Who knew the Biltmore Cabaret had an A-list? After finishing their tour-opening set at Deer Lake Park last Friday (May 23), R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe and Mike Mills showed up at the Kingsway venue to catch local chamber-pop outfit Young and Sexy as it unveiled songs from its newest Mint Records release, The Arc.

“I tried not to be too starstruck, because I loved them as a kid,” Y&S guitarist Andre Lagace told the Straight. He was about to mount the stage when he first noticed “a kafuffle in the corner where there was lots of security and shit”. Neither Lagace nor other band members were aware of who, exactly, was causing the commotion. “The funny thing is,” Lagace continued, “halfway through our set [vocalist] Paul [Pittman] said, ‘Did anybody go to the R.E.M. show?’ And some people cheered, and he was like, ‘They’re a pretty good band.’ It’s a good thing we didn’t slag them or say something really dumb.”

Lagace ended up chatting with R.E.M. bassist Mills once the set was finished. “He said, ‘Yeah, I thought you guys were great.’ It was pretty awesome to hear that, and he sounded sincere. He was also pretty drunk. He was hanging a ‘reserved’ sign around his neck.”