After yesterday’s post about The Baseball Project, I embarked on one of those inevitable Internet quests for more information on the band. That led me to this amazing story about the show in Athens, Ga., earlier this week.

After a half hour break, the band came back up to do another full set joined on guitar for a few songs by REM bassist Mike Mills making the already garagey-sounding ensemble even more garagey, with the highlight being a blistering, extended “Days of Wine and Roses.” To top it off, the band was joined at the end of the evening by former REM drummer/current farmer Bill Berry who was positively beaming behind the drum kit during the covers “The Ballad of John & Yoko,” “Hang On, Sloopy,” and “Teenage Head.”

Not only did Mike Mills come out, but Bill Freaking Berry joined the fun for the first time since he sat in with the band for their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2007. I love this clip because it starts with Buck on bass since that’s what he plays for The Baseball Project. Late in the second song, Mills trades his tambourine in for the bass while Buck grabs a guitar.

Two things come to mind when I watch the video:

• While the guys cavorted (sans Michael Stipe) playing some covers with friends in a club they once played in when they were teenagers, U2 was in the middle of a massive stadium tour where, from what I have heard, it seemed like every song was dedicated to some international relief effort. I’m not trying to criticize him for caring and not denying that Stipe can overdo the political drama as well. It’s just that one of the reasons I love R.E.M. and can’t get into U2 is the accessibility and light-heartedness of the boys from Georgia.
• I know Buck stood directly in front of Berry’s drum kit to make sure that they didn’t screw up, but it reminded me of the time Berry jumped on stage with the band in North Carolina in 2003 – his first appearance with the band since he decided to leave in 1997. (a video clip is below) For much of the song, which dates back to the band’s earliest days and made a return on that tour, Buck stood in front of the drum riser as if he was just awed by the fact that their drummer had returned. The departure of Berry hit the guitarist the hardest, he once said, because they had very similar working styles. Each time the four have returned, it seemed like they wanted to cherish every moment because it brought back such great memories.