R.E.M. in Portsmouth: The night one of the band's staff tried and failed to ban photographs

In fact, Portsmouth gig photographer Paul Windsor had his eye on them for a lot longer that that, with his first taste of the band playing live being back in 1984 when they were touring their second album Reckoning.

Paul, who has dug out his R.E.M. pictures from the archives, said: ‘We were sitting in The Golden Hind pub one Sunday lunchtime having a quiet pint, and a friend was flicking through Melody Maker and suddenly said “REM are playing Worthing tonight”.

‘Remember it was 1984 and they were on their first UK tour. "I'll drive” someone said .Using the pub phone (no mobiles back then) tickets were secured for a princely sum of £2 each and we were on our way.

‘As we approached the Carioca Club there was a big crowd outside. Apparently despite being a relatively unknown band, they had brought so much kit they blew the electrics and the promoter was desperately trying to find an electrician on a Sunday night. Thankfully it was all sorted and the band played an amazing set to no more than 200 people.’

Don’t miss Paul Windsor’s other gig galleries:

Nick Cave at the Kings

David Bowie and The Who at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2004

The day Madness played at Fratton Park

The night Slipknot were banned from Portsmouth Guildhall

This was April 29, 1984, and Paul added: ‘The next night we were on our way to the legendary Marquee Club, probably one of the hottest gigs I’ve been to. Standing stage right to take pictures, guitarist Peter Buck was literally dripping sweat over the crowd.’

Paul’s next live encounter with the band was in 1989, after the albums Document and Green cemented their place as a major-league draw.

‘Roll on 5 years later and R.E.M. are one of the biggest bands in the world and the band rock into Portsmouth Guildhall,’ said Paul. ‘Standing in the crowd I began to take a few pictures when I got a tap on the shoulder by security and asked to step outside. I was confronted by an angry entourage member who grabbed my camera, proceeded to rip open the back to expose and ruin the film. He then said if I wanted to watch the rest of the show I was to hand in my camera to security and collect it later. Needless to say I didn’t heed his advice but walked to the other side of the venue as I had six rolls of film in my pocket.

‘The last time I saw the band was in 2008 – now playing stadiums – at the Rose Bowl cricket ground (now the Ageas). This time I had the appropriate accreditation and was in the photo pit. Quite an amazing journey from 200 to 20,000 with one of my favourite bands. Such a privilege.’

R.E.M. would only get bigger – the records Out of Time, and even more so Automatic for the People and the following work would see them both critical and popular darlings for most of the 1990s.