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captainsblog"Maniacal Laughter" was the title of a post I put up here just over three years ago, when I finally ended a nearly 37 year quest to see one of my favorite bands perform live. I became vaguely aware of 10,000 Maniacs when I got to Buffalo in 1981, not long after their founding in nearby Jamestown that year. They played local schools and clubs in intimate settings, with their lead singer Natalie Merchant's soaring vocals and Dennis Drew's distinctive keyboards. By the time I was introduced to a few of their albums by my best friend from college, they were largely out of our area code and my price range to see them. When Natalie left the band in 1993, they were rejoined by original Maniac John Lombardo and his longtime singing partner Mary Ramsey, who'd done backing vocals and strings for the band in the past but who now brought Mary to the front of the stage with her own songs and her faithful interpretations of those Natalie left behind.
I've recounted, in that previous post, my one failed effort to see the group during their Love Among the Ruins tour; their subsequent regroupings following the death of their guitarist Rob Buck, the brief departure of John and Mary in their Less Than Celebrated Oskar Period; their return to the fold and to recording; and finally to a political benefit show in their hometown on October 7, 2008 where, finally, the current band of Maniacs and I occupied the same room for the first time.
It remains my only. COVID killed their touring plans for over a year; they did a couple of gigs in the spring and summer, south of Syracuse and in the Hudson Valley, that I missed, and they've been to our south in shows since. But I've become a follower on social media and, counting my local friend Maria who sang backup for them about a decade ago, I am now Facebook friends with three actual onstage Maniacs: Maria, Mary, and their bassist Steve Gustafson, who runs their social media account.
Just 9,997 to go;)
There have been rumblings about a homecoming show in late November, most likely in Jamestown. That's something I would go out of my way for.
----
Two nights ago, though, the Maniacs came to me, at a moment I really needed them.
Their final studio album with Natalie in the lead was titled Our Time In Eden. Friday, for me at least, was a heaping helping of Our Time in Retrograde Mercury. Every phone call and email at work during the day was an annoyance, the tech was misbehaving, and Eleanor was near tears over the reno project at home. It was past 6 p.m., I'd been sent on an errand to procure takeout food that would take another half hour on a busy Friday night. And there I was, getting out of my car for my then fifth trip in three weeks to the AT&T store to fix something with our mobiles
The strip mall it sits in is one of those that plays music outside the stores. And then, at my lowest moment of the day and perhaps week, I heard the beat and chords and words of my favorite Natalie-era Maniac song:
I had just been listening to the album version of that song, as well as the Mary-led live version of it from their Playing Favorites CD, in my car a couple of days before. I know it more or less by heart, but had always had trouble remember the final few words. So I'd looked them up, and hearing them, in that parking lot after a long and difficult, I knew
How it was meant to be
Hear the signs and know they're speaking to you, to you.
I posted that experience on their page, thanking my Maniacs for redeeming just one of These Days. Which, now thanks to this medium, I'll remember.
I've recounted, in that previous post, my one failed effort to see the group during their Love Among the Ruins tour; their subsequent regroupings following the death of their guitarist Rob Buck, the brief departure of John and Mary in their Less Than Celebrated Oskar Period; their return to the fold and to recording; and finally to a political benefit show in their hometown on October 7, 2008 where, finally, the current band of Maniacs and I occupied the same room for the first time.
It remains my only. COVID killed their touring plans for over a year; they did a couple of gigs in the spring and summer, south of Syracuse and in the Hudson Valley, that I missed, and they've been to our south in shows since. But I've become a follower on social media and, counting my local friend Maria who sang backup for them about a decade ago, I am now Facebook friends with three actual onstage Maniacs: Maria, Mary, and their bassist Steve Gustafson, who runs their social media account.
Just 9,997 to go;)
There have been rumblings about a homecoming show in late November, most likely in Jamestown. That's something I would go out of my way for.
----
Two nights ago, though, the Maniacs came to me, at a moment I really needed them.
Their final studio album with Natalie in the lead was titled Our Time In Eden. Friday, for me at least, was a heaping helping of Our Time in Retrograde Mercury. Every phone call and email at work during the day was an annoyance, the tech was misbehaving, and Eleanor was near tears over the reno project at home. It was past 6 p.m., I'd been sent on an errand to procure takeout food that would take another half hour on a busy Friday night. And there I was, getting out of my car for my then fifth trip in three weeks to the AT&T store to fix something with our mobiles
The strip mall it sits in is one of those that plays music outside the stores. And then, at my lowest moment of the day and perhaps week, I heard the beat and chords and words of my favorite Natalie-era Maniac song:
I had just been listening to the album version of that song, as well as the Mary-led live version of it from their Playing Favorites CD, in my car a couple of days before. I know it more or less by heart, but had always had trouble remember the final few words. So I'd looked them up, and hearing them, in that parking lot after a long and difficult, I knew
How it was meant to be
Hear the signs and know they're speaking to you, to you.
I posted that experience on their page, thanking my Maniacs for redeeming just one of These Days. Which, now thanks to this medium, I'll remember.
Aw...
Date: 2021-10-13 11:31 am (UTC)I've often found music to be comforting and uplifting, just when I need it. :)