Peter Buck is most often associated with Athens, Georgia, where he cofounded one of the greatest rock bands of all time — R.E.M. — with drummer Bill Berry, bassist Mike Mills and vocalist Michael Stipe in 1980.
Yet, the famed guitarist is actually a Bay Area guy — at least by birth. And, in that sense, Buck’s show with his new band Drink the Sea on Tuesday night at The Freight in Berkeley was a kind of a homecoming.
“Berkeley’s prodigal son returns!” Drink the Sea drummer Barrett Martin exclaimed.
Wow, did he ever. And Buck — who was born December 6, 1956 in Berkeley — brought along such a talented group of players with him.
Drink the Sea definitely qualifies as a supergroup — based on skill level and résumé — even though many folks may not know the individual players by name.
Hopefully, Drink the Sea will help introduce Buck’s fellow musicians — Martin (Screaming Trees, Mad Season), vocalist-saxophonist-guitarist Duke Garwood (Mark Lanegan Band), vocalist-guitarist Alain Johannes (Eleven, Queens of The Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures), vibraphonist-percussionist Lisette Garcia and bassist Kelsey Mines — to a much wider audience.
Of course, Buck has been involved with so many side projects and acts-not-named-R.E.M. over the years. That’s one of the reasons we love him — the dude just loves to play music and he never lets things like commercial potential or prestige level stop him.
Yet, there is clearly something special about Drink the Sea — a point that was so finely showcased on Tuesday night at The Freight,
The sextet opened its show just after 8 p.m. with a powerful version of “Shaking for the Snakes,” one of 26 songs that Drink the Sea would perform during its excellent two-hour-plus set in front of a full house of curious R.E.M. fans and other adventurous sonic travelers.
With the exception of a few covers taken from the musicians’ previous projects, the songs hailed from the band’s two full-length efforts — “Drink the Sea I” and ‘Drink the Sea II.” These recordings were released just two weeks apart in 2025, flow seamlessly together, and are considered by the band members to be two parts of the same “debut” album. They both showcase a wild, satisfying mix of global sounds, brought vividly to life through traditional guitar-bass-drums configurations further colored with the use of Arabic oud, Indian sitar, Indonesian gamelans, Brazilian surdo drums and other percussion instruments.
The music — so finely and thoughtfully produced and mixed by Martin and Johannes in the studio — translated quite nicely on the live stage as the group continued through “Outside Again,” “Sip of the Juice,” “Where We Belong” and other standout cuts.
Each of the musicians had their opportunities to shine, although always within the context of the band itself. In particular, Garwood proved to be a marvelous vocalist — stepping up to the microphone with a memorably deep and resonate voice that brought to mind Nick Cave — as well as a solid rhythm guitarist and fine soprano saxophonist with a taste for free jazz.
Garwood is “the voice” of the band, but Martin and Johannes also provide lead vocal work — the latter more so than the former — and both do so quite well.
Johannes is the de facto lead guitarist in the band, delivering impressive runs on a variety of axes. Martin is at helm for it all, powering the music forward — or pulling it back a notch when necessary — from his drum throne.
Garcia’s efforts on percussion — especially on the vibes — bring so much color and life to the music. And Mines is just a lock-down bassist, providing the thread that really holds this wild and wonderful mix together.
Restraint, of course, has long been one of the primary characteristics of Buck’s guitar work. After all, he built a career with R.E.M. on eschewing big solos. Even by his standards (and track record), however, Buck’s performance was decidedly unobtrusive, leaving pretty much every lead to the highly capable Johannes and rarely playing what one could call regular rhythm guitar work. Instead, he focused on adding bits of color and flourishes to the already busy musical mix.
The one big spotlight that Buck got — and certainly took full advantage of — came late in the show when Drink the Sea covered the R.E.M. classic “The One I Love” (from 1987’s “Document”). The other two guitarists put down their axes for that one and just let Buck have his big moment — which turned out to be the one that pretty much every R.E.M. fan in the building had been waiting to see.
Drink the Sea setlist:
1) “Shaking for the Snakes”
2) “Saturn Calling”
3) “Outside Again”
4) “Pour Your Glow On”
5) “Sacred Tree”
6) “Bembe 4 2”
7) “Sip of the Juice”
8) “Embers”
9) “Where We Belong”
10) “Paredes”
11) “House of Flowers”
12) “The Strangest Season”
13) “Spirit Away”
14) “Midnight Starlight”
15) “Mouth of the Wale”
16) “Aching Harbour”
17) “Long Gone Day”
18) “Meteors”
19) “Butterfly”
20) “Rose Crested Sky”
21) “Sweet as a Nut”
22) “Land of Spirits”
23) “Turig Asteroid”
24) “The One I Love”
25) “Making a Cross”
26) “Hanging Tree”
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