by: Lauren Jaeger
Five years ago at the peak of their fame, 10,000 Maniacs drew a crowd equal to the figure in their memorable name.
A July, 1993 appearance at Jones Beach Amphitheatre, Wantagh, N.Y., was typical. Then, they took in $319,465 from a sellout crowd of 10,961.
The group returned to Wantagh, N.Y., last week. This time, though, they played to a crowd of under 1,000. The venue was Mulcahy's Pub. That's typical of today.
Their touring manager, Blair Woods, insists there's no change in the music, even though lead singer Natalie Merchant left the group to embark on a successful solo career. With her replacement, Mary Ramsey, the group has stuck to clubs, festivals, and smaller theaters over the past five years.
"A lot of the world is skeptical about 10,000 Maniacs without Natalie, but we've had casual fans in the audience who don't even know it's not Natalie," said Woods. "What attracted me to the band in the first place was the music, and they still sound exactly the same.
"I think things have changed," Woods said. "They're playing a lot smaller places. They're a lot happier. They're a lot more of a band, where they tended to feel more of a backup band before. A lot of people had it in their head that Natalie was the band and sometime's its difficult."
Their current 35-market tour began March 18 at Chicago's House of Blues, where they sold 1,400 seats, and winds up June 6 at Mekka, Columbus, Ohio. The May 30 MusicFest, Maynard, Mass., is on the agenda, as was the May 8 Springfest in Ocean City, Md.
The average audience is 800 to 1,000, their tour manager said.
Woods said they do well at campuses. In April, they played Plymouth (N.H.) State College, Keene (N.H.) State College, and St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia.
Founding member John Lombardo plays rhythm guitar. Jerome Augustyniak is on drums, Robert Buck is lead guitarist, Dennis Drew is on keyboards and Steve Gustafson is on bass. Scott Mullane is sound engineer and John Shotwell is stage manager. The band's fee is in the $10,000 to $15,000 range. The show lasts 90 minutes and includes their greatest hits. The opening act for most of their gigs is The Nields.
Except for Merchant, the group maintains its original members now in their 40's. Lombardo left the hand in 1986 when it was $50,000 in debt, but within nine months they topped the charts again with a hit album and began making money.
"We like to joke that he was the Pete Best of the 10,000 Maniacs," Woods said. "When he left the band, he met Mary Ramsey, a classically-trained violinist, and they toured with 10,000 Maniacs as an opening act." Pete Best was the drummer who left the Beatles before they became famous.
"The crowd tends to be generally suburban baby boomers and their children. The band is a 17-year-old band," Woods said. "We've branched out with Gibson guitars in the same set of circumstances. We do acoustic performances at guitar shops. It helps promote the show".
"We're hitting a lot of towns in the northeast. New York state has these little town theaters with 500 to 1,000 seats. They're civic centers and old movie houses. We've gone to these three times in the last month; towns with populations under 15,0000, and the whole town goes nuts because 10,000 Maniacs is performing there. You make as much money as in the big city without all of the expenses."
Booking is by Monterey Peninsula Artists. Their manager is Peter Leak, New York End, in Santa Monica.