1997: This page contains all I know about Blue Oyster Cult for this year - and all I know is what you folks send me, so if you want to see more info on this page, there's an easy solution...
Have you got anything to contribute to this page? Reviews, missing info, ticket stubs, posters etc etc - if so, let me .
The NAMM is an annual music convention - actually, a HUGE convention - that attracts everyone who's anyone in the music industry (instruments, accessories, sound systems, lighting systems, etc.).
It's a private deal, so it's not open to the public. I got a pass since I was teaching guitar at a music store.
Buck was there - I believe it was January, 1997 - and he was working in the Bird of Paradise Capo booth. John Weisenthal, who was a college buddy of Buck's, as well as an early member of SWU (keyboards, I think), invented this unique capo which Buck used on stage.
For what's it's worth, I thought the product was ugly. Anyway, when I dropped by Buck was in the booth by himself, playing a travel guitar (a backpacker). So, I introduced myself and we chatted for about 15 minutes.
Also met Tony Iommi, Eddie Van Halen, and Sammy Hagar... to name a few. Saw Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley walking around.
It was a cool experience and am glad to have done it once!
Regarding the Jan.24, 1997 show in Springfield, Oregon, the venue was the Mill Camp Saloon. BOC played this same venue in Springfield, Or. 4 consecutive years, 1996-1999. Hope this helps you out.
The brain's kinda frazzled still, but this is what I can remember of the Klamath Falls (1/25) show...
After a 375 mile drive, we located the venue and hung around BSing with George and Tony as they loaded in, set up, etc.
The guys showed up late afternoon, and Buck cruised up and blithely mentioned that they were going to play The Vigil that night. So far so good. Later Artie added that they'd also be playing Golden Age. Two songs I hadn't heard since at least 1979, so I was very happy.
Set List:
Shooting Shark was printed on the set list taped to Buck's rig, but they omitted it from the set. Guess I'll just have to settle for The Vigil and Golden Age.
Overall, not a bad way to spend my 50th show.
Baby Newt opened for BOC on 1-25-97 in Klamath Falls Oregon.
The Spokane show was pretty good. They started with Stairway to the Stars, and played Burnin' for You, The Reaper, Cities on Flame, Red and Black, etc., (more well-known tunes) later in the show. The Vigil (on Mirrors) was a surprise tune that I hadn't heard 'em play in the past shows that I'd seen. They played "Harvest Moon" and "Live for Me"? from their (rumored) soon to be released new CD.
It was kind of a drag that Buck broke his "B" string in the middle of The Reaper; prompting some brief gaps between guitar changes; but they handled it as best as could be expected. The band's musicianship is better than it's ever been. I just think it's cool that BOC still has fun playing for whatever crowd shows up. It would be interesting to see what kind of crowd they'd get if they would play somewhere that under-21 folks could go to.
According to the January 24, 1997 edition of The Spokesman-Review, the opening act for this gig was The Panics.
We just inaugurated the New Month with the last of the Northwest dates. Hung sidestage, on Eric & Allen's side, and took in the show. Eric stuck his head over after a few songs and said, "Hey, it's you guys! I couldn't see you with theses dark glasses on..." Always a great sense of humor, EB. =)
Sadly, Allen had taken ill the day before, and a fellow named Norm Gordon had been recruited on about 14 hours notice to fill in during some key parts. Norm did a fine job sitting in & providing extra rhythm work, but it was a bit strange to hear BOC functioning occasionally as a four-piece orchestra. It was almost like watching "The Buck Dharma Show - featuring Buck Dharma." Buck's guitar was WAY out front most of the night, which isn't necessarily a bad thing =), but there were times when things just "sounded a little funny." Especially during "In Thee," with Buck playing Allen's lead, and no Buck part behind it. No "new blues intro" either. Damn. We were really looking forward to hearing that again...
I'm betting that Allen came down with the same virus that attacked the rest of us in Bellingham. John said they'd all felt a bit under the weather since then, which verified my theory. Here's hoping Allen feels better soon...
Despite the virus, the Band was really enthused by the sell-out crowd at the Temple Grand Ballroom. With the place packed full of BOC fans, Eric had a great time playing the crowd, and Buck just couldn't help himself, adding a few extra noted here & there. And yes Charlie, they played 'The Vigil' again...
After the show, as the venue had an "actual" backstage area, Artie whisked us backstage to say hey to the guys, and I dutifully included Jeff (Lamestreet's) sister (the HAPPY birthday girl), as well as Jeff & his wife Diane. Susan was quite happy to get everybody's signature on her copy of 'Workshop', and they headed back to Seattle smiling... =)
After BS'ing with the guys for awhile, we all mutually decided to depart the venue. They to their hotel for some rest before the morning flight home, and Jack & Alma and ourselves over to the Engine House for a pitcher or so of their fine beverages. Closed the place down over a pitcher of cask-conditioned Mirror Pond Pale Ale, and agreed to meet up again at the Northwest stop of the Summer Daze Tour, which is shaping up to be a great event. We're speculating that they might make it to The Gorge. Now THAT would be a show...
So, BOC's back home now, and we're back to our normal routine (or lack thereof). The 1997 version of "The Natural Disaster Tour" has come to a close. Between Jack & Alma & myself, we've log- ged well over 3,000 miles chasing the Band all over the Great Wet North. Even Buck called touring out here brutal. The West may be nice this time of year, but it's still a big place. But it gives us distance... =)
Having seen BOC several times in the 70's and 80's in arenas, it was a bit different to see them as some indescript club. But it was a home town audience and quite crowded.
I saw them with my friend Harald and they played a good set, including some recent new songs which I wasn't familiar with. It was a Sat night and a late start, not unusual for a club. They played from 12:20am to 2:00am.
I can't be positive of the following set list. I usually count the number of songs played... that way it's easier to work out songs if I forgot something when I write it down afterwards. The order I wrote down is a bit different from what's listed but essentially all the songs are the same.
Setlist:
My band Castle Black opened the February 16, 1997 show at the StrikeZone in Binghamton NY for BOC.
We were a three man band consisting of myself, Tom Beattie, on Bass and Backing vocals, Toby Becraft on Guitar & Lead Vocals and Bob Eckert on Drums.
When I got into this venue I noticed that Bobby Rondinelli's drums were set up. I had not yet heard that he had joined the band as this was in my pre-internet days. I had seen Bobby play many times before with Rainbow, Sabbath and he even sat in for a show with Aerosmith in my hometown of Glens Falls, NY on Dec. 26, 1984.
So we were glad to see another great drummer in the band. I thought it might have even been his first show with them because throughout Danny was doing a bit of conducting to help him some. He would look at him a lot and wave his arms to indicate for Bobby to end the song with a big drum flourish.
In the crowd that night was ex-BOC drummer Jimmy Wilcox who was dragged up on stage to help sing the a capella intro of Golden Age and later told us he didn't really know the words. They also did a great unplugged version of In Thee this night.
21/03/1997: Birch Hill, Old Bridge, N.J.
Support: Unknown
Setlist:
Show at Shakey's with "Bamboo Igloo" opening
3-27-97 Woodlands setlist:
Was just looking through your gigs, and there's one:
28 Mar 1997: Venue Unknown, Brampton, Ontario Canada
I wasn't there, as I was underage, but the venue name was "Ka-boom Nightclub". Horrible that I didn't get to go, cause it was five minute walking distance from my house
BOC played Brampton's Kaboom! nightclub on Friday March 28th. What an unbelievable show.
They rocked for 2 hours solid and covered most of their classic material.
The only omissions I would have liked to hear were Hot Rails To Hell, Veteran Of The Psychic Wars and Dr. Music.
Crowd was probably around 1200 - 1500, mostly late 20's early 30's.
My congrats to Q107 and Kaboom! for booking this amazing act.
Well, it's been over 10 years since I saw this show. The show was NOT at Centennial Hall, it was at 'Hoochies' Sports Pub in the Mendenhall Valley, although BOC's 1984 show in Juneau was in Centennial Hall.
This 1997 show was great! Highlights were Stairway, Cities On Flame, and Buck's Boogie, and Eric was pretty funny introducing Godzilla ("...is it Mothra? Noooo...is it Rodenta? Nooooo...then what the fuck is it? yep. It's Godzilla.")
Damn - I don't have a 84 Juneau show listed - anyone got any info on this 1984 gig?
Amazingly I was at the April 2, 1997 BOC Concert at the Egan Center in Anchorage. I was able to get back stage by helping the warm-up band setup their equipment (i.e. being at the right place at the right time). I got to meet some of the bands groupies. I was invited to go to the after concert party but had a flight to catch so I was unable to go.
I asked one of the groupies if she could get me some autographs of the band and mail them to me. All I had was a used dollar bill which I gave to her along with my address. A month or two passed and I had forgotten about the dollar bill. Well low and behold she mailed me the dollar bill with all of the bands autographs along with a brief letter of the encounter. I still have that letter and dollar bill.
Hi, I saw your site on the web, I was trying to figure out the date of some of my BOC shows.
Thought you might enjoy seeing this ticket stub from Alaska! What a surprise to see a band like BOC, who in their prime had one of the coolest light shows and best concerts in the world.
What a surprise to see them play on a high school stage on an island in Alaska. It was borrowed equipment and the sound wasn't too good. But a good time was had by all of the families and their children during the once a year concert on the island!
Here are the tunes that BOC played in Golden, CO last Friday (not in order):
After the show Eric, Buck & Allen signed my Cultosaurus/FOUO/WOT cd covers. Eric said their new album was probably going to be delayed until fall...
Hey, I saw this show, too. Buck is really at the top of his game.
Some notes of interest about the Buffalo Rose performance: Eric only sang on about three of the songs, and his voice sounded pretty bad that night.
Also, Allen spent most of the night playing guitar trading stinging leads w/Buck, and Eric spent most of the night on the keys.
"Shooting Shark" and "Last Days of May" were more solid than ten-thousand ton blocks of strontium-90.
I don't know who the bassist is for this tour, but he was fantastic. His solo in Godzilla was the best I've ever heard.
And I am ecstatic that "Golden Age of Leather" has returned to the set.
The show in Petosky Michigan was at University Lanes, a bowling alley...
Thursday May 8th 1997 - My girl and I went to see a $5 low dough show at the Bay Front Center in St Pete., Florida. Each band played 3-4 songs.
The line up was B.O.C., JOHN KAY of STEPPENWOLF, FOGHAT & PAT TRAVERS.
We ran into the band ROXX GANG (now MOJO GURU'S), in the parking lot before the show, Partied with them for a few minutes and enjoyed the concert.
Good Ole days. The Bay front center has been blown up since.
B.O.C. on tour FOREVER!
1997/05/15 - Blue Oyster Cult - Wanda's Nightclub, Mechanicsburg, PA
The Martini Brothers opened the show.
Setlist
The venue was called Kahunaville.
Trey Merrill kindly got in touch with some corrections and clarifications over this gig, and when I checked up, it became apparent I'd got the band line-ups completely wrong.
Although this was a three day festival, I'd managed to list the main bands for each day as all playing just the one gig. Doh!
Fortunately, a quick examination of the 22 May 1997 edition of "The News-Messenger" [Fremont OH] presented a fuller picture of the actual situation:
Toledo hosting Blues Festival over weekend
Toledo - Toledo's annual Rock, Rhythm and Blues Festival is this weekend in Promenade Park, downtown Toledo.
Featured music includes rock, blues and gospel. There is no admission charge for the three-day festival.
The schedule includes:
Friday
Joey Molland's Bandfinger from 5 to 7 p.m. [sic]
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels from 7.30 to 9 p.m.
Saturday
Aaron Moore's Piano Breakdown from 1 to 2 p.m.
The Best of Toledo's Blues from 2 to 3 p.m.
Paul Rishell and Annie Raines from 3 to 4 p.m.
Byther Smith from 4 to 5 p.m.
Anson Funderburgh and The Rockets with Sam Meyers from 5 to 7 p.m.
Blue Oyster Cult from 7 to 9 p.m.
Sunday
The Gospel Summit from 1 to 3 p.m.
Masters of the Mississippi Delta from 3 to 4 p.m.
Dave Alvin and The Guilty Men from 4 to 5 p.m.
Chubby Carrier from 5 to 7 p.m.
Magic Dick and Jay Geils from 7 to 9 p.m. [sic]
"Bandfinger" and "Jay Geils", eh...? :-)
A page at this url [http://members.aol.com/bob4bulls/yearmarkshows.htm] - now offline - gave the attendance as "4,053"...
The band running order was Cory Stevens, Foghat and then BOC.
I discovered your website a while ago and saw that I had a setlist that could be added from a show that I had attended (if only I could find my old notebook!) Well - yesterday I finally found it while I was doing some cleaning up.
Here is the setlist for the 04 June 1997 show at Union Station (it was a free show out in the parking lot) in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA:
Thanks for such a great website!
Was this Summerdaze gig cancelled?
I stumbled across your BOC Giglopedia and saw that you didn't have the venue for one of the shows I've attended with Blue Oyster Cult. It's the gig in Council's Bluff, Iowa on June 6th, 1997.
It was a outdoor gig at a place called West Fair Amphitheatre and it was on the Summer Daze tour.
1st band up was Pat Travers Band, followed by Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult and finally celebrating 30 years anniversary John Kay's Steppenwolf.
Council's Bluff is a town in Iowa that lies by a river, on the other side of that river lies Omaha, Nebraska which is a quite big town.
WooHoo!
I sit here at work sporting my spiffy new 25th Anniversary BOC shirt, complete with ME262 on the front (and the words "On Tour Forever").
The boys were rocking last night, as usual. Eric's voice was still exceptionally froggy, and I'm surprised they haven't given Buck more of the lead singing role until Eric's voice comes back. Hell, let Allen sing lead on a live version of "True Confessions" and let Eric's voice heal up.
I had trouble getting into Pat Travers simply because I don't know any Pat Travers songs. Poor guy must be hating life having to open up for this gig and play to half-empty houses.
Foghat seemed to be having a genuinely good time. This was when the crowd started to rock a bit, especially when they played "Fool for the City" and "Slow Ride."
Then came the Oyster Boys. Not much else to say, really. Setlist was as follows:
Didn't stick around for Steppenwolf. I showed up to see Blue Oyster Cult, and the only reason I saw Pat Travers and Foghat is because I showed up early to get a good parking space.
Some things which I found extremely gratifying:
The above poster was wrong with the setlist - there was no "OD'd"... a DVD of the show has appeared on dimeadozen (March 2012) with the actual setlist...
6-19-97 Setlist:
Set list from last night's summerdaze show in Atlanta:
A very good show, but way too short.
WOW!!!! Bakersfield was great--16 years between seeing the Boys is way too long! :) The show was simply amazing - ranks up there as one of the "greatest nights of my life!" Five feet from the stage, right in front of Eric--woo hoo! Buck was incredible to watch in action. Danny, as others have said before, looks like he's having so much fun on stage. Great to see Allen--he even smiled a few times! And Bobby's drum solo during Godzilla was inspiring.
I guess this is pretty much the standard set list recently, but here it is anyway:
It was really great to meet so many AOLers: AnitaRocks, LASnowman, Sinmoohap, Vegas4BOC, BeachNik60, HDBOC, Rev Che, JAVan69 (sorry about spilling your beer :o ), and the others I regretfully can't remember. Manuel from BOC-L was there also (sorry about spilling JAVan69's beer on you). Great to meet everyone, and especially great to shake the Boys hands. What a night!
Place held about 250 jammed pack. Got to see them do "Last Days of May" stage front... cool as hell...
The club was so small they rented a motel room next to the club for their after show meal, where I got to bullshit with the band. Great night.
This show was opened by David Carter.
I found a listing for this gig in the Thursday 24 July 1997 edition (p18) of the "The Newark Advocate":
Blue Oyster Cult and The Godz will perform at the Newport Music Hall, 1722 N.High St. Friday, doors at 7 p.m. $11.50 in advance/$13 at door, Call (614) 431-3600.
A very solid performance,everyone was in fine spirits and the men in black were definitely "on".The set list was pretty much what weve seen posted except for a suprise Dominance and Submission opener. Eric is sounding much better than when I last saw them in april.
I've noticed that Allen is much more animated than Ive ever seen this year, he looked to be enjoying himself a lot. Buck was very hot as was "Hurricane"Danny and Bobby R.
It was really cool to see them in a decent size theater with proper lights and stage;this one makes a record setting(for me anyway) 8 times this year and I still hold a secret hope that theyll hit my home town of Cincinnati before the year is out...
Aw man, what an incredible show!!! My only complaint is that it was too short! (of course I'd say that if they played for 5 hours straight, too!)
Gotta give the guys alot of credit, they played for about an hour and a half in humidity so bad you felt like you could grab the air around you and wring it out!
Set list included Stairway 2 the Stars, Cities on Flame, Godzilla (Crowd went freakin' nuts for that one!), Burnin 4u, Reaper, Dominance, Buck's Boogie, Harvester and a few others including their new song.
Buck's guitar work was incredible as always. I can only aspire to one day play that well ;-), but I shouldn't single him out cuz the whole band was fantastic!
Can't wait for next time!
Setlist for Rib Fest York, PA 27 July 97:
This gig was listed on the old BOC site as an unknown venue in "Red Deer (Canada - Alberta)"...
However, the Pollstar stats above have BOC involved in a 3-day bash in High River, Alberta between 1-3 Aug. As the only date that BOC had free was 1st Aug, that was clearly the date they played. Presumably, that meant "Red Deer" must have been either a mistake or else was cancelled...
I hesitate to mention setlistFM (hawk...spit), but they have the venue down as the "High River Rodeo Centre"... dunno if that's true or not... probably not...
Anyway, in case you're wondering, I got the band line-up from this acidica blog post...
I found a listing for this gig in the 1 Aug 1997 edition of the "Great Falls Tribune":
Blue Oyster Cult will perform with the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Rob Quist and Great Northern at Chalet Bear Mouth Saturday Aug. 2. Tickets: $20. Call (800) 526-3400.
The last time I heard heard Dizbusters was in Clinton, Montana 8/2/97.
Actually it was a park several miles from Clinton that was a motorcycle party. Kind of a strange evening with Ozark Mountain Daredevils opening.
But BOC played 7 Screaming Dizbusters and Buck smoked, I might add.
This show was in Vancouver, Washington not Canada. It was part of our fair and they had no opening band.
Oops - sorry about that - i didn't know there were two Vancouvers so close together!! Who planned that one?
We were hanging out in Martin's CD shop down on main street when the news came up. This year's festival programs had been announced and Blue Öyster Cult were billed to play at Skanderborg Festivalen in the north of Denmark on August the 10th. Price: 125 bucks ($) pr. ticket. After some days considering I decided I was NOT going to Skanderborg just to see BÖC even though they having been my favourite band for over a decade, always with a very special place in my heart. "Why couldn't they have been booked here to Copenhagen since they were heading this way anyway?" we asked.
Summer came on and days went back to normal. Martin and some of his friends were still considering going to Skanderborg when it was announced: BÖC will appear on the 9th of August at the outdoor venue just outside Copenhagen called 5-Øren. Perfect! And then it was time...
On the day of the concert it would be sunshine with a pleasantly light breeze. As me and Peter and my kidbrother arrived we were searched just very quickly by the guards at the entrance to the venue located by the water surrounded by trees. Walking down the road leading to the stagearea we could hear Mick Taylor's Blues Band rounding off their set. There would be enough time for a leak and a quick smoke in the shadows of the trees before BÖC went on.
Feeling a little 'higher' we now appeared from the forest area. All in all there must have been around 2000 people present. As we moved up in the front of the stage we could hear the 'Blade Runner theme' coming on, then the band coming on checking the sound briefly, then it faded and the announcer would say: It's 15 years since they were here last time. Pleaase welcome... as the band went into Stairways To The Stars....
Question now: From whence to get the best sound experience (The direction of the wind etc. ) I was on the left side with Eric on stage further to the left of me. A quick decision and I decided to move a little closer and to the right of the center barely in front of where Buck was. Ah... much better!
I was surprised to discover that Eric's voice sounded quite different live than on the records and remember feeling touched thinking: Amazing he performs for us even sounding like that - but when the song ended Eric's voice had seemed to fall in place. Then a cooking ETI Buck shining looking good in his dark-grey suit and with the moustache followed by a rocking Buck's Boogie introduced as being from Cult Classics that when it'd ended would find Eric saying in his sultry voice: I'm gonna take off my jacket now he, he.. before starting Cities On Flame.
Then Allen rose from the keys and entered midstage for guitar on Last Days of May with Eric sitting down as the stagelight was lowered. The weather must have been making its impact as Buck's solo echoed off a cry to the sky. In front of the stage about us 300 that'd come to see BÖC. I could spot many heavy-metal types in the crowd, bandanas and Iron Maiden t-shirts people in their 20ies. Then fewer older fans but some could be spotted here and there as Eric came back on guitar for a swinging Burnin' For You all three guitarists rocking out, a surrealistic moment as Eric and Buck made a synchronized move like mimmicking a surfband. It was cool. They had us by now.
Then a deep sound and a: Now Who Is It? And I am sure it must have been the weather because Danny's solo swung cooly in the sun, applause, before he and Bobby going in to a shining tight run receiving another and then it was Reaper.
Now came a touching moment the whole band together on stage they just stood there waving back at us taking their time as to say: We may never play here again, a roadie coming out with a videocamera filming us fans. I was wearing my plain private's camouflagecap as I gestured to the band like V-signs or 'thumps up' they just standing there smiling and waving at us everybody waving back. Then weak cries for an encore when they had left the stage...
As the summer sun setting we started leaving the area as the vast majority of the audience present flocked to the stage for Status Quo their signature boogierock fading behind us, the cries of enthusiastic fans as we left.
A few days later speaking to Martin in the shop we agreed on it had been great. "I got a backstage pass and went and met the band" he said. "You met the band!" I said. "Now what did you SAY to them?" I curriously inquired. "Say?" "What'd ya' mean say?" he said "I just went and had my records signed".
The 9th August 1997 gig in Copenhagen had [to my surprise and delight] Status Quo as headliner. I can remember watching this outdoor gig in the sunshine.'Last Days of May' brought tears to my eyes, it was so beautiful.
Status Quo, Blue Oyster Cult, Mick Taylor All Star Blues Band, Allan Olsen. 5-Ørens, København 8/9/97 60 kroner
What an incredible day! Warm and sunny and right off the water! A very nice place for a show.
I met up with a guy named Daniel from Sweden, whom I had met on the BOC-l internet list. We met at Christiana and then took the bus down to the show!
Mick Taylor were playing when we got there and sounded pretty good. We sat in the shade and chatted while he played.
Allen Olsen is a local Danish folk rock guy from the 80's who had a few big hits here in Denmark (I am told), so the crowd was familiar with a lot of his stuff. He was alright!
He ended up getting three encores so BOC started late and would only play for 55 minutes.
BOC were really great. Buck was really smoking on the guitar. He just gets better and better everytime I see him, too bad the bad holds him back some.
They did not play any new songs, which I think was a big mistake. Instead they waste 10 minutes on drum and bass solos, when they could have played two new songs and turned the audience on to something new.
The set list was:
By the time Status Quo came on the crowd had been sitting in the sun drinking for 6 hours and were really hammered! I had a good place in the center with a decent view of the band, but could not get away from the loud drunk folks. Daniel tried his best to shield me from a really drunk guy who really seemed to like us and wanted to talk even though neither of us could understand him (he spoke Danish).
Anyway, QUO were great!! I had never had a chance to see them and really enjoyed them a lot.
A now-offline webpage review gave the band line-up as this:
August 17, 1997: Fireworks Over Central NY @ Vernon Downs
Bands:
Soul Shift
Rattlebasket
Sweet Vine
Mighty Joe Plum
Gov't Mule
Blue Oyster Cult
matchbox 20
Little Feat
8-27-97 setlist:
27/08/1997: Tradewinds Nightclub, Sea Bright, N.J.
Support: 7 Winds
Setlist:
I almost caused a 10 car pileup when I stopped in the middle of the road to back up and read the sign advertising this gig.
Just North of Watertown NY and 1/2 hour from Brockville Ontario, Alexandria Bay is a beautiful spot right in the 1,000 islands.
I believe the backup band were called "The Snow Monkeys" They were really quite good.
The stage was about 3 inches high, I angled my way up and stood nose to nose with them from about the 3rd song.
Buck seemed distracted but Allen was on fire and played a lot of guitar it seemed. He did "In Thee" Acoustic and was awesome.
It was the first time I had seen one of Eric's painted guitars. I asked Bobby if he was Rick Downey, he was pissed, I was out of the loop as you can tell!
I am sure it was The Snow Monkeys. There was room for 80 and there was about 90 people there so it seemed like a big show.
Cruised to this show w/3 friends from about 1 hr north of Alexandria Bay. I have no recollection of the warmup band.
Being that the stage was so low to the floor Buck and Eric would step up onto equipment cases positioned before their mics. We got a kick out of that.
The place was tiny but people were tearing it up to the band. I really enjoyed the new songs and recalled them when "Heaven Forbid" finally was issued.
Of course in Northern NY there's little done to promote concerts or anything of the sort so I got lucky and heard a radio ad the day of the gig.
The poster the bar had up showed Rogers and Burgi to add to the slack advertising. Now with the internet it's all so much easier but has diminished some of the mystery of the Cult.
What a great website; I have been a huge fan of BOC ever since 1976. Since then I have seen them 25 times in concert. Thanks to your website and some of my old ticket stubs, I was able to come up with the dates.
One concert in particular I was looking for was in 1997 in Vermont. You have unknown venue, but I was there on August 30th 1997. The concert was held in Stratton VT at the Stratton Mountain Ski Resort as part of their summer concert series.
It was an outdoor event with Leslie West from Mountain opening up for BOC. I'll see if I can find the ticket.
It was an awesome show except a water main broke directly in front of the stage and the work crew rolled out the heavy machinery and fixed the broken pipe while the show was going on.
That night on the way home Princess Diana was killed which kept us awake during the ride home that evening.
This was a free concert at the annual Bay Days festival in Hampton, Virginia. It was outdoors, at night, and much more crowded than the free concert at Virginia Beach in August '93.
Sound was good, set list was good (although I don't remember it exactly). My wife liked this show (she didn't like the 93 show on the beach)...
Hampton Bay Days 9-13-97 outdoor show. Setlist (a tape exists of this show) - I recorded it on a Sony Pro Walkman (same recorder Bolle Gregmar used) for many years. No encore:
Last night I attended the BOC show at the Xhale Night Club in Frederick, MD. I must say, not having seen them perform live since the 80's in Buffalo, NY they still rock! They performed all the standards as well as some of their new material. Bucks Boogie was played flawlessly and Mr. Dharma is still, in my opinion, one of the greatest guitarists of all time.
Early in the show, Eric and Allen didn't seem to be into the gig like Buck and the rhythm section were although Eric was as "Venomous" as ever. I was also happy to see that Allen is still in the band, he is a great musician.
Speaking of the rhythm section, they really kicked all night long. Does anyone know who the current drummer is? I'm not sure what his name is. What a "Basher"- Power Drumming with excellent "Chops".
The Bass player (name unknown) was incredible to say the least. These two guys compliment the BOC material with class.
However, I do have one complaint. The mix was way too loud. It was unnecessary to overdrive the Mains the way they were. Who ever the sound man is, he is not doing BOC justice. Distorted noise is not the way I want to listen to the band I have idolized for years.
The second opening band, Great Train Robbery had an incredibly balanced mix. Vocals were loud and clear and discernible above the overall mix. Why do these sound men think louder is better especially when louder, in many cases, means Distortion.
I hope others raise similar complaints and let the band know that their great music and lyrics are being lost in the mix. I unfortunately did not see the last 10 - 15 minutes of the show since my wife and I could no longer endure the excessive volume.
That says something when a guy follows a band since 1975, hasn't seen them perform live for 15 years and leaves early.
To the members of BOC: Don't let an egotistical sound man ruin your incredibly brilliant material.
The sound man is the wonderful George Geranios. The same sound man that BOC has had since 1973. With the exception of running things for Anthrax for a few years back a few years..
George is an excellent soundman... It cannot be faulted on him... It is usually the club and the piece of shit equipment that they use... The difference in sound from 1 band to the next depends on the type of music,and the amount of music being delivered..
I have seen BOC over 20 times in the last 18 months... Some shows the mix is good sometimes not.
Current drummer since 2-22-97 is Bobby Rondenelli Formerly with Rainbow in the early 80's, and most recent Black Sabbath in the 90's... Looks like he is going to stick with BOC at this point... Bass player since Aug 1995 is Danny (The Law) Miranda... one word describes him... AMAZING These 2 guys IMHO are the best BOC rythem section since the Bouchard Bros...
This gig is down as "Exhale Scranton PA" on BOC.com but I've changed it as I think that's a typo as the show immediately preceding this one was "Exhale Frederick MD".
I also saw this mention on the old altMusicBOC board:
catstoy1
Tink's last year had some band called Prunella Scales as the warm up. I understood they were to play for a half hour, forty-five minutes tops, this from one of the employees at Tink's.
Not only did they stink, but BOC was to start at 10:30, and they didn't get on until after 11:00.
I recall some folks in the rear getting a bit agitated as to the delay and the fact that no one wanted to waste time listening to an opening band when they were anticipating listening to the boys, myself included.
Setlist for 1997-09-18:
Sept 19, 1997; Clifton Park, NY - The venue's name was "Park West"...
Setlist:
Concert venue for Sept. 20 was at a club called "Daytonas". I was there and have the ticket stub.
No I can't recall who would have opened this show
1997-09-20 Daytonas Setlist:
The show was 10-27-97. BOC opened for Robbie Krieger and John Densmore for a benefit show. I have this on tape courtesy of Edosaurus. But just BOC who did a 7 song set. BOC didn't jam with them at all correct Ed?
The Oakley Kreiger band also played. (Robbie's sons band) Ray Manzerek was to ill to play. But Ray has also jammed with BOC in the past as well as Robbie who has done atleast a good handful of times. A few tapes circulating with Robbie and BOC I believe.
Chris reckons this gig was the 27th, whereas I currently have down as the 28th.
Can anyone settle the matter one way or the other?
Just a little update - the 1997 show in Louisville KY was at the venue named Coyote's...
The original boc.com lists this gig as being at an unknown venue on Wednesday 19 November 1997. Then I saw this exchange on Facebook:
The next time I saw BOC was on 6/20/92 at the Phoenix Hill Tavern. In 1996 I saw Nazareth and BOC at Coyote.
Then on 11/18/97 I saw Nazareth and BOC again at Coyotes.
Dan, I was at Phoenix Hill and at Coyotes for both shows with Nazareth. All great shows!
I queried the date and Michael kindly took a jpeg of his stub - a bit too blurred to post here but the date was reasonably visible, as was the fact that Nazareth were clearly the headliners...
Hence, I'm now happy to change the date from the 19th to the 18th...
I hadn't seen BOC in over 17 years and was very excited to see them again. For the first few years maybe it was because my friends, finances, and residence had changed. Then I was working too much - where did 1985 through 1993 go? Then it was because I got married and had a kid... commitments... ugh!
1997 started my first of many Mid-age crisis... Heading for divorce I convinced my now ex that we didn't socialize enough or do things fun anymore. One of the solutions: hook-up with an old friend, get BOC tickets, get Mom to watch our 4-year-old, and head out with the wives to a gig! I had heard about the show and got tickets- so we arranged to get hotel rooms and head for the show.
The show was in Bethleham, PA, in a place called Lupo's Nightclub which was about a 2-hour drive for us in NJ. We got there earlier and hung out drinking in the hotel. My friend Pete (who kept seeing BOC often though the years) insisted that BOC didn't go on until midnight. They were playing with Nazareth and I told everyone that I wanted to check them out so we headed there around 8:45 pm (doors opened at 8pm).
We were shocked (and pissed) to find out that BOC was already on... and the place was packed. We wiggled our way through the biker dudes and head bangers towards the stage. We made the best of it... I remember Buck announcing songs from the "new" album not quite out yet. He joked about it still not being out - but said it would be "soon".
I'm certain they played "See you in Black" and it was awesome! I vaguely remember "Harvest Moon", thought it was a bit mellow for the crowd. I think I remember "Damaged" but couldn't swear to it.
The highlight of the show for me was AFTER the BOC show! Nazareth was going to go on but my friend convinced us to get our hands stamped and he dragged all of us into the parking lot. He said he knew what Buck's car looked like so we waited outside until Buck came out. "Here he comes"... Where? This short guy with the geeky glasses? Yep, it was Buck.
My friend started the conversation and Buck spent 5 minutes talking to us in the parking lot. Seems they were supposed to go on AFTER Nazareth but there was a minor accident that made them late... so BOC went on first.
Buck signed my ticket stub and some other stuff my friend had... It wouldn't be until after the divorce until I saw them again...
I found a mention of this gig in the Missoula listings in the 5 Dec 1997 edition of the "Great Falls Tribune":
Oyster Rock: Blue Oyster Cult will perform at Buck's Club Tuesday, Dec 9, at 8 p.m. Tickets: $15. Call (406) 543 7436
Do you remember the old "One of these things is not like the other" game from when you were a kid?
My lovely, supportive wife Karen and I made the trek from Green Bay to St. Paul for the 93 Xmas Ball yesterday. The weather's been mild so the drive there and back was uneventful. Actually heard the Cult Classic version of Reaper for the first time on the radio on the way there.
I knew going in that there were a couple of other bands on the agenda, so didn't expect a full set list from our Oyster Boys. What I didn't realize was that there were eight bands, the first four in the Rage Against the Machine/Pantera category. We knew it wasn't going to be the normal BOC crowd when we walked in and we were the only people around without pierced eyebrows. :-) Hey, a chance for BOC to impress the new generation of rock fans plus some good publicity, so I was all for it.
After enduring the first four bands and then a surprise addition of a guitarist playing Christmas theme instrumentals (yawn), BOC finally hit the stage. Nice to see them on a big stage with good lighting. They opened up with Stairway to the Stars, the sound was good. Allen's keys were mixed in at a perfect level, I thought, and the vocals were strong. (Good job, George!) The crowd didn't know quite what to make of the band as they then launched into Cities On Flame. Nice reaction to Buck's good solo, but the next song, Buck's Boogie, seemed to raise the energy level of the younger crowd, as bodies began to surf. I had been enjoying myself the whole time, of course.
I was a bit taken aback when Eric dedicated the next song to the ladies in the audience. Burnin' For You already!!?? Yep, already to the Big 3. Burnin' sounded good, strong vocals from Buck. Godzilla had everybody rockin', particularly Bobby's well received drum solo. Reaper ended the night way prematurely. Good strong six song set, but at about 35 minutes my shortest BOC show ever. Hell, a couple of the openers played longer, so I was a bit disappointed. At the same time, though, always reenergized by the band that has provided the soundtrack to my life.
Given the audience, I would have loved to have seen the band squeeze in The Red & The Black at the end of the set and show the young crowd that speed metal has been around a lot longer than they might think. Would have been a good night for "I'd Like to See You In Black," too.
Karen and I hit the road right after BOC's set since we wanted to make it back to GB straight through. (We did.) I did finally manage to pick up the new BOC hat on my way out, very nice!!
I'm now looking forward to some full set club shows next year and hope to hear a lot of new material in support of the new album.