RALEIGH, N.C. -- R.E.M. and Raleigh.

The band, its music and much of its history are interwoven with Raleigh and the Triangle region.

And much of that history came to life on stage Tuesday night during R.E.M.'s concert at the Walnut Creek Amphitheater in Raleigh.

Long before there was "The One I Love," "Losing My Religion" or "Man On The Moon," R.E.M. made its second home outside of Athens, Georgia, in the Triangle.

Read a post from the band about the history here in the Triangle.

Sprinkled throughout Tuesday's 28-song set, singer Michael Stipe paused between songs to highlight the links to the band as if talking to old friends over dinner and glass of wine. The show was that comfortable even with the oven-like heat that stayed through the night.

A few songs after playing the 1984 song "7 Chinese Brothers," Stipe mentioned how the song was written in North Carolina. It was one of several references to the state during the night.

But perhaps most memorable about the evening was the guest roles of North Carolina's Mitch Easter and Don Dixon on stage during the band's encore. Together they produced R.E.M.'s first two records and it may have the first time in several years that both graced the same stage with R.E.M.

Together they hammered through a powerful "Sitting Still" from the band's first full-length album "Murmer."

Another special guest was former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr on guitar for "Fall On Me." Marr currently performs with Modest Mouse, one of the band's opening acts.

Still, the night belonged to Stipe. Dressed in a pinstriped suit and under a wall of colorful LED screens, Stipe was a different singer from the first time I saw R.E.M. in the 1980s.

Then he wore work boots, tattered jeans and a T-shirt. His hair covered much of his face.

Now, so many years later, the band has changed, transformed, even become a much better performing unit. In addition to the band's hits, R.E.M. turned in a reflective set that featured such classics as "1,000,000" from the Chronic Town EP, the opening track of "Harborcoat" from the album Reckoning and other classics ranging from "Auctioneer" to "Pretty Persuation," a song that Stipe referred to as a "song about growing up queer in the South."

Much like the band's latest album "Accelerate," it was a bit of a return to form for the band. That spirit has remained with the band down to the plastic toys on guitar amps and the equipment cases titled "R.E.M., Athens, Georgia," which seem strangely like 1985 all over again.

So take a trip back by watching the band perform in years past by scrolling back up.

Or, read below for a little history lesson based on R.E.M. and North Carolina.

What a "Perfect Circle" of friends.

Set List:

1. Harborcoat
2. Living Well Is the Best Revenge
3. Bad Day
4. What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
5. 1,000,000
6. Man-Sized Wreath
7. Welcome To The Occupation
8. Accelerate
9. 7 Chinese Bros.
10. Hollow Man
11. Imitation Of Life
12. Houston
13. Electrolite
14. Walk Unafraid
15. The One I Love
16. Final Straw
17. Find The River
18. Let Me In
19. Horse to Water
20. Auctioneer
21. Orange Crush
22. I'm Gonna DJ

23. Supernatural Superserious
24. Losing My Religion
25. Pretty Persuasion
26. Fall On Me
27. Sitting Still
28. Man On The Moon

R.E.M. and North Carolina

1) The first place R.E.M. played outside of Athens, Georgia, was at a little club in Carrboro. The year? 1981.

2) R.E.M. formed much of its early fan base and friends in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. They became regulars at the former club The Pier in Raleigh. Their early manager, Jefferson Holt, had family members in the area. In fact, he is now building a house in Orange County.

3) R.E.M. recorded its first two albums in North Carolina with producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon. The band's first two singles were recorded in Winston-Salem By Mitch Easter.

4) The first time original drummer Bill Berry returned to the drums with the band after his retirement in 1997 was at a concert at Walnut Creek in the early fall of 2003. Watch here.

5) The tradition of dinosaurs on the guitar amps began during recording sessions in Charlotte in 1983. They've remained to this day.