by: Keith Lanigan
Members of the musical group 10,000 Maniacs announced today they will perform a benefit concert at the Reg Lenna- Civic Center at 8 p.m. May 8.
The goal is to raise at least $10,000 to go toward the center's ongoing program and to pay other acts to perform. More would be raised if the show sells out. Tickets for the concert go on sale Saturday at the Civic Center Box Office from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
It will be one of the "most extensive shows we've ever done in this area," said Dennis Drew, keyboard player with the band. The show will have the full stage production brought on the Maniacs' national tours, which includes full backdrops, side musicians and a light show, he said.
Music from the Our Time In Eden album will be highlighted at the show, and all proceeds from the concert will benefit the Civic Center. After Saturday, tickets will be available during regular box office hours, Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tickets for reserved seats will cost $20, and a limited number of loge seats will be available for $25. The center has a seating capacity of 1,260.
The executive director of the Civic Center, Philip Morris, asked us to do "a benefit concert for the Civic Center," said Steve Gustafson, the band's bassist. Band members agreed it would be "a wonderful benefit for the city," said Gustafson.
"We'd like to give back what the city of Jamestown has given us," he said. The Maniacs wrote many of their songs for the In My Tribe album while rehearsing at the Civic center, said Drew. Through the years, when the band has had difficulty finding rehearsal space the Civic Center "has always let us use the stage," he said.
Today, the group is heading for Bearsville, NY, to begin rehearsals for a national tour set to kick off April 23 in Middlebury, Vt.
The group also plans to do an MTV Unplugged taping. Music from the television program which features artists performing acoustical renditions of their music could be released as an album, Drew said.
In order to make the date available without conflicts, the Jamestown High School spring choral concert moved its concert from to May 7 at the High School auditorium. In addition, Movies at the Center has moved the film Distant Harmony, Pavarotti in China to 8 p.m. May 6 and the film Flirting to 8 p.m. May 7.
The band is also discussing plans for a show at Chautauqua Institution in July.