by: Michael Zabrodsky
Former 10,000 Maniacs' member John Lombardo joined his old mates Tuesday night at Joyce's Keg Room in Jamestown.
For the handful of people who witnessed the show, the magic flowed as the very energetic crowd listened intensely. It was an impromptu billing and the band performed flawlessly. The crowd danced from start finish.
The band's manager, Peter Leak, said, "This is sort of a dress rehearsal for their upcoming Time Capsule Tour in support of Hope Chest. There is also a home video coming, out, also entitled Time Capsule."
Lombardo wrote some of the songs on Hope Chest and will perform them with the band, Leak said. Also, he and Mary Ramsey will open for the band playing an acoustic set. Lombardo departed from the Maniacs in 1986 following the album The Wishing Chair. The band is Natalie Merchant, vocals; Robert Buck, guitars; Dennis Drew, keyboards; Steven Gustafson, bass; and Jerome Augustyniak, drums.
It's a look back in time with Hope Chest. The recording makes available the early '80s tracks that formed the cornerstone of the Maniacs' folk-rock sound. The tracks were remixed by Joe Barbaria, who has worked with Joe Jackson, Talking Heads and The Cars. Assisting him were Ms. Merchant and Lombardo at Electric Lady Studios in New York City in May.
It is filled with songs from the first two independent releases, Human Conflict No. 5 (1982) and Secrets of the I Ching (1983). The original releases are unavailable and considered collectibles.
Tuesday night the band played, to name a few, Planned Obsolescence, Orange and My Mother the War, which were included from the 1982 and 1983 EPs. The band also played hits from In My Tribe, Wishing Chair and Blind Man's Zoo. Great renditions of Hey Jack Kerouac, Eat For Two, Dust Bowl, Trouble Me, What's the Matter Here? and Like the Weather were played.
The songs of Hope Chest were recorded in a Tonmeister studio at the State College at Fredonia. Ms. Merchant's poetry and social awareness show through in the Maniacs' early work. And so does the eclectic songwriting style of band members Drew, Buck and then rhythm guitarist Lombardo.
Also in conjuction with Hope Chest, Elektra Entertainment is releasing Time Capsule, an hour-long home video retrospective of the band's work. With overall direction by Ms. Merchant, the video intertwines live performances, studio videos, childhood home movies and sound footage from all over the world - to create a cinematic portrait of the band, past, present and future. After the Blind Man's Zoo tour, members decided to take a year's hiatus, both as individuals and as a group. They haven't played a concert since Earth Day in April in Washington, D.C. The band will open its latest tour Friday at Fairfield University in Connecticut. The tour is mostly of colleges in the Midwest and Northeast, plus three dates in London. Their last stop is scheduled for Nov. 20 at the Reg Lenna Civic Center. "It's great!" Augustyniak said. "I can't wait to get on the road."