The was a lot to deal with when The Baseball Project and Minus 5 played the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina on Saturday (September 27). Both bands featured the same members. The most recognizable were Mike Mills and Peter Buck. I had met and interviewed them in 1985 when R.E.M. came to town twice on the Fables of the Reconstruction tour. Here we were 40 years later in the Cat’s Cradle. The strange thing was how we had all changed. I was no longer writing for N.C. State’s student newspaper that was only readable if you were on campus. Now I’m writing for an internet website that can be read all over the world. And I wasn’t at the legendary nightclub to see Mike Mills and Peter Buck play their ’80s and ’90s hits from their time in R.E.M. They were performing as two different bands. If you want an evening of R.E.M.’s music, you can come back the club and bask in the nostalgia when actor Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy performing Life’s Rich Pageant and other R.E.M. hits this spring. There was going to be a sense of nostalgia on the stage, but with a ballpark flavor.
The crowd seemed to be showing up properly attired for the concert. There were a lot of baseball jerseys and team hats in the crowd. People seemed to be checking their phones for sports scores. I didn’t spot anyone wearing a vintage R.E.M. tour shirt. The closest we came to an R.E.M. moment was when the P.A. featured “Superman” by The Clique that will be played in a few months by the cover band. This was going to be a great night for a double header.
The Minus 5 took the stage first. The band was originally started by Scott McCaughey of the Young Fresh Fellows and Peter Buck in the early ’90s. McCaughey handles the vocals and guitar. I was taken back by the sight of Peter Buck playing bass. He appeared to be using Mike Mills’ Rickenbacker. Where was Mike? He played the keyboards. Steve Wynn (of the Dream Syndicate) joined in on guitar. Linda Pitmon (of Psycher) handled the drums. I was thrilled to see McCaughey on stage after his stroke back in 2017. He sang a few songs from his recently released Oar On, Penelope! including “Burgandy Suit” and “Blow In My Bag.” At the end of the set, McCaughey joked about how accommodating the headliners have been to them on this tour.
There was an intermission that mainly involved the roadies to removing the keyboards.
The Baseball Project showed up and maybe a few people were shocked to see it was the exact same band with a slight difference. Mike Mills was reunited with his Rickenbacker bass and Peter Buck had his jangly Rickenbacker guitar back in his hands. The vocals swapped off between Mike, Steven and Scott. They were ready to sing about the joy of the baseball. The lead off song was “1976” which captures that magic year when Mark Fidrych of the Detroit Tigers became “The Bird.” This was a rush of nostalgia as I flashbacked to being a kid slowly tuning an AM radio in my bedroom after dark with the hopes of finding the game’s broadcast. I wanted to hear how The Bird was throwing and what weirdness he was pulling off on the mound. How good was he? He threw 24 complete games that season. But then he got injured and misdiagnosed so he never was the same. The song adds to his legacy.
Their songs are about players, incidents and elements of the game. “The Yips” mentions three great players that just lost their touch and ruined their chances at the Hall of Fame. “Uncle Charlie” was about the fear of not being able to hit the curve ball. “Journeyman” is Steve Wynn’s ballad about a player who keep moving from team to team. I would describe The Baseball Project as true folk-rock act as they dig into the folklore of the sport. A few of the songs are calls to action including Mike Mills’ plea for Dale Murphy of the Atlanta Braves to get into Cooperstown (which he should). The music they bring to these stories is exceptional too. They were as catchy as Jackie Bradley Jr. in centerfield. “The Stuff” is Mike Mills’ nasty tribute to the goo pitchers use to make that key pitch fool a hitter. There’s a deep voodoo to the beat. “Disco Demolition” is a disco flavored tune that marks the disaster when the Chicago White Sox exploded thousands of disco records. The aftermath forced the second half of the double header to be canceled. Thankfully we received both bands in this double header.
It should be noted that I didn’t hear a single person scream out an R.E.M. song request. Not even a holler for “Superman” which Mike Mills sang on the album. This was great to know that the folks who showed up were wanting to enjoy the songs about baseball and death (as Scott described the Minus 5 tunes). We were there to reminisce about Ted Williams, Gaylord Perry and other old ball players plus a few new ones such as their Ohtani song. I’m guessing any requests off Automatic For the People will be saved for Michael Shannon’s appearance on the stage.
The night ended on a non-musical note as the band signed merch for fans. The Baseball Project were almost like a real All-Star team as they autographed posters, albums and maybe a few baseballs. It was the perfect night for them to play two.
all photos by Joe Corey III
