Nields and Maniacs bring folk-rock bliss to Studio, 5/1/98

by Seth Rogovoy

(PITTSFIELD, Mass., May 2, 1998) -- With the clock ticking down the hours and minutes before the wrecking ball has its way with the building, an enthusiastic crowd soaked up vibes of folk-rock bliss on Friday night, when The Nields and 10,000 Maniacs performed at The Studio.

Not even a death sentence for the former England Brothers department store could mar the harmonies wafting from the stage, as both female- fronted groups played a style of music that has seen its popularity wax and wane over the years, only to return stronger than ever, where it probably stands today in the era of LilithFair and woman-oriented folk-pop.

The Nields opened the show with a typically dynamic set of its original folk-rock. Now having been at it for the better part of the last decade, the Pioneer Valley-based quintet continues to solidify its strikingly visual stage show, in which each song is presented as a kind of mini-drama. The songs themselves, most written by singer- guitarist Nerissa Nields, are packed with dramatic opportunities, and are then rendered in character by Nields and her sister, lead singer Katryna Nields.

The band's rhythm section, consisting of Dave Chalfant on bass, Dave Hower on drums and David Nields on electric guitar, punctuates and underlines the dramas played out by the sisters both musically and visually. In tandem with Hower, Chalfant is the engine driving the band, with David Nields often supplying the wry commentary with rhythmic and lead fills and riffs, as well as ironic gestures playing off the sincerity of the vocalists.

The Nields hour-long set drew heavily on the band's best album so far, "Gotta Get Over Greta," while serving up samples from the soon- to-be-released follow-up, "Tomorrowland," which suggested that the group has lost none of its melodic or lyrical inventiveness. Nerissa Nields is an extraordinarily literate songwriter, both in lyrical and musical terms, yet she avoids the common pitfalls -- vagueness, pretension, solipsism -- of similarly literary-minded songwriters. Whereas most of the songs from "Greta" dealt with the passage from innocence to experience, the new songs the group previewed seemed to touch more on issues that follow, with several of them directly addressing the role of music itself in the narrator's life.

The big question on everyone's minds, however, was how would 10,000 Maniacs come across without Natalie Merchant at the helm. As one who never counted himself among Merchant's ardent partisans to begin with, perhaps I'm not the best person to ask, but it seemed to me that Mary Ramsey more than held her own. For those looking for a Merchant-like similarity, Ramsey offered up enough of her vocal quality so hits like "What's the Matter Here" and "Wishing Chair" rang true. In fact, Ramsey boasted an enormously powerful vocal instrument and much clearer diction than Merchant.

The band itself remains the same, although Nields' bassist Dave Chalfant was drafted at the last minute to substitute for missing Maniacs' bassist Steven Gustafson. Otherwise, the Maniacs' signature sounds were all there -- the shimmering, chiming guitars of Robert Buck, boosted by the addition of John Lombardo, and the colorful keyboard textures of Dennis Drew. The secret ingredient, however, was drummer Jerome Augustyniak, who was a dynamic rhythmic engine and who also provided vocal harmonies.

By the time the clock struck midnight and I called it a night, the group was still going strong, playing a mix of old Maniacs' favorites, newer songs from the "Love Among the Ruins" album recorded with Ramsey -- including a cover of Roxy Music's "More Than This" -- and a few John and Mary selections.

It was one of the better nights of music The Studio has seen. And with nothing currently scheduled, it may have even been the last. Not a bad way to go out.

[This review originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on May 4, 1998. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1998. All rights reserved.]