Live Review: The Baseball Project at Terminal West in Atlanta, 8/9/23

Touring with their fourth album in their 16-year history, Grand Salami Time! solidifies The Baseball Project as a super supergroup. This could be considered a homecoming, of sorts, for the band. Not that singer/guitarist Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate), Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows), or Linda Pitmon (Filthy Friends) were based in the South…but Peter Buck (guitar) and Mike Mills (bass) were – in R.E.M. That band, from Athens, Georgia, reinvented college music and are still considered to be one of America’s greatest rock bands even 12 years after they called it quits.

If you’re out of the loop, The Baseball Project consists of these five members who are all huge baseball fans. And yes, their songs are all based on America’s favorite pastime. For example, the rollicking “Ted Fucking Williams” echoes appreciation for the slugger. The set was described as top of the order and bottom of the order, with a 20-minute break between. The band opened with “Monument Park,” from their third release 3rd. It’s a reverent look at the open-air museum located in Yankee Stadium.

Intertwined with favorites from the first three albums were some ringers from the new release. The band has evolved in so many ways on Salami! and prove to be at their rocking best live on stage. Wynn’s trademark voice is a perfect match with the band’s sound and we’re all familiar with the Buck and Mills sound…better than ever. Speaking of that, “Journeyman” may be the most R.E.M.ish tune in their repertoire. McCaughey is well-known as a musical jack-of-all-trades. Heck, he toured with R.E.M. from 1995 until the end in 2011. Maybe the biggest surprise for rookie fans is Linda “Pitmonster” Pitmon on the drums. She crushes those things like there’s no tomorrow. Always smiling and tossing out the banter, she’s a highlight.

The dark and brooding “Stuff” underscores the steroid epidemic in recent years with Mills on lead vocals. “Disco Demolition” tells the story of the 1979 “Disco Demolition Night” at Comiskey Park. After the explosion, a riot ensued and fans rushed the field. The subsequent damage to the field forced the White Sox to forfeit the game to the Detroit Tigers. But when it’s all boiled down, this is just a great tune.

The band returned loudly with “The All or Nothings” for an encore. Besides these five amazing musicians, the well-written lyrics, and their general joy playing together, the stories are the best. So much research has gone into the band’s albums that the quintet might just belong in Cooperstown. Maybe someday.

For tour info or to buy some solid American rock music, visit the band’s website.

Play ball!