-new, all-instrumental arrangements for orchestra ― and none of them sound like you remember.

"It’s not just sitting there listening to faithful rehashes of R.E.M. songs," says Mills, a singer, bassist and multi-instrumentalist who played on every R.E.M. album and wrote many of their hits. "It's a journey. It's a bit of a journey, and it's a good one. … It's pretty special."

This will only be the third time Mills has performed the touring show "R.E.M. Explored," he says.  The show also includes his “Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and Orchestra," a six-movement, classical-music-style piece he'll perform with his childhood friend, Grammy-nominated violinist Robert McDuffie.

R.E.M. songs, reworked and reimagined

The south Fort Myers concert ― part of the orchestra’s Brave New Pops series ― features 10 R.E.M. songs rearranged by composer David Mallamud and orchestral arranger Carl March (best known for his work with influential ‘70s rock band Big Star).

Mills told them to interpret the songs however they wanted, but leave just enough melody so the audience knows which song they're hearing.

"I kind of took the guardrails off," he says. "For the most part, I had no idea what to expect. I was pretty much open to anything. So I'm thrilled with what they did."

The setlist includes everything from early R.E.M. song "Pilgrimage" to late-career hit "Supernatural Superserious." But Mills doesn’t want to say much more about the songs and how they've been reimagined.

"I don’t want to give too much away," he says. "Because part of the fun of this is hearing the song and trying to figure out which one it is.

"That, to me, is part of the little puzzle. And I really enjoy that aspect."

Mills will be joined at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall by his touring rock band and the symphony. McDuffie takes the stage for the concerto, which he commissioned Mills to write.

A rock concerto from R.E.M.'s Mike Mills

Mills describes the concerto as more of a song suite than a traditional, classical-music concerto ― although he says it still fits the definition (including being a showcase for a solo musician's virtuosity).

So it wasn't a huge departure from the rock songs he used to write and co-write for R.E.M.

"It wasn't that different, because of how I chose to approach it," Mills says. "I am a believer in melody, and I think writing melodies is my strong suit. So I concentrated on that.

"I tried to keep in mind that it was for a violin. And than basically I let (arranger) David Mallamud help me with turning my song ideas into more classical arrangements."

The songs are all-new with one recognizable exception: The classic, haunting R.E.M. ballad "Nightswimming" from their 1992 album "Automatic for the People."

That song HAD to be in there, Mills says.

"When Bobby commissioned me to write the concerto, he insisted that I included 'Nightswimming,'" Mills says. "And I said, 'Well, that's great ― one less thing that I have to write.' …

"It's just a great melody. It's a great song. I think he was just looking forward to playing it on violin."

R.E.M. melodies still shine through

Mills says he looks forward to the show with Southwest Florida Symphony. And he hopes the audience enjoys the reworked, reimagined R.E.M. songs as much as he did.

Even he was surprised at the direction Mallamud took the songs ― sometimes to places he'd never have considered himself.

"It's just really thrilling," he says. "He's reimagined it. All of this is a serious reimagining of R.E.M. songs.

"But the great thing is, the melodies themselves are so powerful, that even in an altered form, they still carry through."

"R.E.M. Explored" starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, 13350 FSW Parkway, south Fort Myers. Admission is $45-$135, plus applicable taxes and fees.

For tickets and more information, visit 481-4849 or bbmannpah.com.

Southwest Florida Symphony's new season

The concert kicks off Southwest Florida Symphony's 2023-24 season. More highlights from the season include:

• Masterworks 1/Brave New Pops 2: American Classical (Nov. 4 at Mann Hall): Florida’s Marcus Roberts Jazz Trio and the symphony perform a jazz arrangement of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” in honor of the piece’s 100th anniversary. Plus Bernstein’s “Symphonic Dances for West Side Story,” Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” and more.

• Masterworks 2: Beethoven 5 and the British Invasion  (Jan. 6, 2024 at Mann Hall): Violinist Charles Yang of classical crossover trio Time For Three joins the orchestra on Ravel’s “Tzigane,” The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and The Animals’ version of the standard “House of the Rising Sun.” The symphony also performs Beethoven’s famous “Symphony No. 5” and Caroline Shaw’s “Entr’acte.”

• Masterworks 3: From Darkness to Light (Feb. 3, 2024 at Mann Hall): The symphony takes the audience on a journey from the heart-wrenching “Partita for Strings” by composer Gideon Klein, who died during the Holocaust; to Prokofiev’s “Piano Concerto No. 3”; and finally to Dvorak’s sunny, optimistic “Symphony No. 8.”

• Masterworks 4: The Concertmaster Concerto (March 16, 2024 at Mann Hall): Southwest Florida Symphony concertmaster Orin Laursen performs Beethoven’s “Violin Concerto.” The program also features Anna Clyne’s “Restless Ocean” and Brahms’ “Symphony No. 2.”.

• Masterworks 5: Cryptic Symphony: (April 13, 2024 at Mann Hall): Sphinx Competition-winning cellist Sterling Elliott performs Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme.” The night includes another Russian composer, as well: Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 5.”

• Brave New Pops 3: 70s, 80s & 90s Unplugged (May 18, 2024 at Mann Hall): Inspired by the classic MTV Unplugged concert series on TV, the always-unplugged symphony will perform pop and rock songs from the heyday of music television in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Learn more about Southwest Florida Symphony's new season at swflso.org.

Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. For news tips or other entertainment-related matters, call him at 239-335-0368 (for tickets to shows, call the venue) or email him atcrunnells@gannett.com. You can also connect with him on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1).

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: R.E.M.'s hits, reimagined by bassist Mike Mills, symphony in Fort Myers