Recap The Baseball Project at the Duck Pond

Baseball stadiums naturally lend themselves well to live music. But The Baseball Project—a supergroup featuring Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate), Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5), Mike Mills (R.E.M.), and Linda Pitmon—more than any other band, perhaps, has enough love for/knowledge of the sport to be just as comfortable calling the game from the booth as it seemed playing behind home plate for a modest crowd Friday at Madison Mallards’ Duck Pond.

The level of baseball-ness on display might have totally freaked a casual concertgoer, but the fans in attendance were just as nuts about hardball as the BP. Playing tracks off of both of its albums, Volume 1: Frozen Ropes And Dying Quails and Volume 2: High And Inside, the band filled a solid 80-minute set before the game—and stuck around to play in between innings—with tales of the individuals and teams that animate a professional sport so often accused of being overly rigid. Dedicated fans sang along with lyrics about sliding catches, ice cream bars, and space travel as the band surged through “Ichiro Goes To The Moon,” certainly appreciated the tribute to colorful nicknames paid by “Panda And The Freak,” and begrudgingly got down to “Don’t Call Them Twinkies,” which praises the Dairy State’s American League rivals, the Minnesota Twins.

With musical styles ranging from country to rock to the bluesy bashing of “The Straw That Stirs The Drink,” the band was constantly rotating through musical genres, but all in the service of documenting the game. Personable and sincere, The BP mostly looked like they belonged in the stands—Wynn might not have been as comfortable sitting through nine innings in a blazer—and frequently took time to interact with the crowd and joke about beer brand apparel. Between sips of beer and handfuls of fried cheese curds, the group ably roared through the majority of both albums and even treated the crowd to the R.E.M. oldie “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville.” Obsessive behavior like the BP’s runs the risk of alienating people, but at least at this venue, the group could be sure it was preaching to the choir.