2006: 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 .
Found your website and enjoy it immensely. Here's my first BOC concert thoughts ... a little long, but I hope you can use it. :)
I suppose it seems odd to be a lifelong Blue Oyster Cult fan and not to have seen them live until just recently, but circumstances sometimes dictate that sort of thing. I'm going on 42 and have been into BOC ever since I heard them on the Heavy Metal movie soundtrack. Soon after that I started picking up their older albums and was hooked. Between their music and Frank Zappa's, I was able to survive the monotony of the Midwest.
I grew up in the middle of Wisconsin, and the opportunities in that area to see big-name acts is usually few and far-between, at least without travelling a hundred miles away. The one opportunity that I had to catch BOC was in 1993, at the Holiday Inn Convention Centre in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, the day the tickets went on sale, I was working and they sold out completely before I had a chance to even get out the bloody door.
After Zappa's death, and had pretty much assumed I would never see any of the performers that had colored my life, until I was driving and saw the sign outside Goodfella's Warehouse about two weeks before the show. "Blue Oyster Cult" was in quotation marks, so I kinda assumed it was some sort of cover band. After I was done with my errand, I drove past it again, and saw that all the acts were in quotes, so I immediately called them when I got home and could not believe my ears when they said it was really Blue Oyster Cult coming to Pottsville. Needless to say, tickets were purchased the next day.
The night of the show I was surprised to see not a very long line of people at the door. Most of the folks I chatted with didn't even seem to know who Blue Oyster Cult was (except for one fairly knowledgeable fellow who looked to be about my age or older). A girl who had purchased her ticket at the door mentioned that she had ticket #150. The wife and mine's were in the late 40's, so I didn't think this foreboded well, but I kept my spirits up.
The opening act was a very mediocre band called Rhymes With Orange (note to RWO and others: Metallica's music is really not ripe for the medley rip, and perhaps "Enter Sandman" should be somewhat more recognizable before the chorus). Poptart Monkeys, a Harrisburg band, completed the opening acts, and showed considerably more lyrical and musical skills with their set, which perked me and the wife up. The small crowd (which numbered not more than 200 people) was fairly sedate through both acts. The opening acts were followed by a very strange segue in which one of the guitarists for Cinderella was married on stage.
Finally the stage darkened and Blue Oyster Cult started the opening chords of "The Red and the Black". The crowd finally started coming alive and rocking as Eric started singing! The low turnout now became an advantage as almost anywhere in the warehouse was like being in the first six rows of a 'regular' concert ... there was a intimacy that BOC's music complemented wonderfully.
The song selection for this set was excellent. I would've liked to have heard "Career of Evil," "ME262," or "Astronomy", but "Golden Age of Leather" and "I Love the Night" made up for that. I was pleasantly surprised to hear so many tunes from their early albums, particularly "Before the Kiss." "E.T.I." was another welcome selection, as was "Shooting Shark." They of course also played everything that would've had minor airplay even in our little backwater town.
"Buck's Boogie" was one of the highlights of the whole show. It was odd to see him without his trademark mustache and longer hair. My wife commented that he looked like "a high school teacher up there, playing his heart out." He may be getting up there in years, but as a guitarist, Buck Dharma still has few peers. He makes it look so effortless.
I hadn't heard the band's last album, so I was intrigued to see how the new drummer and bassist would be in concert, and I was amazed... those two guys were playing their hearts out just as much as Eric, Buck or Al. I did think that, hell, I would do the same if that was my job too. Richie's vocals on the "Hot Rails to Hell" encore were great, and the drum and bass solos during "Godzilla" were unbelievable. And what's more, you could tell they were having fun, which can really make or break any performance in my opinion.
I'm still sitting here in awe and waiting for more. I'm not going to start hoping that BOC will come back to my area anytime soon... but I am gonna dream about it.
26 January 2006: Ram's Head Tavern, Annapolis Maryland
Early Show:
Late Show:
They nailed Dizbusters in the early show! Flubbed the intro a bit in the 2nd show, but was still a sight to behold...
Soundcheck was ILTN, Dizbusters, Veteran, possibly more...
BOC played 2 concerts at BB Kings Jazz Club on 42nd Street, New York City, on Friday 27th January 2006. The 8pm concert was sold out, and I missed out getting a ticket and had to queue outside to wait for entry to the 10:30pm show - it was about 40ºF warmer than in 2003 and 2004! The best tables were already taken when I went in, but luckily I found an empty seat on the nearest table to the middle of the stage. This was the 281st BOC gig for Miller, one of the others guys at the table!
Although not sold out, there was a large audience for the 2nd set. It started with 3 old favourites, The Red And The Black, Burnin' For You & Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. Buck looked very relaxed, and was in fine form, particularly during Shooting Shark.
Eric introduced Miller to the audience, admiring his devotion to attending BOC concerts, and ignoring the shouts of a guy from the next table that he had seen BOC over 300 times.
Richie and Jules are now well experienced members of BOC, and both played lively solo features.
The audience shouted for Astronomy, and the group obliged, also playing I Love The Night instead of Veterans on the set-list. The set finished with Godzilla and (Don't Fear) The Reaper.
The encores of Hot Rails To Hell & Dominance And Submission brought the concert to a close on a high. The general consensus was that the 2nd set was much better than the 1st one as the band had warmed up! They always give good value.
Afterwards I chatted with Richie, also with Albert Bouchard and David Hirschberg of Brain Surgeons who had watched the gig - I caught their concert the following night at The Delancy. I met several others from England that had flown to NYC for a weekend of BOC music.
[ Check out Alan's concert photo site at www.adpltd.uk.com/concertphotos.htm ]
I had tickets to the 2nd show and thought we could get there a half hour early and get tickets for the first. Got there and they were sold out; but we met a new friend "RocknRoll Ray" [no relation!] and he had 2 extra tickets at cost for us! Thanks Ray!!!
The place was packed, me and my friend Pete didn't want to get a table. We stood at the bar and watched the first show: great to hear old tunes like "Career of Evil" and "Last Days of May" again.
"7 screaming diz-busters" was an excellent surprise despite a screw-up by Castellano. Eric even gave him a little shit for it. "Before the Kiss" rounded thing off for the old shit... All in all the first show was very good but we were hoping for better for the 2nd show.
For the second show we found our new friend Ray again and got a table this time. Most of the time we were about 12-15 feet from Buck. Just where we wanted to be! There were a lot of younger people there for Castellano & Radino. Castellano redeemed himself for this time around; he was "on" the rest of the night! They played "I Love the night" twice that night...great BOTH times.
The 2nd show had such shining gems as "Transmaniacon MC", "Golden Age of Leather" [with audience participation], Astronomy, and Dominance... of course DFTR was in both sets, too! I have just one more thing to say...
Can't wait to see them in Atlantic City on 2/24/06!!!!
I have a correction for the Giglopaedia: I was at the January 28th, 2006 show at Ridgefield Playhouse (Another way small venue). The set list you have posted is accurate for the songs, but they left the stage after 'Burning For You' then came back and played 'Hot Rails To Hell' as the only encore.
Thanks for the great website, and I'll be sure to keep you (and the other fans) posted about any future shows I attend.
Whew! There was an electricity to the atmosphere... Attendance was healthy, and the crowd was very responsive. Many familiar faces were in attendance from other area shows through the years, as well as a very strong presence of onliners, some of whom traveled for hours to attend, with a mix of fresh & young show-goers as well. The band really seemed to be enjoying themselves, sounded great (as usual), and rewarded the faithful with an outstanding gig. This was my first experience seeing the current lineup, and any questions I had about the rhythm section were quickly laid to rest that night. "We understand... We understand..." I can't recall the last time "Godzilla" sounded so fresh & fun... It was a true pleasure!
On the short ride home, while sharing reactions with my sweetheart about the show, she asked me what my favorite part was, and it actually took a while to answer, as it was a really great show overall... the most obvious answer was the inclusion of "I Love the Night", as I had never seen it performed before (but have heard it in it's entirety, with missing verse). This was her third show, and we both agreed that one of the reasons the show always excels is that, no matter how many times you see the band, they always deliver - 100%, and give you something NEW... a new arrangement of a standard tune, a new treat here, one of your favorites there, or something deeper from a really great catalogue, that is ready to rotate through the setlist for a while.
Other higlights: "Transmaniacon MC", "Golden Age Of Leather", "Black Blade", "The Vigil" (especially the giant grin Eric sent my way when I held my fingeres up in a "V" after he announced that they were going to "mix it up" after LDOM), "I Love the Night", and of course "Hot Rails to Hell" ... as well as the camaraderie between fans, and a truly outstanding performance by all of the members. They played with a palpable enthusiasm, and ensured a fantastic experience was had by all! We're really looking forward to the next time through... "On tour forever" indeed!
Were does one begin in reviewing a fantastic night with our beloved band, and wonderful friends? It all started with an easy going 8 hour drive from Louisville to Edinboro. Andy (Jungleland) and I left at 5 am and arrived at 1 or so. We stayed at the Edinboro Inn along with Jack, G-Man and Woody. Andy said he saw Eric, but I was too beat to go looking. The hotel looked like something out of "The Shining". I kept waiting to see Danny Torrence riding a big wheel down the hall whilst being chased by two young groupies and buckets of blood.
A foot and a half of snow seemed normal to everyone in town except for us southern boys. We're just not used to seeing more than a foot in an entire winter. I didn't know if the blustery conditions would hold back the crowd. Apparently the town of Edinboro has a 7,000 student college and boy do they like to party.
We took an 11 mile cab drive to the venue (for inebriation purposes of course) and met some local folks in for the show. 4 hours before the show even started, fans started lining up. It was really cool to see the excitement of the majority of the people who hadn't seen the BOYS in a long time, or had never seen them at all.
The venue (Denny's Bar and Banquet) was a perfect fit for the most intimate of intimate shows. The inside had 2 nice wrap-around bar sections, and after a few beers the place actually resembled a VFW hall. The stage was woefully small, but the BOYS didn't seem to mind. 15 people may have been able to line the front of the 2 and a half foot tall stage. Perfect conditons were in order for a hot show, and that's exactly what we got.
When Jack posted the setlist on the stage I was kinda of disappointed to see only 11 songs listed. I figured "well at least we get "Redcap", and they haven't been playing that for 4 years or so". No big deal ya know, but what we got was much, much more.
ME262 got the show started, but I don't remember much of it because I never remember details of the first song. I'm so enraptured by being at yet another BOC show I forget to pay attention. By the time B4TheKiss rolled around, the place was 300 people deep and rocking. Dontcha just love the way Buck makes the chords crunnnnnnnnch on this one? It was great seeing this live again after a 4 year or so abscence. B4U, while always a crowd favorite, gets lost in the shuffle from time to time. I can hear and see the performance in my sleep. While an intregal part of the show, the Big 3 to me are done to pacify the crowd, and after all, they are the hits. Anticipation is the best part about the experience for me.
ETI was particularly well done and Buck just cooked the hell out of the solo. For the next song, Eric gave the crowd a choice between Shooting Shark or Harvest Moon. SS won out. Richie lays an amazing effect on this song. His slapping is incredible, and he almost makes it his own. BTW, IMO Richie is the best bass player this band has ever had. He FLAT OUT shreads. Next were the twin biker songs. ODoul's Lanier seems to enjoy this song more than anyone in the band. He's always ready for a front of the stage toast to get things started.
Here's where it got just plain nutty. Eric decides that he's going to change the setlist. Not just change it, chuck it. Joan Crawford was next. I yelled to Buck that it was ok to play it cuz Lib Monkey wasn't in the house, and he couldn't bitch about it's not needing to be in the setlist. Buck seemed to chuckle at this. Black Blade came as a complete shock. It's great everytime it's played and it was very heavy last night.
COF was next, and I don't remember anything special about it besides Buck doing something abnormal with the whammy that I hadn't heard 100 times before. LDOM was ridiculous as usual. Buck was on 2 knees and on the ground for a good minute during the solo. The stage was so short, that only the people in the front row could see him spill hit guts on the front of the stage. Allen's sound was too far back in the mix to do his solo justice, although I could scantly hear it bouncing around the room. The entire song was incendiary.
The next shocker came with Eric again changing the setlist. The Vigil came out of nowhere as it should, and left the hardcore breathless. This type of switch up just doesn't happen at every BOC gig. We knew it was a special night. Zilla was Zilla, and Richie's solo was brutal. He was standing so far out on the PA stack in front of the stage, that I was closer to being on stage that he was. He was slamming so hard, you could see dust particles bouncing off of his bass through the celing lights. He is a baddass, and a big time part of the heart and soul of this band.
Reaper was picture perfect as usual. The encores were especially nice. I've been waiting to hear "ILTN" for some time. Of all the times I've seen the cvlt somehow I've missed out on this one. Andy had requested this earlier in the night, and Eric obliged him. HRTH was another I hadn't heard in a LONG time. For some reason, the last 5 times I had seen the BOYS, HRTH had been in the rotation, but they just didn't play it. Richie does a great job with it. That's it in a nutshell (a big one albeit).
Special thanx to John Chapman to getting us to the hotel in one piece. It was great to see you again. Thanks fot the special gifts. It was great to meet BadGuyHead. He's a righteous dude and a wonderful ambassador of all things BOC. Thanks to Denny, the bar owner. He treated us like family. Thank you to Andy for being my partner in crime all these many years, and thank you to BadGuyHead. Buck, Eric, Allen, Richie, Jules, G-Man, Jack, and Woody.
HeyHeyMyMyRock'NRollWillNeverDie
-SoulMonkey-
What a night!!!! Prolly the most fun I have had at any BOC show that I have been to. And I've been to alot.
The snow was packed 2 feet high outside but that didn't stop the hardcore. The band knew that everyone who showed up was the hardcore, and you could just feel something special in the air. Everyone, and I mean everyone had a BOC shirt on to show support to the band. You could look around and see that the real Blue Oyster Cult was in the building. There was the tall, lanky guy you see at every show. Over on the left side of the stage was the burly haired guy who never combs his hair. You know, the people you see at every BOC show in our area. The Midwest chapter of the Blue Oyster Cult!!! We were all there!!
And then my buddies Soul Monkey and Andy drove 8 hours to get there.
I got there after driving 4 & 1/2 hours thru the snow just in time for the show to start. Luckily, Soul Monkey and Andy had my place reservered for me. Right up front, in the Buckzone!!!!!!!!!!! We could have tied his shoe laces, but we knew that we weren't worthy. We could easily read the setlist and it looked normal. After opening with ME262 the place was wired. Then, when they were done playing the Golden Age, Eric says, "Well we're going to mix things up a little". We were treated to 2 songs that weren't on the list , Joan Crawford and then Black Blade screamed thru the speakers. My fuckin' ears melted at this point!!!!
Soul Monkey looked like a little kid, the dude really gets high on this stuff. Andy just turns around and grins. Back to the setlist. They reach LDOM at this point with a fuckin' scorching tribute to the "3 Good Buddies" and it was time to call for the big Mean Green when all of a sudden, Eric says " Hey wait a minute, we're going to mix things up again!!!!! I'm thinking..oh fuck, what are we in for now??? Soul Monkey turns to me and says "its Astronomy, I heard them say it"!!! I said to him, "No way man look, Eric's at the keyboard and he dosen't play the keyboard on Astronomy" Then my fuckin' eyes melted when the 1st notes of the Vigil screamed thru the PA. I haven't heard them play that song for years. Awesome rendition, totally awesome. They call out the big Green Bastard and the summoned the Reaper with perfect precision and it's goodnight and blah, blah, blah. Of course we knew we weren't going home yet, Richie had to belt out Hot Rails for us. The boys respond to our chants of "BOC, BOC, BOC" and Eric says.."Well we had a request for this so we are going to play it." Now Soul Monkey had been yelling for this song all night, which proves that the band listens to our requests when we blurb them out. They just couldn't play Monsters, tho. Shit!!!! Oh well, what they did do was treat us to an awesome version of "I Love the Night" There was nothing left of me to melt!!!! What a night, the only thing I thought I was going to miss was Richie doing Hot Rails.
Wrong again as the 1st notes blew the fuckin' PA apart. Awesome, totally awsome show!!!
The boys paid us big time for climbing through the snow to see this show. There were a total of 5 songs that weren't on the original setlist. And to see Soul Monkey and Andy again, priceless
On Tour Forever, boys. On Tour Forever!!!!!!!!!!
What a night!!!!!!!!
Green Bay, WI Meyer Theater. Set list correct. Colder than a whores heart outside, like 0.
This gig was also cool for a couple of reasons:
Sarah and I arrived on Sunday afternoon and checked into our hotel - after a quick look around manhattan and a trip to a deli (mainly to stretch our legs) we had a shower and quick nap, then I had to get to Wantaugh. This was easy - a quick walk to Penn station then onto the long island railroad, all very well laid out and clear. My only worry - I was running late, it was 7-36 when the train pulled out and the guard said id get there at 8 30 , not 8 as the hotel porter told me. However, off the trian at wantaugh and the gig is right next to the rail line. I get in at 8 45 and there are two drum kits on stage so Im ok for time.
A good set from the support, who were like REM with more backbone. Then came BOC. The sound got sorted fairly quick, and the setlist has to be one of the best setlists in my personal experience - for me, a good setlist has to have new material and if i hear a song for the first time im in heaven. This gave not one, not two but three new songs. Summer was the first BOC song I ever heard, Ive always wanted to hear it live- when those chunky chords started I thought it was BTK, which id already heard 2 years back (still good though) but when I realised it was SOL I was ecstatic. Harvest moon was a nice inclusion - a nod to the recent years, and as for DIZ, well it was a toss-up for that or astronomy - I screamed for dizbusters out of the buckzone and was rewarded. It was marvellous. I first heard that song in 1976 and Ive always hoped to hear it live. It seems one of those songs they rarely play - how lucky I was that night.
The BOC for me now is a well established hobby - it is marvellous to have that music which meant so much to me in my teenage years played live and to be able to hear that great guitar, that tight performance and the variety of the recent sets.
By the end of the show I was knackered - I'd been up 26 hours with a quick kip in the hotel, plus the hassle of airports, finding the gig etc - but at the end, as the band shook hands, I asked Alan when hed return to england - he shrugged his shoulders and a guy next to me said "are you from england?" It was Makis! Nice guy, we had a chat and a bit of a hang-out with Bobby R and his friends. The BOC crowd are all such nice people to see. But I had to get back to my hotel - a quick double whisky and onto the trian back -doing (almost) the journey into new york that inspired Joe to write the last boc song Id heard just an hour before.
BTW - New york was an amazing, jaw dropping city - up the rockefeller, to ground zero, 5th avenue, the flatiron - museum of natural history, marvellous food and bars, and dirty rotten scoundrels on broadway - fantastic stuff - what a great trip.
I was still flying high from the 2 shows I saw at BB Kings in NYC in January; I bought 2 tickets on an Internet pre-sale for the show at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ. I guessed the pre-sale password and only paid $10.37 for each ticket. I had BIG plans and high expectations for this show. I wanted to get more pictures of the band, get the setlist and a review for this site, and I wanted to get to chat with Buck and ask him a few questions; high expectations indeed. With my girlfriend Elissa (her first BOC gig), I was on my way!
The plans went to Hell at the door into the venue. Everyone was searched with the aid of a metal detector & all cameras were denied. We found out we still had 30 minutes before BOC was up so my girlfriend and I retreated to the car to stash the digitals away. When we got back the opening band was on doing covers - which lasted only a few more songs. I don't know the bands name but they weren't too bad for a cover band.
After a short promo (a T-shirt giveaway) for the local sponsoring radio station "The Shark" 103.7 FM, the bands opening music started. They opened with "The Red & the Black" and you could tell everyone in the band was ready to give a hell-of-a-show! Rich zoomed form stage-right to stage-left & back plucking his bass. Jules pounded away at the drums and symbols. Eric, Alan & Buck were front stage showing how it's done.
Eric intro'd the band and noted he saw "a few new faces" and that it was a "younger crowd" before introducing Rich & Jules. "Burnin' for You" got everyone chanting and the crowd tightened by the stage. One of my favorites, "Shooting Shark" was played with great feeling; Buck's end-of-song jam was excellent- it could have easily gotten him into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame on it's own.
Some might say it was "Buck night"; Cities on Flame included an extended blistering solo that didn't end until Buck signaled the band. I'm certain his jam was extended longer than what I remember form the BB Kings show a few weeks earlier.
"Joan Crawford" followed with some puzzled & confused looks from the crowd. "What's up with the Joan Crawford thing?" I heard. The song was executed with style; Alan's fancy key licks at the end of the tune showcased his keyboard abilities...smooth mini-solo!
"The Buck show" continued when it was time for his bit in "The Last Days of May". (Then again- isn't EVERY show "the Buck show"?) The old and new fans around me were quite impressed with Buck's jam.
"Godzilla" followed with the crowd going absolutely nuts; even the young ones we singing along. There was a slow transition to the bass and drum solo portion after Eric announced it. Buck hung around a little longer before Rich moved upfront to do his thing. I must say that Rich truly proved himself this night; he blew everyone away with his mastery of the bass. As evidenced by his 1,000 bizarre facial expressions and his in-your-face string plucking -he really got into his solo. Jules followed with a drum solo that thumped, rumbled, pounded, and crashed 'til his drum kit almost fell over. Jules & Rich have become quite tight; far better than what I saw at BB Kings in 1/2006 or at The Chance in 1/2005.
The band came back to finish "Godzilla"; then hung back as Buck started a guitar solo. Surely, this was the introduction to DFTR... right? Hmm, this was certainly longer than I've heard before...it lasted several minutes; the band just hanging back encouraging the crowd to clap along. It was a sweet little tune- although I can't really say I recognized it by any name. It did not lead into DFTR; instead it ended and Buck acknowledged the crowd with a nod and a thank you. Then, after a pause, "Don't Fear the Reaper"...played with all the class, style, and nibble guitar licks we've heard before - outstanding!
"Dominance and Submission" and "Hot Rails to Hell" proved to be the encores. Some of the crowd seemed not to recognize D&S but caught on pretty quickly chanting "Dominance"! Hot Rails to Hell was a gem. Joe Bouchard himself would have been awed by Rich's execution of HRTH; he played the Hell out of it (pun certainly intended)! The tunes ended, the lights went on, but the story is NOT over.
Elissa and I hung out for a while after the show on the left side of the stage until an employee told us we had to leave. We said OK but headed to the other side of the stage where a small group of people was standing by the T-shirt sales. On the way over, we looked back and saw Rich come out from backstage - so we stopped him and got autographs & expressed our feeling on his great playing. We hung out by the backstage door with the small group until someone came out and said: "Have your passes visible to enter. We'll take you back to meet the band now." Elissa and I looked at each other knowing we had no passes...but when the crowd was in we were left standing next to the guy who made the announcement. He had a couple of the "Shark Radio" passes in his hand so I asked, "Can we get a couple of passes? We'd like to meet the band..." He handed us 2 passes. Apparently, the radio ran a contest to meet the band after the show and we wiggled our way into a couple "extra" passes!
Since we were the last ones in the band ended up following us down the hall to a small banquet hall. I got Jules' autograph on the way down the hall. Inside I got Eric's and Buck's autographs and got to chat with both of them. I asked Eric where Alan was and he said "He's just getting a sandwich and he'll be out here soon..." (I swear that's what Eric told me at BB Kings also!) Anyway, Alan never showed...a friend had told me he was a bit elusive.
Elissa was impressed I was able to get us backstage to meet the band. Most of the people were happy getting autographs and leaving but we hung around a little longer. This gave me the opportunity to talk to Buck and also ask him the questions Ralph (our Hot Rails to Hull website host) told me he'd like answered. I asked Buck why they don't play any of their songs from the last two albums in the current setlist. Buck explained that they WOULD play them but the shows would have to be more than 2 hours long. He said people want to hear their "classics" so the sets reflect that. I told Buck I wouldn't have a problem going to a 2 hour+ BOC show! We chatted briefly about his move from NJ to Florida before he left....Elissa and I were the last ones (besides Security) to leave the banquet hall...never got to meet Alan - boy, he can eat a lot of sandwiches...
6 April 2006 was the first time they'd played in the Phoenix area in about 11 years. Around 2000 I asked Buck why they hadn't played here in so long (5 years or so at that point) while they had played in Tucson more than once.
He said he didn't know, probably no good venues, could I recommend any? I named a few that were perfectly suited to the types of places they were playing elsewhere, but that was the end of that. I realize that promoters and management play the largest roles, but I never did figure out why they went so long without coming here. Heck, part of their first live album was recorded in Phoenix!
The opening band was Nagg.
This was the first leg on a trip taking me from NJ through New Haven, CT headed to Plymouth, MA. I wanted to take a long weekend and see BOC two nights in a row. Unfortunately, I had two tickets for each night - but my girlfriend changed her plans about coming with me. My friends had prior engagements so I figured I'd go and make it a great weekend anyway!
Honestly, I missed the first two bands except for a couple of cover tunes. I sold the ticket earlier in the night to a female Yale student for about what I paid. I went in solo and wiggled my way to the front of the stage about 3 or foot feet from Buck's microphone stand. Prime Buck watching real estate indeed!
I had my trusty digital camera with me and I wasn't going anywhere. I stayed in the same location the entire night. To my left was a cool guy named Butch and to the left of him was a woman in a wheelchair with Oxygen.
After the opening acts finished, the band came out to do a quick sound check and checkout the audience. The crowd was loud and proud -yelling compliments to the band and shouting names of songs. Butch and I tried psyching-up Buck and Rich as they setup; I asked Buck if they'd play Black Blade. I snapped a few pictures as they setup - both Buck and Rich posed. They laid the setlist next to bucks microphone stand; headed to the back to prepare for their entrance.
BOC took the stage and ripped into Red & Black; quick to move into their "3 guitar" pose. Rich bounced his way over to make it the "4 guitars". (Boy don't you miss the "5th guitar" lined-up?) The sound was great, the crowd was totally wild, and the band was HOT. A cymbal limited my view of Jules but everything else with my lens' view. One tune after another they burned through Harvester, Burnin', and ETI (still a strong song).
Buck did a moving version of I love the night with colored, twinkling lights behind him. Then they roared into Transmaniacon & ME262; the people around me were diehard fans singing along. We all then raised our cans of bear to Golden Age; then Last Days of May. Once again: it was "the Buck show" - that is, until Godzilla and the solos.
Jules and Rich really got a groove during the bass/drum solos. They played a few bars of Rush and the crowd came back screaming "more". Jules dazzled the crowd some more during his part; he was speedily twirling his sticks without missing a quick beat. "Who is this kid" I heard some of the old diehard guys talk. Zilla finished and Buck started his newer intro to DFTR.
DFTR was killer as usual - the audience went nuts at the end, begging for more and shouting requests. The setlist on stage ended with "Reaper" with the encores undecided.
Cities on Flame opened the set of encores and the diehards (like me) loved it. Three words: guitar, guitar, and guitar! Eric then asked the crowd to pick between Black Blade and 7-screaming Diz-busters. No contest: 7-screaming it was! They blasted through this crowd pleaser with everyone chanting along. Rich polished-off the evening very nicely with Hots Rails... words out; he can make this tune rock!
After the show I hung around waiting to see the band. Rich and Jules came out and signed the setlist I removed from the stage promptly after the show. They both talked to the few of us who hung around. They said the rest of the band would be out shortly.
We were asked to leave the building so we waited outside. Eric, then Buck came out a few minutes later. Eric took-off pretty quickly but I managed to get his scribble on my setlist, too. Buck followed Eric with his borrowed blue marker. I had another fan snap a picture of me with Buck (even though the flash was off so it came out crumby). It was 1:30 am and we were waiting for Allen to come out but Buck said we had left first. I heard he threw a hat, glasses, and a jacket on and left with the crowd... guess they didn't have a sandwich for him...
Here's a link to the video I made from the Toad's show's pics:
Dude... RockandRollRon who reviewed the Toad's Place gig on 21 April must have been standing right next to me... in fact, he may have been the guy who was feeding the words of "Last Days of May" to Buck along with me when Buck drew a blank on them... at the end of the song Buck gave us one of his little nods in acknowledgement.
The lady in the wheelchair is the sister of Tony who is known to most CT BOC faithful as a longtime fan... I was shocked when I saw him as it was the first time I had seen him at a BOC gig in over a decade without his satin tour jacket...
The only thing Ron didn't mention besides Buck forgetting the words to "Last Days" was Eric sat on the keyboard stool and watched attentively during Jules' drum solo... nodding his approval all the way through...
This is the setlist from the show I attended last night, April 21, at Toad's Place in New Haven, CT:
This was an absolutely incredible show - and also marks one of the only times I can recall of Buck forgetting the words to 'Last Days of May'. I swear - you should've seen it: Buck knew he'd blown the verse, looked at Ritchie, Ritchie looked at Buck - and it looked like they were both about to die laughing. However, they recovered beautifully and this show was one of the best!
I don't know if you've heard much about Toad's Place - but it's pretty small. No matter where you are in there it's like being on the stage with them.
Read the other two stories from this show and oddly enough I was standing just to the right of both of you, a few feet to the right of Bucks mic stand. I was the guy with a pony tail down my back, in a black T-shirt.
Even though I've been a fan since about age 13 (I'm now 40), buy the time I was old enough to go to hard rock shows, the Heavy Metal - Hair Band era had begun. Wasn't my bag of chips, off into jam band land I went, both playing and listening.
The early 90's refueled my desires for heavier music, along with my desire to see BOC. Being that they didn't play Vermont all to often, I didn't get my chance till this magical night at Toad's 4-21-06.
From then on I've repurchased alot of the CD's I used to have on vinyl, and have put BOC at the top of my favorite still touring bands. I play guitar myself and Buck never fails to amaze me, Allen puts out some sweet solos from time to time also.
Didn't realize till recently that this was one of the last shows with Allen, sure hope all is well and he comes back soon.
This was the 2nd leg of my trip from NJ to Plymouth, MA. to see BOC two nights in-a-row. I woke up early (8 am) in New Haven, CT and headed for Plymouth, MA for Saturday nights show. Once again I was traveling alone but with two tickets for the show.
I took my traveling and ended up in Plymouth around 1pm. I walked around to see "The Rock", "The Mayflower II", and where BOC's gig was. At 6:30, an hour before the show, I headed to Memorial Hall to sell my extra ticket. I was lucky enough to run into a very pretty woman (Sue!) looking for a single ticket for the show. Sue was a BOC concert newbie; but knew the classic tunes.
The opener was a fellow from the Boston area named Chris Fitz who played acoustic guitar. The guy was great - just NOT for a Blue Oyster Cult opener... by the last song the crowd began to heckle him a little.
My tickets were 8th row on the left side of the stage. Good seats - but nothing like the previous night. I had my camera once again and took all "full stage" shots because of my location.
The opener was Joan Crawford, which surprised me, and the crowd didn't know what to make of it either. Eric followed the song by asking the crowd "So, does Plymouth Rock?" After which Eric's "Cities on Flame" guitar signaled the next song, which finally woke the audience. "Burnin' for you" started a small push of people moving closer with whistling and yelping. By the time ETI continued, Sue and I were dancing by our seats. "I love the night" was played this night without the starry lights in the background.
Buck's Boogie charged into Harvester of Eyes... the crowd lovin' it! Most of the people I met were early fans that had not seen them in 10-20 years. When the band broke into Golden Age followed by Astronomy everyone responded. To me, Buck and Jules seemed to be at their best; but Eric, Rich and Allen had their moments during the night as well.
Godzilla and the solos flabbergasted my audience neighbors; they were extremely impressed with Jules and Rich. There was no little Rush jam as there was the night before but they were great just the same. Jules later told me that they will pick some nights "to mix it up more" and I caught one of those the night before.
DFTR was no surprise as the closer of the set; somehow this one seems to always be magic. Lots of waving and thank you followed as the band left the stage. Encores proved to be Black Blade and 7-Screaming Diz-busters. Honestly, I haven't heard Black Blade live since a 1980 show I taped; somehow I felt this night it lacked punch - but maybe because there were no pyrotechnics! 7-Screaming was a nice, neat, tight, loud finisher... well executed.
After the show we couldn't hang around inside so Sue and me went around the back to wait for Buck and the guys. I gave Sue a BOC CD cover and a marker so she could get autographs. Sue got a couple from the guys; I had Sue take a picture of me with Eric. Finally I met Allen who was trying to bolt past everyone in the drizzle. He said he was in a hurry because he "didn't want to miss his ride". I stopped him and managed to get him to scribble on my CD cover (which already had Eric's, Buck's, And the Bouchard Brothers inscriptions).
All-in-all: I met a sweet n' sexy woman, saw a great BOC show, got 300 new BOC pics, and got to hang around for a few minutes with the band... not TOO bad. I already have my tickets to BOC/Foghat for 6/2/2006... need I say more?
Drove down from Burlington, VT and was really looking forward to seeing this show with my favorite 3 friends from High School in MA and it didn't disappoint. My friend Steve and I were talking on the drive down. I asked him what he wanted to hear. He said he was looking for a 7 Screaming Diz-Busters and I told him that I was looking for an Astronomy. We ended up getting both of them! And both were awesome! And both of us were very happy! And there was much rejoicing!
Like RocknRollRon said in his review, the opening Joan Crawford had a lot of people scratching their heads in the crowd. Not what you were expecting to open the show back then! But I would say that it worked and I sometimes wonder why they don't open shows with this song more often? I also remember Eric saying to the crowd after that song, "Does Plymouth Rock?" Then a killer Cities followed. It just raised the roof off the place!
ETI, Harvester of Eyes, Black Blade, DFTR, and Astronomy (Wow, what a version of that song!) were the highlights of this wonderful evening in Plymouth, Mass. Great sound and the band seemed pretty energetic! They seemed like they were having fun. And everyone knows that when the band is having fun on stage, then the show is gong to be a GOOD one!
After the show, we all ended up in a hotel bar and the band was there having a great time socializing! Got to sit a table with Buck and Eric, bought them a beer, and thanked them for the wonderful show and especially the Astronomy that they performed that night. Very satisfying post show experience, if you ask me!
Cancer Society Fundraiser - Texas Motor Speedway - Justin, TX - May 6th, 2006
This list is only approximate - may have been one more piece in there somewhere and the order in the middle may have been a little different than I show.
Sorry can't be more precise - was my first BOC live experience and I was in a trance...
The opening act was a group called "Tres Hombres". It was billed as a ZZ Top tribute band. These guys also have a group known as the Hillbilly Orchestra which includes these three plus some others I think.
It was a nasty, rainy, Long Island night but that didn't stop my friend Pete and I from heading out to see "The battle of the Long Island Bands". Both Foghat and Blue Oyster Cult have roots in Long Island and faithful, diehard fans were virtually guaranteed a great show. Pete and I had 7th row center tickets I had purchase a couple months ago; neither band disappointed us or the other 1400 people there.
Foghat opened and got the crowd going! This was our first time to the North Fork Theater and the sound and seating was great; there was not a bad seat in the house. Foghat closed with "Slow Ride" and that was followed by a 1/2 hour intermission before BOC.
Before the band started we were watching the activity on the stage and noted something unusual...Allen was in a great mood! He was smiling, waving at the fans and there was a skip in his step. My friend Pete (a veteran of 50 - 60 shows from over 30 years) and I had never seen Allen so happy. The rest of the band also was in great spirits; the crowd & the band exchanging words before the show...
Red & Black opened the set; Buck was having sound issues and Allen cheerfully stepped-up to help fill in...seamlessly! Sound was fine by the time OD'd came on and the show progressed very nicely...both BOC and Long Island fans very happy. Between the songs people shouted BOC song names and Eric would say "We'll get to that one..." or "We'll play most of those...".
The guts of the show included the trio of "Perfect Water" (which Eric said "special" for Long Island), Lips in the Hills (our favorite of the night), and ME-262. After that the show was slightly disappointing...Godzilla seemed to have shortened solos, DFTR proceeded without the Buck intro heard in recent shows, and only encore was played: Cities on Flame. All the music was awesome and the band was on - but the set seemed a little too quick (perhaps because of the shared billing).
Eric "apologized" that they had to go so soon; they were catching a flight to Las Vegas, Nevada...oh well, until the next BOC gig...at least I managed to capture over 500 images during the show (random selections above).
With much anticipation, my wife & I, both fans since the early '70's, were looking forward to the show at the Crystal Bay Club. It's located on the northeast shore of beautiful Lake Tahoe, and is actually a small casino. We bought our tickets a couple weeks in advance at the Club, and took a quick peek at the room they were to play in.
What struck us was the size of the actual "room" they have there. It's very small, akin to a cabaret or lounge. The stage itself is quite small as well. We kept saying to each other; how's the mighty BOC gonna get all their equipment in here, let alone have room on this stage to actually perform? Needless to say it was going to be a VERY intimate setting. We were obviously used to seeing the Group in a larger showroom or hall! This is gonna be great, we thought to ourselves!
The day of the show quickly arrived. We drove the 25 minutes from our home in Reno and showed up early. We figured if we got into the room amongst the first to be let in we could get the choice spot, since it was general admission. Upon arriving about 2 hours before show time, we casually made our way towards the little cabaret. The crew was still setting up the band's equipment as we sat at the bar and had a couple beers. We were able to talk briefly to the famous Jack Secret as he was busily setting up gear and doing a quick sound check.
Allen Lanier happened to pop around to grab a quick bite, and say a few hellos to those of us who arrived early. The room itself could not have accommodated more than 200 people. As more attendees began to show up, we thought it best to grab our spot. We stood at the stage front right between where Buck & Eric would be playing. The place quickly became full of fans, but not to the point of being uncomfortable (unlike some of the bigger shows of the '70's). The crowd was enthusiastic but well behaved (we are a little older now!)
Reaper was the last song in the regular set, which went down very well. The encore included Hot Rails (Ritchie doing the vocal) and finishing the show with Black Blade. We wanted to hang around after the show for a while but due to all the beer consumption, I REALLY had to pee!
As we made our way home, we were still incredibly blown away by what we had just seen and heard, and were buzzing about it for at least a week afterward. The band never ceases to impress. Without a doubt they truly have earned the title "The Amazing Blue Oyster Cult".
The DTE Energy theatre is oddly in the middle of an otherwise rural area, about 10 minutes removed from the main highways. You actually drive in off a dirt road for the back entrance, giving it a somewhat nostalgic feeling.
Foghat opened, and played a decent set. I didn't know any of their songs except "Slow Ride". They're a good band, and they had some great moments in the show. Jules did a guest appearance on Slow Ride, and played a floor tom and a cymbal for the entire song. I suppose it's rock and roll rule to extend your hit song and do awesome things with it at the end. They all seemed to enjoy themselves, and the crowd really dug that song the most.It was an odd demographic I found. Being a 20-something, I'm used to being the youngin' at the shows, yet this show was riddled with youth (most of which seemed underage.) Of interesting note, the venue has grass seating, and then covered numbered seats. The grass area was where all the youth seemed to congrigate, and the older crowd seemed content under the cover and with the plasticy comfort of chairs. Two huge screens above the stage presented the show to those in the distance. Despite the predicted doom-like forecast, the evening was nice and warm, and a perfect outdoor concert.
Anyways, we took our seats (front row!), and awaited BOC. There were some problems at first getting the levels on the mic's, and the bass guitar seemed to give much grief in getting the sound right. But eventually the Matrix music played, and the band began to take stage. The crowd went nuts when Buck came out, which gives me some 'insider' type of satisfaction. Amongst the chants of "BOC" were intermitent SNL references shouted. At any rate, the crowd was stoked, and it was definately a BOC crowd present.
The show opened with the Red and the Black with the T&M introduction (I prefer the trading off soloing intro myself). The sound was crisp, but the vocals were insanely hard to hear. The speaker on the stage which I think was supposed to feed the vocals to the seating crowd wasn't working. It was all good though. The song seemed unusually slow to me, and didn't floor me with intensity, however the soloing made up for the speed, and managed to get the crowd going.
Next up was 'This Ain't the Summer of Love', which I hadn't heard live before. I wasn't missing much. There's not much change in this song from the album, except that it was once again fairly slow. Maybe it was because of where I was sitting, but there seeemed to be too much feed off of Buck's 'rhythm' playing here, so the majority of the song I just heard his "open A" 8th notes. So...yeah...nothing gripping at all about this song. Had there been a 5-guitar solo in it however...
Next up was Burnin' For You...good way to get the crowd instantly insane. The intoxicated guy beside me was shouting the lyrics to Buck, and point to him as if to cue him... just incase Buck were to forget. How thoughtful! Buck stepped out infront to do the solo, making him about two feet away from me (albeit, about 6 feet raised from me), and I got the 'recognition nod', which is always neat, and enough for me to beam like a 13 year old schoolgirl at a 50 cent concert! Anyways, still a bit on the slow side, but intensity is kicking up a bit here.
ETI was cool. I always enjoy the use of echo that Buck uses in this song. Again, not too different from any other version...awesome solo at the end, and cool harmonies all around. This riff rules, incase you didn't know!
It was time to Shoot some Sharks next. This song is awesome. It's got such a great groove to it. And with the green wash lighting at the intro, it makes for a very moody piece. I absolutely love the bass guitar in this song. The line is so awesome. Anyways, the song progressed along well with good soloing from Mr. Lanier, and Mr. Dharma. The end solos were great, Allen had a good end solo, and Buck had a great exit solo. Most interesting though, I found at the end was the rhythm section. They basically changed the feel of the song so that it was almost a disco-funk type of song. However, coupled with the guitars ontop of it, it really changed the end of the song into a flooring experience. Well received.
Bucks Boogie... awesome. I almost think of this track as an in-concert warm up to the big stuff!
Cities on Flame. Good as always. Crowd loves this one, and it's a true rocker. I'll never cease to be amused at Buck's Wammi-Bar tactics in the middle.
Last Days was great, and everyone really shined in this one. Excluding the solo, my favorite part of this song is at the line "It wasn't until the car suddenly stopped", and then what the band musically does there is priceless. Allen is getting a bit faster with his first half solo, which is cool. As per usual Buck floored the audience with his amazing solo. It seems to get faster each time I see it. Needless to say he got a standing ovation at the end of the solo!
I don't think I understand why people tend to leave during the solos in Godzilla. I love them. The song was great, and the crowd enjoys it always. At Ritchie's solo, he does some neat harmonics work with Buck doing some neat wammi bar work..a real cool way to enter the bass solo. If you didn't know Ritchie was a guitarist before this solo...you would know now :) Great work, and an awesome player. Jules' solo was okay, though I preferred Bobby's solos a bit more. I always get a kick out of the Heartbreaker riff when the rest of the band comes back in.
The intro to Reaper is always awesome, though there was no crowd clapping this time. Buck really knows how to use that echo well. The crowd went nuts when they realised that it was Reaper. Of note, BD used the cheeseberger retuned in this one rather than the sunburst berger. I think it's a good idea that the cowbell player is out of sight when the song is going on, as I think it would take away from the bands credibility somewhat. Great solo as always, and a great outro solo. As I've said before, I'll never tire of this song.
The band was running out of time, so they didn't really have the chance to do a full 'exit' before the encore, as the venue is pretty strict about them shutting down by 11:00.
They did Hotrails as the encore, which was decent. A lot of energy to give us for the drive home. Though I never really enjoyed this song, I find it's pretty good as a live tune, and it's cool to see Ritchie taking lead vocals.
Good show, as it's been a while. I think this venue could have been another contender for the live DVD recording.
"Raise your can of beer on high,
And seal your fate forever,
Our best years have passed us by,
The Golden Age of Leather"
From the view in Center 2, Row G, Seat 6 of this outdoor shed, you'd be hard pressed to characterize the above refrain from the band's 1977 "Spectres" album as prescient. Although the synchronized shiny black cowhide and metal hardware no longer adorn what's left of the original line-up (Eric Bloom, Allen Lanier, and Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser), replaced now by more utilitarian gear like t-shirts and jeans (still in black, though), these Long Islanders placed an exclamation point on their paid-our-dues integrity with a set that caused most at this sparsely-attended gig to take one giant step back.
Lest there be any question of the authenticity of BOC's epithet "On Tour Forever," check this out: this was their 110th appearance in Michigan dating back to a 1972 Grande Ballroom gig, a roller coaster ride of attendant peaks (headlining Cobo Hall) and valleys (Bay City's Pig Gig Rib Fest - "where the ribs are as hot as the music"). Besides glory years rhythm section Albert and Joe Bouchard, the list of others to pass through the cosmic ether on this 34-year junket reads like a La Cosa Nostra meet-and-greet; Rick Downey, Jimmy Wilcox, Tom Zvoncheck, Jon Rogers, Ron Riddle, Chuck Burgi, John Micelli, Greg Smith, John O'Reilly, Al Pitrelli, Danny Miranda, and Bobby Rondinelli. The current engine room resemble that remark as well - bassist Richie Castellano and drummer Jules Radino.
Taking the stage and a page out of Mike Watt's book with an undulating "The Red and The Black," Castellano and Radino are wide-eyed but squarely on the mark, moderating Bloom, Lanier, and Roeser's circular argument that six strings good, eighteen better. Wishful, provincial thinking perhaps from a guy who believes deep down that anything worth a toss has the stench of the Motor City clinging to it, but "This Ain't The Summer Of Love" and "Cities On Flame" smack of Detroit in spirit if not intent, both delivered with sabre-rattling concussion.
Bloom (Transmaniacon) MC's the proceedings, taking turns with Lanier wearing out a path between the guitar stands and the bank of keyboards as if they don't know whether to fish or cut bait, Lanier unusually proficient at both, but it's clearly Roeser's jurisdiction, emphatically underscored with as good an excuse to show off as any in "Buck's Boogie" and a celestial, 10-plus minute take of "Then Came The Last Days Of May," worth the price of admission all by its proud self. Roeser may look more like a high school math teacher these days than the decadent dandy of yore, but his playing remains a thing of science. He is the man.
"Godzilla" is about as close to novelty territory as these guys have ever dared venture if you disregard the $35 tour t-shirts with "More Cowbell!" emblazoned on the back available at the merch booths, and it gives Roeser, Bloom, and Lanier a breather while Castellano and Radino do something you don't see too much these days; bass and drum solos. Radino is one of those drummers who pulls so many faces you wonder if there's an oxygen tent and defibrillators backstage in case he doesn't make it, but he hits as hard as anyone I've ever seen.
Unfortunately, just after "Burnin' For You" makes nearly everything on my body stand up, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is cued up and the DTE curse - the local noise ordinance which mandates that all shows end no later than 11:00 p.m. - rears its ugly head not much more than an hour after the house lights went out. Feh...
Blue Oyster Cult may not be pretty, but they breathe, sweat, and bleed, some of the scariest, best, and certainly undervalued writers whose pension funds I've had the pleasure of padding. Had to pass up the tour t-shirt, though, in favor of a tank of gas.
Heroes may walk among us still.
Milwaukee Summerfest again. Set list correct. Did not get meet and greet although sister-in-law from Atlanta got back stage with a friend.
Just to let you know, Styx was the headliner at this gig.
I'm back and safe from the Bilbao Live Festival which has meant my first BOC show ever. The story begins 600 kms far from Bilbao, at home (Barcelona), where I forgot my ticket for the show. I realized when I had driven half the way to the festival (ouch!). Fortunately there were still tickets left for the show so I bought another one (this was the most expensive concert of my stupid life) and I drank a big beer to calm my nerves. The festival was headlined by Axl's Guns'n'Roses, and there were other international bands in the bill, like Ben Harper or Fun Loving Criminals.
It was 16:45 and there was a blues-rock band playing in the 2nd stage. Nobody was listening to them so I went to the front row and I decided to stand there 'til BOC-time would come. The crew started to set the gear up and I screamed a loud "BOC rules!" to Jack Secret, who was taking care of Richie's bass guitar. He looked at me and said something like "Yeah, boy".
Then I saw Richie's himself and Allen, and then the amazing Buck Dharma (I was really freaking out at that moment) and they started to check the gear out and test the instruments. The show should had started at 18:15 but something happened and the whole band didn't appear again 'til 18:45. I was almost collapsing because of the nerves but when a voice said "Here they are, from New York City, the amazing Blue Oyster Cult!!!!" through the PA I realized that it was for real, that I was really there and that I was going to witness one damn great and astonishing show.
This was the setlist:
The Red and The Black
Od'd on life itself
Burning for you
ME 262
Buck's Boogie
Cities on flame with rock'n'roll
Godzilla
Don't fear the reaper
They played for 55 minutes and only skipped one song over. It was "Golden Age of Leather". The band was really on fire, specially Buck and Eric and I guess they were having a lot of fun with the spanish audience (I'd say there was a couple of thousands people attending, but it wasn't easy to ascertain from the front row). I spent all the time singing the songs, jumping all the time, shaking my arms and rising my fists. It wasn't just the band of my dreams playing in front of me for the first time, but also the fact that they really did a very good concert. During "Cities on flame" Bumblefoot (Guns'n'roses' guitar player) played a couple of nice solos duelling against Buck. That was nice to see. I loved also Richie's solo during Godzilla (I play bass guitar myself and I admired his skills at slapping technique). And when they played Reaper I used up all my voice singing along. It was really moving.
The band apologized for leaving so early. Eric said that they had a concert next day in England so they had to leave. He didn't promise to come back to Spain, but I promised myself to see the band again, don't care where.
When the roadies were dismantling the gear I asked one of them for the setlist (the piece of paper). He grabbed it and started approaching to me, but he was unsure about who asked him for that. He was about to give it to another guy when I jumped over the fence and started running to him. A security guy knocked me down and started to kick me. The roadie gave the paper to another guy and I left the stage with a bittersweet sensation.
But, anyway, it was an amazing show from the best band on earth. I'm really happy now and I will hold those memories in my heart for the rest of my life.
External Link:
I'd like to talk about my first Blue Oyster Cult gig, it was Saturday 15th July 2006 at the Guilfest in Stoke Park, Guilford, United Kingdom.
The weather was muggy and the heat from below could burn your eyes out. A few hours before the BOC were due to go on the Ents24 stage, I wandered into a trader's tent and purchased a copy of 'Cultosarus Erectus' on compact disc. Bargain!.
What had seemed like an eternity of waiting drew to a close when the announcer ushered in "the Amazing Blue Oyster Cult". Finally, after years of admiration and catching glimpses of archived footage across the internet, my heroes stood before me (I was right at the front, devil horns poised).
Eric Bloom appeared first, then Richie Castellano, followed by Allen Lanier, Jules Radino and Buck Dharma. Thundering through all my favourite songs including 'Burnin' For You', 'Godzilla' and the monolithic '(Don't Fear) The Reaper'. It was the time of my life and one I shall never forget. No lasershow but a spectacle to behold nonetheless.
At the end, I remember leaving that night, high as a kite. Turning my hopes up to the skies, hoping I would see them again. And I would, nearly 3 years later - at The Brook in Southampton on the 8th of June 2008.
Thank-you B.O.C for keeping my faith in the music!
Phew! What a scorcher! Not only the performance but the temperature. I would not have thought a venue could get so hot (except that it was just as hot at Nottingham Rescue Rooms a few days later; it wasn't their lucky week.)
Earlier in the day I had made my way from London with my wife Atia, and met up with our friend, John Kimber, in town. We set off on foot to find the venue. As we approached the corner of the street leading to the Astor, a slight, dishevelled figure was coming our way. It was Alan Lanier, looking a little distracted. From other readings I now understand that he really wasn't well. At that point I had no intention of making contact with him. The way I see it, when these guys want to meet fans, they're 'on duty' and we can all pretend we're long lost pals; when they're wandering off to the shops, or having a quiet pint or whatever, they're on their own time and we should give them some space.
At this point we had rounded the corner and there was the theatre in all it's - er, glory. I'm not knocking these venues. It's a fortunate legacy of an age when even a small town like Deal would have an honest to goodness theatre. There was already a small crowd of dedicated followers of Cultdom there and we exchanged concert memories and other banter. At this point the rehearsal sounds of Veterans of The Psychic Wars were blasting from the venue. This was a good omen. It's one of my favourite Cult tracks and to me is the standout of the double live album, complete with searing solo from Buck.( It was the only disappointment of the night that they didn't actually include it in the set that night.). Then we made our way to get some food.
Returning to the theatre, we were all pleased to see a decent crowd. I always worry whether the fans are going to seek out new and obscure venues, particularly when they're on no public transport system that I could find. BOC tours to the UK don't always come with much notice, either. I was unable to make the Astoria show because we had already arranged our holiday by then. But the fans didn't let the band down.
Now, at the risk of repeating every report on this show, it was hot. My wife had to find a spot by the wall so she had something to lean on in case she came over faint. Being the great soul that she is, I was still allowed to go freestanding towards front and centre.
Watching the band start and realising once again - yes, they are really here, playing for us, now - is always special. The early sound quality left a lot to be desired. Despite all the modern sound board/mixing equipment which normally sorts out sound glitches in a few minutes, I suspect the humidity gave 'em a few problems. It was three or four tracks in before I felt I was getting that legendary BOC live quality.
In the very early days, they were so good - faithful to the recorded sound - they were accused of using backing tapes. Now they are comfortable to bring in a few embellishments to songs, particularly Buck's extended guitar breaks which you might get three or four times per gig. For my money this never becomes self-indulgent or lazy on the band's part. To me, it always is structured to fit the particular cut. Buck sometimes looks like a man whose mission is now just to get better and better at what he does because that's the way he seems each time I see them (including Nottingham).
I was confident that the new guys in the crew would be good, but it was a relief to have it demonstrated. I have to say that I could live happily without ever hearing Godzilla again and the set might benefit from embedding the drum and bass solo into another song from time to time - hey! like Veterans of the Psychic Wars, maybe! Are ya listening, guys? Or do so many fans now expect Godzilla that they've got to do it this way forever? Whatever. Not that it will ever deter me from going to their shows, because, well, you've got to take a piss sometime, haven't you.(With John Bonham you could've gone out for a shit and a shoe-shine.)
So, another great show. After buying a tee - I thought the retro print was so much cooler that the current tour one - it was a pleasure to see the band cooling off outside and in 'on duty' mode. We congratulated the new guys and thanked all for such a superb show, particularly in light of the oppressive heat. A few years earlier after the Milton Keynes Stables gig, the guys had been pretty wrecked as it was their first show since flying over. This time, I wanted to take some photos and Eric was kind enough to set one up almost cheek to cheek with my wife. It was good to see them without the jet lag as they were more relaxed all round.
This was the cherry on a terrific night, and playing BOC in car on the way back to London kept us high.
And I still had the Nottingham gig to look forward to!
Arrived at the hall a little disappointed to see that the layout had changed & couldn't get the nice viewpoint I had previous time they played. That year (2003?) I videoed the gig (fat chance this time!) & I love to watch the DVD on my Mac, especially 'Career of Evil' & 'Subhuman' - a rare combination.
When the band came on (intro music not a patch on Bladerunner theme) I thought Buck was in a bit of a mood. I was right at the front with Paul & Sue & all I could really hear was Buck's monitor. The vocals were poor but it was great just to appreciate Buck's contribution & to see him close up. Sue later told me that the sound is never good from the front but they always seem to be there! I saw them play in London a few days later from a better vantage point to appreciate the sound quality & Buck seemed so much more relaxed, even though Allen Lanier was missing from the line up.
'Joan Crawford' started proceedings-not the best choice by a long way (give me 'Dominance' any day - remember Hammersmith Nov 1979?) - but still played competently. 'Cities' followed & as usual Buck does his 'show off' routine which always goes down well. 'Harvester' & 'Harvest Moon' are absolute classics live & on the latter Buck demonstrates what an amazing guitarist he is. Just think, he could still be playing drums & BOC would probably not exist. Scary thought!
'See You in Black' is next & whilst enjoyable in live context you have to say that the last 2 studio albums have been disappointing in terms of strong tracks. I always look forward to a new album but my expectations are that much lower these days. Can't blame the band though: it must be very hard to maintain their own high standards.
'Burnin' is ok but 'Telepaths' again gives Buck the chance to go off on a long run. I like the way he varies the licks from the studio versions-keeps him fresh.
'Teen Archer' was an unusual choice & to be frank didn't really come off. 'Perfect Water' & 'Astronomy' always impress although I think I prefer 'Last Days' to see Allen & Buck battle it out. For some reason Allen played less guitar on the night than usual-maybe he was starting to feel ill & worsened over the next few days.
'Godzilla' doesn't do much for me, particularly with the dreary bass & drum solos. I wish they would scrap them & just build up the atmosphere to a climax rather than lose the flow.
By now everyone knows when Buck starts his 'intro' to DFTR even though it is different every time. The song has moved me to tears before but not tonight. 'Blade' was a worthy encore (Dominance is a good closer as well!) & then they were gone. We hung around afterwards & Jules did appear but no sign of Buck.
Oh well,maybe I'll save up for Vegas next March!
My review's simple - the gig was great despite Allen being missing.
Only four guys on stage - Allen Lanier's guitar and keys were there but there was no Allen - turns out he had been to a Newcastle hospital suffering from what turned out to be heat exhaustion (in Newcastle!)
The guys just played more guitar-based than keyboard-based songs and introduced some new ones from the previous night's set list! That's professionalism! Bloody good too! Hurry back!
This was the most sing-along BOC show I've ever attended. The crowd were in hearty voice throughout and I was impressed at how many seemed to know ALL the words. I'm sure some members of the audience were annoyed by this but I really enjoyed it. It felt like a true gathering of the Blue Oyster Cult faithful.
Of course, no Allen at this show but the band sounded great as a four-piece. Curiously no mention of Allen's absence was made until well into the proceedings. The murmurs of "where's Allen?" went through the crowd like a ripple during the first couple of songs.
Saw them on Sunday 23rd July at the Astoria in London... VERY disappointing!
Saw them there a couple of years ago, and the place exploded!! They started off ok... but just got badder and badder!! No encore requested from audience, everyone turned and walked out... waste of money! Sorry!
Milwaukee Mile/Harley event at race grounds. Puurfect Angels was a group of hot female dancers that danced and strutted their stuff between BOC two sets. They were not a musical group.
Set list is what I remember except that on setlist from stage which I have it lists HRTH after Cities. That list I had Allen sign.
The second set of songs does not list BTBW as encore, but I know they played it. That was the first time hearing BTBW in years for me.
Galt Airport show in Illinois. Show was at a small airport believe it or not. You could get helicopter rides if so inclined.
Set list correct. ALL local on-line fans in attendance as I recall.
Front row for this also in "Buck Zone". Great show, a tad shorter than the night before in Milwaukee...
I came within a whisker of missing this show. The day turned into the hottest day in many, many years in these parts as the temps soared to 103 degrees F in the afternoon. Heat advisories and warnings were splashed across the media all day.
Driving around town, my car became overheated just from some short errands. I had over an hour of highway driving to get to the gig and was fearful of being stranded somewhere along the way. I was offered a ride on the back of a friend's motorcycle but that didn't thrill me too much and I decided to chance it with my car.
The drive down to Albany was uneventful in a good way and we made it early enough to get some chow and brew from one of many vendors set up at the plaza. This was a free show as the flyer indicates, sponsored by the city of Albany.
I found a standing spot right down front on the open floor and Ten Years After came on. They had all the originals except for Alvin and rocked an energetic set. Leo Lyons on bass was still the wildman on stage.
This was my first time seeing Richie and Jules, very impressed with both guys playing! Also sadly my last time seeing Allen play and he was a welcome presence onstage, very much into it.
I posted a vid clip of Harvester Of Eyes from this show on YouTube. It was a last second realization that my camera also took video so I thought I'd give it a test for one song. Although the audio was quite overloaded, the video captures the show's atmosphere quite well.
I was at the August 11, 2006 Detroit, Michigan gig, which was sponsored by 94.7FM WCSX on the Detroit riverfront in front of the GM Renaissance Center. The weather was beautiful and the people really turned out to see BOC. The crowd was a mix of everything from groups of bikers to families with little kids.
The set list was:
The show was great, although it started off a bit quiet. The sound was brought up and mixed after the first few songs, and everything started rocking.
Eric's voice was rather rough, he seemed to talk his way through most of the songs rather than sing them, but he still put on a good performance. Buck's playing was amazing as always, especially during "Last Days of May", and the bass and drum solos in "Godzilla" were spectacular.
My son Daniel was at this show - his first, at the age of ten! He loved it - he was in absolute awe the entire time. Having seen them play earlier in the year, I was expecting "Hot Rails" as the encore, and I was surprised and happy to see them perform "Black Blade" and "D&S" instead.
Great show - I can't wait for them to come back in 2007!
It was a big Jam, I don't recall all of the bands, but do know that Lou Gramm (Foreigner) and Starship were on the bill. There were severe problems with the sound system causing about a 2-3 hour stop in the music, as a result, BOC's set was cut to 5 songs.
I had driven all the way across the state and I was pissed.
Here's a slideshow of some pix from the show:
I've been a fan of BOC for years now and last night at the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY was my first concert. Needless to say I was not disappointed. I am also a fan of this website and I wanted to contribute. I had a notepad, pencil and the rockin' spirit through the whole concert.
Here is the Setlist for August 18, 2006:
Red & Black
OD'd on life
Burnin' for you
ETI
Shooting Shark
ME262
Golden Age of Leather
Cities on Flames
Last Days of May
Godzilla
Buck's Intro + REAPER
Black Blade*
Hot Rails To Hell*
*encore
The gig was also outdoors
Buck was incredible, no surprise there. Eric was entertaining, I liked how he teased the audience for an encore. Allen's Solo during "Last Days of May" was cool, the audience sat down during his performance and was quiet for it is a chilling tune.
The new guys Richie and Jules were rockinā too. I liked how intense Richie is on stage, he sang "Hot Rails to Hell" pretty good and he sang a bit like Buck. Jules tore it up, he really went at his drum solo during "Godzilla" "Shooting Shark" was a cool song to hear live, till that point I only heard the studio version and I really enjoyed the harder live version. I love each of BOC's songs and none of their performances let me down. I am looking forward to another concert and I'll check "Hot Rails To Hull" for their next gig in good-old Western New York.
ROCK ON!!!
I've been following BOC since 1976 when I was only 10 years old and the Erie County Fair concert in Hamburg, NY was a night to remember - I'm still talking about it.
I have seen them in concert several times and I have to say the band sounded great - I still cannot believe the energy level at which they performed. Buck's guitar playing was second to none and Alan and Eric continue to keep the BOC spirit alive. It was also very obvious that Richie enjoys playing with the band and it would difficult to not be energized by his headbanging and running around the stage.
I am a drummer and I was heavily influenced by the work of Albert Bouchard. Although I think Albert had some of the best "chops" ever recorded, Jules put on quite an interesting show and kept a nice solid foundation. Richie and Jules must be loving life right now. If given the opportunity, I would be thrilled to play just one song with BOC.
The band opened with The Red and The Black and I was blown away by the exactness in which the song was performed. It set the stage for what turned out to be an extremely entertaining night. The only disappointment was that they didn't perform Buck's Boogie. I thought for sure this would have been on the set list. They did, however, play Hot Rails to Hell and it reminded me of when Joe Bouchard once sang this classic song. In summary, this was an awesome show.
BOC was and still is my primary musical influence. My only hope is that one day they will receive the recognition they truly deserve. To me, they will always be one of the greatest bands of all time.
Erie County Fair 2006 - Good show on a bigger stage on the infield of the horse track at Fair Grandstand/Buffalo Raceway. The stage is set up over where they also do the demolition derby. Prett hot set but Eric must have kind of lost track of time or where they were playing because they went on around 8:30 and finished the set just before 10 and he thoguth there was a curfew and had said there wouldn't be an encore but some one off stage shouted out to him and he kinda' said, "Oh, it's only 10:00" so they did kind of an extended encore which was great!
Here's a brief review of the BOC portion of the August 19, 2006 KLPX Day gig.
Venue: Sports Park, Marana (Tucson) AZ - Outdoors
Weather: Partly cloudy, hot (upper 90's), possible showers.
Other bands on the ticket in order of appearance): Heartbreaker (Led Zepplin tribute band), Joe Lynn Turner, Pat Travers, [BOC], and Alice Cooper.
BOC came on just as the sun was setting behind the stage, which was nice. The clouds had cleared off and the heat had left. From the stage, I imagine you could see the setting sun on the Catalina Mountains, and the pink and purple clouds.
First song was Red and Black. I don't remember the exact set list, but it was all good. The sound was a little off at first - with Buck's mic not on, or his guitar not loud enough (at least from my vantage point). Things settled down as the set progressed.
The thing that stands out most for me is the great jam during The Last Days of May, and Richie and Jules' great solo section in Godzilla. The new boys (since these two weren't with BOC when I last saw them - playing at the Wild Wild West bar in Tucson in early 90's) sure do Rock!
Can't wait to see them again!
BOC was outstanding! Got to see them play in a small "Open Mic" club called Flips the day before the big show. Only about 50 people there. I was actually on stage playing harmonica with a friend Todd on guitar (we were playing Tom Thumbs Blues by Bob Dylan) when they walked into the club (there was no Allen - Richie later told me he was sleeping back at the Glen Arms Hotel where they were staying). So, technically, I opened for BOC!
When they showed up, I stopped playing and said I relinquish the stage now. I get stage fright as it is and there was no way I could keep a straight face and get through the song with Buck and Eric in the audience. I was trying to remember how to play the harmonica opening to Dr. Music. I am going to practice that for a possible future encounter. (:
It was amazing because they must have spent about a half hour or more trying to dial in the cheesy house gear. Eric didn't even bother to pick up a guitar, no amp for him. Buck and Richie went back and got the Cheese Burger and Richie's Bass. Buck played through about a 20 watt Line Six amp. Jules spent a lot of time getting the house drums dialed in.
The played:
Red & The Black
Burning For You
Godzilla w/ long base & drum solos, Richie actually went into a Rush. Anthem, I think it was? I asked him why and he said Eric told him to. Thought that was pretty funny!
Od'ed on Life (I Think)
Reaper
I hate to admit it but they did another song between Godzilla & Reaper, but I can't remember right now. I am very tired and completely horse from screaming at two shows in a row.
It was strange to hear the songs with only Bass and lead. Godzilla was really missing Eric's guitar. No solo on Reaper.
A very special night indeed. One enchanted evening!
The big (ballroom) show drew a lot of people who had never seen them before because of the boating and tourist location. There were grade schoolers and one Guy well into his eighties rocking out.
The band was loving the crowd that eventually got security to let everyone up to the rail and really rock out. There was a bevy of young cute girls front and center, one gal actually threw her panties at them.
It was crazy fun. Got them back for two encores. Black Blade and a incredible Hot Rails with Richie Singing great!
Met buck three times over the three day trip to Catalina. I asked Buck what he did on Monday, he said he went snorkeling! I asked how was it and he said "You know, Swimming with the Fishes". I also told him that I had two cats, Buck and Dharma named after him, he said, "your kidding!"
They loved it at Catalina and said they would be back. Eric Bloom of BOC took photos of my boat that had BOC logos all over it! I met many otherhard core fans, some from San Francisco and even New York. It was one Fan's (Rob Miller) 290th show! I also ran into the Reverend Che Che'san who is the BOC's number one Fan!
This time we had great sailing coming and going! The wind was hitting close to 24 knots when we came back to San Pedro and I hit a new speed record on the Cucamonga (my boat), 8.5 Knots! We got a perfect mooring right in front of the board walk in Avalon Harbor!
It was a perfect trip that I will never forget. The Avalon Ballroom was just spectacular with a magical view of the harbor!
Special thanks to Melne for keeping us all up to date on BOC. This was the best show I have seen in years. The new Drummer, Jules and base player Richie have injected new excitement into the band! They all played there asses off!!
Cheers
Skipper and die hard BOC fan!
Jeff Asbury
I was at the BOC show in Conn. - they played for one hour and twenty minutes. They did another awesome set, I was sitting right on the side of the stage had a great view. Jules radino was doing some kick butt drumming. Everyone in the crowd was talking about his awesome drumming.
These guys are like a fine wine - they get better with age. I can hardly wait to see them again when there around my way.
BOC is my favorite band.
As far as opening band, there really wasn't any. At the fair, other bands had been playing throughout the day, but there was nobody really sharing billing one way or the other.
I'm sure that the set was kept at the length it was due to time restrictions for noise and such at the fair, but it would have really kicked ass to have heard Hot Rails like some of the other gigs on this tour.
Another thing I did notice, though, and it seems to have been the trend I've noticed more and more over the years as I see BOC is that Eric tends to play more keys anymore than Allen. If keys were a part of the song, Allen only tends to play if Eric's singing. Now, admittedly, my first BOC show was during the Imaginos Tour, and I've been catching them every couple of years or so since, but for the followers of the Oyster Boys, I'm still a young member. I just wanted to know if you had some insight into why this trend seems to be.
The other thing I tended to notice was how much Eric seemed to be watching Jules. Now, I know Jules had some trouble with his drums that night, but from where I was, it almost seemed as though Eric was watching someone who was on probation. Hell, Jules could have been sick, or it could have been they noticed a potential problem with the kit early on...
I mention this because I like Jules as a drummer. He may not be as accomplished as Bobby, but then hanging out with the band a few years ago backstage, I found Bobby to be the least personable of the band, though he surely had the most impressive pedigree of any non-original member.
Admittedly, for my first concert, before the opening act, I shared a smoke with Ron Riddle. I wish I had more of a story to contribute to your site, but outside of just headbanging and annoying the people who wanted to sit (I mean, for the love of C'thulu, it's a ROCK show! You don't sit! On your feet or on your knees!), there's not much that I can remember enough to tell that would be worth reading.
This gig was in a very small beer tent area at the fairgrounds, and we were able to stand right at Buck's feet. No security to speak of, so that was cool.
First time I saw Richie on stage, and I was like... WOW... So much energy, and just moved around everywhere. From then on I was a fan.
It looked like Jules might have had some drum kit problems, but you really couldn't tell from his sound.
The set list was great - we got Veteran and Harvester... love them live. A great free show in a very small venue - cool!
A couple weeks ago, I read an article about a sports writer's visit to Greenbay where he gave a recount of the journey to Lambeau. I figured I would do the same about the BOC show. I have been a BOC fan for over 30 years and other than the first time I saw BOC in 1976, this was the best.
Venue, Starlight Drive in theater, Atlanta GA. Picture a great big parking lot with lots of undulations and sloping at a 20-degree angle down hill. BOC was headlining the last night of a two-day festival over the Labor Day weekend. It was 6 to 8 bands per day, then BOC then the movie Godzilla. Surreal right.
Anyway, I had invited about 20 folks to the BOC show but expected no one to show since I was late with the invites and it was a strange venue. It looks like it is just going to be my wife Sandra, Allison and her husband Nick who were going to make the trek. Sandra was a newbie BOC fan having only joined the cause about 15 years ago. Alley and Nick were BOC virgins. If you said to Alley "BOC", she would start singing "I'm Burning I'm burning for you" . That was her extent of BOC knowledge. Good enough for me. She was a cultophile.
Note on Alley and Nick. Allison makes us go to all these "events" with her and Nick so we cajoled her in to going to the BOC Show. Nick her husband, who is "game" for anything, gladly agreed to join us. Alley and Nick both work in the "food" industry, which becomes important later. Alley is a bartender at a local restaurant and nick works in the wholesalefood delivery business.
OK ready to get ready...
2:30 Started to load up the car with the provisions... beer, wine, munchies and sandwiches. Enough for 20 people, knowing there would only be four people. What the heck?
Got the car packed and headed over to pick up Nick and Alley.
3:00 Pick up Nick and Alley and it starts to pour rain. No problem the forecast is good. We head south to the city...
3:15 The wife is the official navigator since she is the only one with directions, after 5 minutes of discussion we decide Sandra's is fired and Nick is promoted to navigator. He knows the city having worked the areas as a food delivery guy. One problem, Nick hates freeways and has decided to take us via the "scenic" route thought the city. After another 30 minutes and after we have seen half of the east side of Atlanta, we approach the Starlit Drive in entrance.
At the gate the "ticket" guy greets us. We give him $120, $30 for each of us and he runs up to the ticket booth. Meanwhile a person shows up behind us, in a two-seat racecar, literally, the thing looks like an oversized Indy car. The local police who are also at the gate wander over to check out the car. I assume the cop is going over to the car to make sure it is street legal, but turns out, he was just admiring the craftsmanship.
We finally get our tickets, the guys brings us back the four armbands and $60. Alley and I look at each other, wonder why it was only $15 bucks each but whatthe heck... we will take it.
4:00 we proceed into the venue. We go down a long hill and at the bottom is a large parking lot. We are suddenly in a different world. On the left at the top of the hill is a small stage. Expanding out from the stage is a huge parking lot with parking spaces for about 700 cars. The parking lot has all sorts of undulations. I guess to allow cars to view movies. At each end of the lot is a large screen for the movies. Three separate screens at each corner of the massive parking lot.
4:15 we unload the car and set up shop ... 3 hours plus until BOC. We are 25 yards from the stage and 15 yards from the VIP area. Sandra had e-mailed Buck to let him know we were going to be there for the show. Buck wrote back and had said that he was looking forward to seeing us and Mrs.Dharma (Sandy)was going to be attending along with her cousin. Cool we finally get to meet Sandy Roeser.
4:20 Nick surveys the grounds. There are kids riding small motor cycles everywhere. All sorts of old cars and tattoos everywhere. Nick spies a young lady in lingerie. Walking around. I cannot see... oh well. There are plenty of sites.
4:30 Car is unloaded only one thing is missing. We discover that we only have one bag of ice. Ooops we forgot ice. OK we head to the concession stand, 20 yards away, to see if we can get some ice. I am not hopeful. Inside the concession stand, I line up to make my purchase. In front of me is a large burnout who had obviously been there for the entire two day duration. He too was in need of ice.
They lady behind the counter told him to go to the outside in back of the concession stand and she would "hook him up" I decided to follow. We go to the ice machine inside the back door of the stand. I start to load up the cooler and in walks a guy that is clearly stressed. He asks me what I am doing and I explain that I had approval to get ice. He does not believe me. After checking with the lady, and after we offer to put the ice back, Nick and I depart with our cargo...Score!
On the way out, I thank the stressed guy, he is Vid, the owner / show promoter. You can tell he is concerned about the event getting out of hand but everything's seems OK.
As we make our way back to the car, I see the ezzzxlusive lingerie lady. Apparently, she is a model and is posing for pictures on all the exotic cars. OK Nick did see the lady and this explained her being there, the world is still round, thank god.
5:00 we have set up camp by the car and are just hanging out. The fifth band is just finishing up. A crowd of about 50 people at the front of the stage are asking for more.
5:15 Sandra and Alley head up to the VIP area while Nick and I hold down the fort. Two guys walk up and Nick knows one of them. We offer them a beer and they join the party.
5:30 Alley and Sandra return and let us know we are hooked up. They had talked to the BOC manager, he remembered Sandra from Summefest a couple of months prior. I head off to check out one of our new friends car. He owns a 56 Cadillac. Nice car, he shows me around. Neat thing about the 56 caddy is the gas cap is underneath the drive side fin brake light. After showing me the rest of the car, he opens up the hood. Underneath the air intake is two foil wrapped items. This is their tacos. He explains to me that he keeps them by the engine so they stay warm I thought it was cool, American ingenuity.
6:00 we are back at base camp. Down the hill a huge plume of smoke appears, what is going on? Apparently, the motor heads are doing tire burns up the hill. The concept is to reeve your engine, spin your tires and burn your way up the hill. Cool, I have to see this.
Nick and I go down the hill as cars line up to show there stuff. Several cars try to do the burn out. None was successful other than to wear out their tires. It did add to the ambience. Gas, oil and burned rubber....perfect.
6:20 Nick and I return to the car as the second to the last band hit the stage. Suddenly it starts pouring rain. We all huddle up under the beach umbrella I had brought. No problem, topic evening in Atlanta, lots of pop up showers.
6:45 the rain stops and Sandra spots Buck in the VIP area. Bucks got a 4-string ukulele (only way to describe it) an d gives us a big smile. We introduce ourselves again and B buck introduces us to his wife Sandy, her cousin Susan, her husband AL and their son. Wow, we are now part of the family. Sandra asks everyone if they are hungry and goes to the car to get food for the group.
7:00 we are hanging out back stage and just talking and relaxing. Buck, Sandy nick alley. Suddenly it is no big deal to be hanging with BOC. Allen shows up and looks nervous. Not about having to perform just anxious to get up and play. I call Allen over and ask if he saw the UNC Rutgers game. I knew Allen was a unc attendee but did not know if he even watched football. He told me he watched part of the game. He then wandered way, he has always been shy.
7:15 the boys are all there. Eric Bloom is making some final adjustments. He looks good, he got rid of most of his facial hair and looks 10 years younger than the last time I saw him. Buck is talking to Vid. Sandy is catching up with her cousin and I start video taping the event!
7:30 BOC hits the stage. Opening song RU ready, Harvester, Cities on flame, Bucks Boogie, OD on Life, Last Days of May a couple of others then the reaper and Godzilla
Excellent sound great show the, boyz were on.
9:00 As we leave the venue the movie Godzilla comes on ... a perfect end to a perfect evening... but wait there is more.
9:20 Alleys phone rings. It is Susan and she invites us over to her home, which is a mile from ours.
9:45 We pull up to the house. in addition, wander in. 10 minutes latter Buck shows up with Sandy. Buck is pulling his suitcase. He looks like a tired businessman who just came home from a business trip. We continue our conversation as it is now no big deal that bucks is around. Were family. Susan gets Buck some dinner, Buck pours himself some wine. We are now all just sitting around the kitchen table talking about homes, kids and life.
Sandy is now in her jammies and it is time to go home.
11:30 We say goodbye and head out the door. On the way home, I said to Sandra, my wife, "did that just happen? She smiles and says "I know it is hard to believe."
What a great day. We start some more.
Beatlefan Rick Glover sent me the following link highlighting a rather unfortunate incident whereby when, The Supersuckers tried to play a Godzilla tribute, the BOC soundguy pulled the plug on them:
Hi - I love your site - a great resource for a great band!
We've posted a photo gallery of over 70 photos from the recent 9/21/06 Blue Oyster Cult show at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA on our Studio M Live web site. Here's the URL of the photo gallery:
Best wishes, and keep up the good work - your site is great!
Just saw the boys last night, 9/21/06, in Glenside Pennsylvania. It was my 43rd time seeing the Amazing ones. They were supported by Cactus and Vanilla Fudge. Great show, but a little short. Here's the set list:
Jules and Richie were great! Allan was stellar. E. Bloom sounded great. Then there's the guitar player... Damn... Buck's just amazing!!!!!
BOC set list for the Community arts center in Williamsport P.A was
This website RULES!!!
Here is the set list from yesterdays show in Rockville, Maryland 30 Sep 2006. It was an outdoor show as well.
Yesterday I saw BOC for the first time at the Rockville Music Festival at Rockville Town Center in Rockville, MD. I went with friends Randy, Tyler and Travus, all seeing BOC for the first time.
We got to Town Center at around 2:10, took us a little while to find the stage. A few minutes after 2:30, opening act Kelly Bell Band took the stage. They play a style of music they call "Phat Blues" which blends blues, rock, funk and R&B. They played mostly originals. Very entertaining and they played some good songs, but I dont really get why they were voted Best Blues Band in the Mid Atlantic Region 11 years in a row. They finished up at around 4.
After some of the crowd cleared up, we moved even closer for BOC, closest I've ever been to a national act. At around 4:30, after the classic intro, the boys took the stage with the classic "The Red and The Black". They played until around 6. Here is my review track by track:
The Red and The Black:
Classic song from the "Tyranny and Mutation" album. Was really cool to hear live. However, Buck's guitar was barely audible during this song.
OD'd On Life Itself:
One of my favorite BOC songs. Was awesome live, definitely better then the studio versions. Buck's guitar was still a little too low in the mix.
Burnin' For You:
As expected, the crowd really ate this one up. Buck really entered the mix in this song, and his playing and singing was in fine form. The song itself was just as good as the studio version and Bucks solo was even better then the one on the album.
Summer Of Love:
Was surprised to hear this one. One of my favorite BOC songs - sounded really great live. Not much else to say.
Shooting Shark:
Never have been crazy about this song, but it definitely sounded better live then on the album. Richie's slap bass on this song was incredible.
Black Blade:
Was surprised to see this one so early in the set since this is normally part of the encore. Never have been crazy about this one, but definitely sounded better live then on the album, just like Shooting Shark.
Career Of Evil:
One of the highlights for me. One of my favorites from the "Secret Treaties" album, was really surprised to hear this one. Sounded awesome live.
The Vigil:
Wasn't too familiar with this one, and in fact, I wouldve had no idea what this song was if Eric didn't introduce it. I could've done without this one, would have rather heard "Last Days Of May" or "Astronomy".
Cities On Flame:
Crowd really got into this one. Sounded really awesome live. Buck got a really awesome solo in this one without the band, most of it he played with just his left hand.
Godzilla:
As expected, crowd really ate this one up. Richie and Jules solos in this song were amazing. Jules has got some FAST feet and Richie really played some awesome stuff in his. Definitely the best rhythm section BOC has ever had IMO.
Don't Fear The Reaper:
As expected, everyone's favorite. Buck played a really good solo without the band before this song, but most of the crowd used this as a chance to talk to their friends. Really liked the jam at the end.
Encore: Hot Rails To Hell:
Richie did a really nice job singing this one, reminded me a lot of Buck. For me, this song had the most exciting part of the show. Buck threw his pick into the audience. It bounced off the guy behind me, and I looked down and snagged it right up!!! First time this has ever happened to me.
This was really an amazing show, maybe the best I've ever seen. This was my first time seeing BOC but it definitely won't be my last.
As for Saturday the 14th, it was f'n magic in New Port Richey Florida for an estimated few thousand crowd, although the total estimate turnout for the day I was told was 40,000 people !!!
We opened for Blue Oyster Cult whom I met and were very nice guys, and Buck Dharma came up to me and told me we rocked which was cool, but to be honest I didn't know who the hell he was until he introduced himself.
B.O.C's management however were a different story, we were told at one point to play longer so I added Naked eye close the end of the set and was planning on playing Won't get fooled again then my generation to finish, but then during Naked Eye we were told to play only one more and that was it.
Our agent/manager really wanted us to play my gen and smash, so I had to cut WGFA (which we've never done)
So we start MY GEN and within the first few bars BOC's management tells our guy that we have to stop playing immediatly or BOC was going to cancel and leave (because they (the management) knew we were going to smash)
Our manager and our roadie tell them NO F'N WAY!... so we play the song anyway and smash the hell out of the guitar and drums and the crowd ate it up, we absolutely destroyed the stage.
Now no disrespect to BOC but there was no way we were going to stop in the middle of MY GEN, and we weren't trying to steal the show, we were just doing what we always do and I think the BOC management was just a bit power crazy.
BOC band members watched us from side stage and complimented us afterwards and were really nice so obviously the problem didn't stem from them.
Apart from that debacle the show was greeeaaat!
BOC although I was not too familiar with a lot of their material, I did know 'godzilla' 'don't fear the reaper' and a couple of others.
They were really tight and Buck is a great guitarist and the show was excellent...
A video clip from this show:
Here is the setlist info for the 2006-10-20 late show you're missing:
I can confirm that the setlist for the 10/21/06 show in Reading, PA was complete (I saw your note on the setlists page that it might not be complete).
I was at the show - it was a short set as they were opening slot for Kansas.
Also, Godzilla was unfinished, they ran it right into Reaper with no drum solo in between.
And no encore.
Just got back from the show. Fantastic! The Saddle Rack was a nice intimate venue and as we were the second group in line we got great seats. There were two rows of reserved tables, so we were about fifteen feet away from the stage.
The venue has a house band that plays Thursday through Saturday nights. They are Appaloosa, a country rock band. [http://www.appaloosamusic.com] I was worried about my mood being spoiled by twangy country, but I was pleasantly surprised. They were pretty loud, and had some nice blues and funk to their sound. Here is their playlist if you're interested.
Despite my misgivings, it was a good band to get the crowd loosened up. They tore down, and let the BOC roadies start tuning instruments. After awhile, the lights dimmed down, and some synthesized music started playing. The band came on stage, and started tuning their instruments again. Made me wonder what the heck the roadies were doing. After the band finished their sound check they kicked off the concert.
* not Buck's Boogie, there was a bit of synth back-up; I kept hoping they were going to go into Astronomy, but no such luck; I'd love to get an audio of this track somewhere...
An interesting side note. A lady who was a bit "ODed On Life Itself" (or maybe just drunk) and her companion were asked to leave after she was being a bit too... enthusiastic about rocking out. The man seemed pretty embarrassed to be there with her. Asking didn't do the trick, so security escorted them out an exit. They managed to make it very low key, and in spite of it happening during a song ("Golden Age Of Leather" I believe) there was no affect on the performance.
BOC performed with the all out energy I expected, and the younger kids (Richie and Jules) gave a great solo during Godzilla to give the others a break. :-) Jules was great on drums, looking like a young Oliver Platt, including some great heavy metal drumming expressions on his face.
Because the band flew out to the coast, there was very limited merchandise. Also, there was no meet & greet after the show, alas, so the CD's I'd brought with me remain unsigned.
Prior to "Last Days of May" Eric announced a "special guest" - he said something along the lines of "I've never met this guy before tonight, but he kept bugging us to let him play with us so here he is". Eric then said "Just kidding we go back years with this guy and it's great to have him here" - I don't remember the name but he is a guitarist with the Tubes.
He played his own solo in LDOM after Allen and before Buck and it was smoking.
The Saddlerack is a country bar located in an industrial park area. The dance floor had tables and chairs and people remained seated throughout the show, except for a few standing ovations after songs, after which they sat back down. The crowd was definitely "into it" but it was strange to see people sitting. There were probably 300-400 in attendance - twice as many could have fit in there.
BOC sounded great and all band members were great. I think they are the best live band going and I am constantly amazed that I am able to see them in these small venues.
[After being asked about who it was who'd guested on three songs, as nobody seemed to know for sure]:
You would be correct about the identity of the mystery guest. That was my buddy Andy Ascolese. He played organ on Black Blade, Rhythm guitar on Last Days of May, and Organ and guitar on hot rails to hell.
Hope this helps,
Richie
Here's the scoop on last nights gig:
Allen wasn't there; Buck after the show said Allen missed NM on 11/17 also - he's "ill". There was a guy called Andy that played on three songs (see below). He was a friend of Jules & Ritchie's.
The gig was in Staten island - down the block from where Ritchie's dad owns a music shop... where Ritchie and Jules also teach music lessons. Richie's dad John was there and help with the pre-show intros... No other band played... They did several plugs about the music shop during the gig and about 1/2 the attendees of the show seemed to know each other. Sandy was there and Buck's daughter also was there.
Setlist:
They were pretty strict on photos... I only got 3 pics... will send to you someday in the future...
I was at the 11/18 gig in Staten Island. Great performance even though Allen was missing. A really big THANKS goes out to Dani Roeser (Buck's daughter), who provided my wife and myself with comp. tickets (she didn't have to do that, I would have paid) but she insisted, so who am I to argue!
Shooting Shark and Black Blade were nice to hear. Richie put on a tremendous performance (I guess playing in your home town will do that to you!).
After the show Buck came out and hung out with us for a while. We took pics and he signed my 1981 tour book and also my BOC Bootleg EP vinyl. Thanks Buck! Also thanks to Richie for signing my program also. I wish I could have talked to you some more.
The next day was Dani's birthday, so she invited my wife and I over her house (Dani's boyfriend is an old high school buddy of mine) and Buck and Sandy were also there.
We hung out and talked about Sopranos, movies, music (We somehow got into talking about canadian bands and he talked about Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush and I mentioned Max Webster but he never heard of them before. I told him to try to check them out).
He enjoyed the Port Wine that I had bought a bottle to give to his daughter for her B-Day. He was really cool and down to earth guy and it was great hanging out with him and his lovely wife. Thanks Don, Sandy, Dani and Rob for the great weekend.
Al Horta (Rahway, NJ)
A video clip from this show:
I lucked out for the December 29th show at Middletown, NY. This is the closest venue I've seen BOC at and I was fortunate enough to get first pick at tickets thanks to the BOC website! As soon as the show was posted on the BOC site I called the Paramount
Theatre and they put me first on the list for tickets. When they called me days later I scored front row center tickets at regular price.
As a Christmas gift I decide to take my girlfriend Caryn's 16 year-old son, Kyle, to the concert. Kyle is a fine young, guitarist and I knew he'd appreciate seeing Buck- especially from prime real estate.
There were two (2) opening acts: The Chris Mahoney Band and Fractured Soul. In my opinion The Chris Mahoney Band was more entertaining than Fractured Soul. CMB had a jazz-fusion sound, no vocals, but a strong guitarist who sounded to me like Jeff Beck. Fractured Soul just didn't do it for me or Kyle, they had talent but it was to mellow for either of us.
I should also note that they were extremely tough with photography. There were several announcements banning photos and the few flashes I saw were followed by escorts to the rear of the Theatre. My camera stayed dormant the whole show as there were goons on both sides of us.
OK, let's talk about the BOC show. First off, Allen wasn't there again - which brings up questions about his health - Or is he lost somewhere fishing? Eric told the crowd that Allen was ill but that they'd rock the house for him - and they did. They sounded better then the last time without Allen.
The set list consisted of the following:
Before "The Vigil" there was a slight delay, the band conferred, and Eric told the crowd there was a change in the set list. Later, I saw a copy of the set list and "Harvester of Eyes" was the song they had replaced.
The show was excellent and everyone seemed to be in great form. There were sound issues intermittently during the show though. From my seat Buck's guitar wasn't that easy to hear all of the time. Richie's bass quit at the end of his solo - he banged the thing too hard! Aside from minor sound glitches, Buck shined.
Highlights of the show for me were: Shooting Shark, The Vigil, the DFTR intro, and Hot Rails to Hell and the solos of course. After the show we hung around so Kyle could meet the band.
While we were hanging around, Jules and Richie came out to see friends and fans. Our new friends asked for and got the set lists from a stage hand. We were told that if we wanted to meet the band we should leave and go through the back door - which we did.
Inside the back door, we walked into a VIP party where winners from a WPDH radio promo were getting posters signed by the band. We waited patiently and eventually we got a few autographs as the band was headed out the door. They weren't in a rush to leave but some Paramount Theatre guy said he had to close-up so he could go home and walk his dog.
Both Eric and Buck told me that Allen was OK and that he'd be back with them in January. They said he would be at the BB Kings show in NYC... we'll see...
Saw them last night at the paramount in middletown new york,a christmas gift to my 12 yr old son,i had seen them like 7 times 20 yrs ago or so, they sounded better than ever and i know my boy will always remember his first concert and 20 yrs from now will take his son to see BOC,it was an outstanding night, Bill Starr, Pine bush,New York
no allen...decent show 'vigil'... 'last-day may' - would've loved 'subhuman' and/or 'astronomy'... but no... opening act chris mahoney total bore