Twenty-six years ago at a church that no longer exists, one of Athens’ best-known bands – then known as “Twisted Kite” – performed for its very first audience.

R.E.M. performed its first show in St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (which was located on Oconee Street before being demolished) for a friend’s birthday party on April 5, 1980. The band recorded its first single, “Radio Free Europe,” in 1981.

“I think it’s awesome they’ve been around that long,” said Morgan Dunn, a junior from Toccoa.

However, some University students said they don’t really care about the band’s 26th anniversary, which is today.

“I don’t really listen to them,” said Fred Lavalley, a sophomore from Athens. “They’re well-known, but they aren’t as famous as they were back in the day.”

R.E.M. has recorded 19 albums since its humble beginnings at the birthday bash. The band’s most recent album, “Around the Sun,” was released in 2004.

Eleanor Hopson, a senior from Charlottesville, Va., said although it wasn’t a big deal to her, she thought it was great that it was the band’s anniversary.

“They’ve been a really influential band around here and made Athens into the music town it is,” she said.

Although some students don’t care about R.E.M.’s anniversary, many believe the band made a lasting impact on the Classic City and beyond.

“I think they’ve inspired a lot of people- not just from Athens, but from all over Georgia,” said Elizabeth Mock, a junior from Roswell.

Ben Verell, a junior from Snellville, said that his favorite Athens band from R.E.M.’s time was the B-52′s, but that R.E.M. did have an important impact on the town’s music scene.

Verell said he didn’t really care about the anniversary but pointed out something he didn’t like that happened during R.E.M.’s 2004 international tour.

“Their stop in Georgia was in Gwinnett (County) instead of Athens,” Verell said, “I thought that was pretty weak on their part.”

The complete R.E.M. lineup did make a surprise visit to the Classic City last Saturday and played a song at the end of The Minus 5′s show at the Georgia Theatre.

Another student, Erica Stone, said R.E.M. came before her time, but she still thought the band was important to Athens. The senior from Duluth said R.E.M. promoted music in Athens and made way for other musicians, like Angie Aparo.

“It’s just really neat knowing we have someone who’s made such good music in our town,” Dunn said.

Although some students expressed apathy for the anniversary of Athens’ own music legend, they conceded that the band will always have fans here.

“I think it’s cool (for R.E.M.) to have a fan base in one place that will always be here,” Mock said.