by: Rich Drees; page: 8C

Most musical acts would view it as a challenge to adapt their live act from an indoor theater setting to an outdoor amphitheater-style venue. But not singer Natalie Merchant.

"The lighting is a little bigger," the singer says with an almost audible shrug. "But other than that it's pretty much the same."

"Pretty much the same" certainly doesn't describe what fans of Merchant received when the singer released a debut solo album, Tigerlily following her 1993 split from the alternative band 10,000 Maniacs. Where the Maniacs sported a lush, thick musical texture, Tigerlily was a much more sparse, intimate album.

The album debuted at No. 13 on Billboard's Hot 200 album chart and yielded two singles. Wonder and Carnival. It also marked the beginning of a year long tour that has taken Merchant back and forth across the United States and Europe - including a stop at the F.M. Kirby Center this past Febnlary - playing sold-out shows to legions of fans.

Merchant will be performing at the Bud Light Amphitheater, Harveys Lake at 7:30 tonight. Opening the show will be Nil Lara.

This week, Merchant completed a stint on the H.O.R.D.E. (Horizons Of Rock Developing Everywhere) Tour with bands such as Blues Traveler and King Crimson.

"lt's been a lot of fun," Merchant says of her time on the H.O.R.D.E. Tour. "I went on during the afternoon so I could see the whole audience. Normally I can only see just the first five or 10 rows. It was a little intimidating."

What wasn't intimidating for the singer was releasing an album that was a marked departure from her previous work. Wonder, with its story of a young girt who overcomes enormous obstacles to become self-empowered, can be seen as a parallel to Merchant's break from the Maniacs after 12 years.

Another track, River, is a touching tribute to her friend, actor River Phoenix, as well as a condemnation of the media's handling of his death by drug overdose.

"It was just a natural progression for me." says the singer, commenting on the notion that many critics perceived the album as a move away from the socially conscious lyrics that characterized her writing with the Maniacs to more introspective and personal sounding songs.