Here are two new gigs for the 19th and 20th Jan to add to your lists. The information comes from the Chicago Reader weekly newspaper dated January 19, 1973 and gives the band running order as Glencoe, Blue Oyster Cult, Jo Jo Gunne and Flash headlining.

Check out my tour archive sites for Mountain, Ten Years After, Humble Pie and Procol Harum as well as a few venues, like Capitol Theater Port Chester, NY, Aragon & Kinetic in Chicago, Boston Tea Party and Hampton Beach Casino:

• The Tour Archive

I don't remember the dates, but after the first album, BOC headlined at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago with Jo Jo Gunne, Flash and Glencoe. It was sometime in the fall of '72, I believe.

my first time was '73 - i believe it was just before the release of t&m. i was fourteen, with my buddy and his older brother and some of his friends, head full of purple micro-dot, concert cost four dollars and fifty cents, and we went to the play ground about three times a month back then...

I remember jojo gunne, but not sure if i saw them. we usually arrived fashionably late, due to fantastic parking lot escapades, if you know what i mean. i do remember allen lanier in a black trench coat though. with the shades, he looked like the spy vs. spy guy. also the crossed guitars. in my condition, it was outrageous. no mirrors on the backs yet, just lots of hellacious noise, which was pretty boss at the time. they also played transmaniacon, which was my fave song at the time, having just bought the album in september...

The date is Jan 27, 1973, the venue is the East Tenn. State Univ. Memorial Gymnasium, in Johnson City Tenn. - price $3.50, reserved, which broke loose when Eric rode the cycle onto the stage!

As far as I know - this was a replacement gig for the cancelled 23 Sept 1972 Kingsport Tenn date.

That was the first time I saw the guys, and it still ranks as one of the best shows ever in my concert history.

I can scan the stub for verification if you would like.

• "WABX/RAM Radio Broadcast"

I'm indebted to Christopher Byrd for sending me a link to the above ticket stub - otherwise I wouldn't have known this gig even existed.

It was originally sent to the "broadwayfillmorealive.org" website by Roxanne Chase - the site is dedicated to helping promote, preserve and revitalize Buffalo's Broadway-Fillmore district - why not check out the site and see if you can make any sort of contribution:

• broadwayfillmorealive.org

February saw the release of "Tyranny and Mutation" but I don't know the actual official release date. Anybody know?

I do know, however, that it was released after the above Detroit Rooster Tail gig as they menton it's imminent release in their onstage chat.

This date is confirmed by the motorcitymusicarchives.com website.

Just to let you know I was at a Blue Oyster Cult concert April 3rd, 1973 at Bismarck North Dakota. I should have a ticket stub some place from that night.

Looking back at my High School Senior Memory book I found the date of April 3rd 1973. They were warm up band for Black Oak Arkansas.

Was first Big time concert (band with record out) that car load of us kids went to see. 150 mile drive one way and we had a great time. BOC stole the show.

I remember even the drummer getting up to play guitar. Wow all five playing guitar at the same time. Also remember the lead singer's sunglasses reflecting lots of lights.

I have seen BOC at least 7 or 8 times over the years. They always have put on a great concert here in North Dakota.

Any idea of the venue?

Ticket courtesy of LookAtStubs.com and handbill courtesy of cowbr.com - it's thanks to them I know about this gig!! Cheers!

Reminiscence of 18 April 1973 concert in Richmond, Virginia (tour list here):

Richmond, Virginia in 1973 was dominated by Top 40 radio format, so concert-goers went to hear the band they associated with Whiter Shade of Pale.

Procol Harum followed Blue Oyster Cult. This was a very unfortunate line-up.

Blue Oyster Cult was unheard of to Richmonders. BOC is why I remember this concert for one and only one reason, they played extremely loud for a very long time. It was unbearable. People were walking out of the show.

When Procol Harum finally appeared, my ears were still ringing. I could hardly hear them. The remaining audience was totally drained of energy and just sat quietly. Gary Brooker seemed bothered. The band played a short set and then Gary quickly said 'That's our show,' and they left. I always imagined that PH was pissed [off] at Blue Oyster Cult. I know I was.

Wow, cant believe how this jogged my memory of seeing boc for the very first time. They had been scheduled to play in Wichita about a month earlier but for some reason they had to cancel that show. The headline band this evening was Alice Cooper doing the Billion Dollar Babies tour wich we had been looking forward to seeing for months.

The backup band was supposed to be the flourescent Leech and Eddie but much to our satisisfaction when that announcer came out and said.... Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like you to welcome from New York City... Blue... Oyster... Cult!

That's when all hell broke loose for about the next hour. We loved em and also had a blast watching Alice do his show;

Just a little sidenote. after Alice was done Myself and a few of my buddies {all around 14 at the time lol) decided to go and try and see alice leaving the arena. Guess who we first saw at the back door loading all there equipment into an old station wagon themselves.. yep boc they even shot the shit with us for a few min until they had to get on there way.

Hope this was the sort of stuff you are looking for. Almost brought a tear to my eye writing this all down, havent thought about this in years. Over the years i think i saw boc about 9 times - they always put on one hell of a show...

Well, now - this is news indeed. I've never heard of BOC supporting Alice on the BDB tour before - as far as I knew, it was Flo and Eddie all the way...

What's more - sickthingsuk.co.uk doesn't have a show listed at all for this date - so if it's accurate - then it's a new gig for them also.

We did play a Billion Dollar Babies tour gig, but I don't remember where. Might have been Wichita, but if it's not on Alice Cooper's itinerary, it would seem wrong.

I doubt if we'd be loading our own gear into an old station wagon, we never toured like that. It would have been a small box truck for gear, and Avis cars for the band.

Interestingly enough, I just noticed that alicecooperechive.com has this listed for that date: "Wichita, Kansas?", so that looks like some sort of corroboration, at least...

Well just to add a bit of info to my original post, wich i see caught the eyes of a few people. Boc was playing that evening as a rescheduled show they had had to cancel about a month or so earlier. for what reason it was canceled i have no idea. they only announced that boc and not flo and eddy was to be alices opening act. im not sure about the schedule after this show but on this enchanted evening we were intoduced to Blue Oyster Cult.

One of them would yell out there name between every song they did so by the time they were done you knew whom had just been playing, expecially after they played cities on flame wich was the tune by them still making the rounds on the local radio stations. Like I said before, a very fun evening for a young 14 year old back in the early 70s.

lol cant remember for sure but i think the tickets just cost around 15 to 20 bucks wich was high for a concert with only 2 bands. but then alice was in his prime and earned every penny... woot

Sorry Buck, as for the station wagon it could very well have been some roadies claiming to be the band or connected with it. hell there were some very hot looking young ladies crowed around them. Being around 13 or 14 this was probably just us thinking it was the band... lol... ahhh the good old days. Was a hell of a night though.

i first heard of Boc from and album liner from a lp id bought a few months before this. Thats where the label would put out info on there stable of bands and there upcoming releases. Being in the midwest you had to glean your info from whatever you could scrounge.

Around this time Wichita had about 1 big name show a month, wich on a 13 year olds allowance was about all I could manage.

Moved to Georgia a few months after this and saw the band a number of times over the years.

I think this a concert I went to. I don't remember much except that it was daytime concert, outside (at a speedway?) and I believe that Ritchie Havens was in the lineup. I do know that a riot of some sort broke out pretty close to us so we left before we got caught up in it.

If this is not that particular concert, I know it was within a year or so. If you could send me any information, I would appreciate it.

Opening act was Status Quo - Blue Oyster Cult then Savoy Brown...

We went to see Savoy Brown - not knowing of BOC. Sitting in the bleachers some biker dudes yelled at us "on your feet for BOC"... We haven't sat down yet....

P.S. I was at the BOC show at the Auditorium show with the Rasberry's where they got booed off the stage...

Check out this great site charting the history of the Civic Center (as well as other local venues):

• www.regionrockmemories.com/civic_center.html

• George Geranios first gig...

Well, I know Deep Purple were headlining this short series of Florida gigs but other than BOC, I don't know who else was on this particular bill (looking at the next two, probably Billy Preston and Savoy Brown for starters)...

Plus, I did hear that there might be four gigs in this mini-tour. If anybody knows for sure, please let me know.

Apparently Billy Preston's band disintegrated mid tour so from 10 June (Milwaukee) onwards he was replaced for the remainder of the Deep Purple dates by ZZ Top, including the dates with BOC.

I'm puzzled about the crossing out of Family on one ticket... might suggest they didn't play?? Although some people say they weren't very good...

As for a 4th date... Deep Purple were due to do a show in Ithaca on the 12th. The show got rained away and a riot erupted, equipment got smashed etc. Purple had to postpone their next gig (Atlanta on the 14th) to the 18th. So there seems no room for a 4th Florida date with BOC. Hope this helps.

Thanks for that.

Be sure to check out Tonny's Deep Purple Ticket Museum site - and if you have any Deep Purple ticket stubs stashed away anywhere, please try and scan or take a digital photo of them and send the jpegs along to the museum for inclusion.

OK, I was at this show... have some photos...

Billy Preston cancelled, replaced by ZZ TOP ( No beards then).. also on bill were BOC, Family, Savoy Brown, and of course, Deep Purple...

Was not impressed with Family... other bands were great.

Blackmore smashed his guitar at the end night, threw pieces to the crowd...

The first concert I ever went to was at Tampa Stadium. The line-up was Deep Purple, Blue Oyster Cult, Savoy Brown and Billy Preston.

Unfortunately, Billy cancelled. But on a good note a little band from Texas showed up to open. It was not long after that Tres Hombres was released.

My 1st BOC show was June 21st 1973 the venue: The Palisades, Mckeesport PA. BOC opening for Savoy Brown...

Albert and Buck both said to me they played The Palisades in Mckeesport PA before in 1971 as SFG.

Setlist:

1. red and the black
2. od on life
3. screams
4. dizbusters
5. bucks boogle
6. cities on flame
7. its not easy

There was no encore.

BOC played June 22 1973 at The White Elephant White Oak PA as the main act.

June 23rd 1973 was a nite club in Jeanette PA, the name I cant remember but i had a friend attend this show as well as the White Oak show.

On the BOC bootleg from Nov 24th 1987 from Pittsburgh PA Eric Bloom talks about the 21-23 June shows. The promoter at the time Rich Englert was the 1st shows he ever booked he later became our areas biggest promoter untill he sold to SFX.

• "Something New under the Sun" festival

• Schaeffer Beer festival

If you check out the page detail on the schedule above, you'll see that the original billing for the 16 July show was BOC supported by "Mason Proffit". The review for the show that I've seen says it was the "Brown Sugar/Lady Grinning Soul" herself, Claudia Lennear.

• "Concert By The Sea"

The show was advertised as "The Festival By The Sea", a bit of Bull*t since the site was not within sight of the sea (a couple of miles away).

Stage was a couple of trailer beds pulled up next to each other. Festival site was the old, abandoned "Pungo Airstrip" a former Navy and then Coast Guard air strip. Site is still in existence today, used by a "hot rod" (auto) club and the current site of the "Pungo Strawberry Festival".

The day of the festival was brutally hot, sunny w/high humidity (Typical Tidewater Virginia summer weather). The festival was poorly organized. The concert goers sat on a concrete runway in the blazing sun all day with no shade available. Hundreds of people were treated for heat exhaustion and assorted drug overdoses.

The performances were generally good considering the conditions. ZZ Top and BOC stole the show. Both acts were largely unknown in Southside VA.

In 1973 BOC's set was excellent if a bit brief (40-50 min.) I recall an announcer (BOC's manager?) informing the crowd that BOC would be unable to perform an encore due to the heat. Security was over zealous with rented off-duty police, some with guard dogs and a large quantity of undercover narcotics officers who kept busy all day arresting pot smokers.

I'm still searching for more concrete info on this show (date, posters, newspaper articles, etc) If/when I find more info I'll pass it along.

I was there - just another "hot" fan. This concert changed my life. Was visiting Virginia Beach after the July 4th weekend and ended up with a bunch of partiers. I fell in love - We were smack dab in the middle of everyone.

I went back home to Morgantown, WV - divorced my husband, quit my job, bought a car and moved. I truly think that if we hadn't had that day in the sun - none of the "magic" would have been there. What information can you send me on this concert?

Hey, I was there. I was quite young and had the T-Shirt and poster from that concert for years, but it disappeared only a few years ago.

It was an awesome concert. I can't remember if BOC played that day. I saw them a few times after that, so I'm not sure. It was crazy, hot and lots and lots of drugs everywhere.

I was only 14 and left there alone, saw a couple of OD's and lots of other mind opening experiences.

I do remember Savoy Brown, Sabastian and ZZ Top playing. ZZTOP, I believe was the last show. Lots of pink faces at the end of the day due to the sun.

Regarding the date, it had to of been July 4th of 1973, but will double check with my sister who "dropped me off" there. I was 14 and remember telling everyone I was 16. I'm not sure why I thought that would make a difference. I seem to remember Savoy Brown breaking up briefly not long after that concert, but they got back together the next year.

From what I can see, it appears all of the bands were all over the place in 73, but from what I can tell, they were all in the area of Virginia Beach in July of 1973. Not so in 1972 or 1974.

I also remember it being a time where many of our guys were getting back from Vietnam. The base was full of military GI's getting blasted out of their minds to forget what they just experienced. Sad how history repeats itself.

Karen Banks mentioned she was visiting Virginia Beach after the July 4th weekend... now, July 4 was on a Wednesday that year, so I don't know if a "July 4th weekend" would come before or after July 4 if it falls on a weekday... I'd tend to think after... in which case, if she's right, then that'd suggest this gig maybe took place a little bit later than 4 July...

I'm 50 years old, at work, feeling nostalgic, and thought I'd search for information on the Pungo Airstrip concert.

I was there and to this day, I remember the heat and sitting on that hot concrete runway. I remember organizers were passing out salt tablets during the concert.

I thought I remembered one of the guitarists for ZZ Top passing out and going face first on the stage, just for a moment. I think ZZ Top was the headliner. They had 3 albums out by then and BOC had one, I think.

We went to see Bloodrock as much as anyone else. The actual date? No idea.

By the way, I was the stoned/drunk guy stumbling around my seating area, stepping onto and crushing everyone's Styrofoam coolers.

The following website - LookAtStubs.com - lists the date of this show as July 21.

Regarding the headliner, I'm pretty sure Savoy Brown was the headliner. ZZ Top performed earlier in the day and Savoy Brown went on stage as the sun was setting. It's possible that ZZ Top was advertised as the headliner, but they went on before Savoy Brown.

I was there. Me and ALL my party-animal Navy buddies - stoned to the gills - nothing new for us.

I'm sure we "saw" all of you there. We were probably responsible for Karen's post-concert action.

Check out http://www.ussmullinnix.org/1973Music.html - that says it all about me, my friends, and 1973!

This show at Pungo Airstrip in Virginia Beach, VA was called "Concert by the Sea" not Festival. I was at this show.

BOC played midway through the festival, either just before or after ZZ Top. As one person wrote, those 2 acts were the highlights of the concert. It was miserably hot. One of ZZ Tops players did pass out. Savoy Brown was the headliner and closed the show.

I love the website. The stories from the Virginia show bought back a lot of good memories. Thanks for letting me share mine.

It was advertised as a mini Woodstock with 9 bands. The headliner was Savoy Brown and they played last. The 9 bands were Black Oak Arkansas, Bloodrock, John Sebastian, BOC, ZZ Top,?,?,?, (can't remember the other 3) and Savoy Brown.

Dusty Hill (Bass) keeled over face first into the stage during one of their jams. Billy and Frank just kept jamming (very professional) and the roadies pulled Dusty behind the cabinets (looked like white Marshall heads and speaker cabinets but had a logo like Oasis or something like that). After a few minutes they got Dusty back up and he went back out front and kept playing. They continued playing for quite a while after.

BOC pulled out some stools and sat on them when they played. Savoy Brown played last and convinced me that Kim Simmonds was the second best slide guitarist that I had seen to that point (Duane Allman being no.1).

I was in the Air Force at the time due to the draft and my draft number being 1. I was stationed at a radar site on the Blue Ridge Parkway just north of Bedford VA.

We left Roanoke VA at 11:00pm Friday night July 20 in a VW micro bus (Loaded with Hippies) and got to Va Beach early Sat. morning (about 5:00am). We were told that the concert was to be right on the sandy beach. They lied.

They had speaker towers on each side of the stage and as the day went on we followed shadows around to get relief from the sun. Several of us had one large blister across our foreheads from that day.

PS: I had a friend who went with us who had a t-shirt for years that had the date and a list of the bands. The t-shirt finally turned back to dust and I can't remember all 9 bands. I'm sure of the ones I listed but I am unsure of the rest. Even with the help of your list on the right, I can't positively say yes to any of the others listed. I do know that Foghat was not there as I was a large Savoy Brown fan and Foghat contained a couple of former Savoy Brown band mates. I would have loved to see them at the same concert.

Regarding Sergeant Mac's note: I am positive that Black Oak Arkansas was NOT on the bill. Everything else he states seems to follow my recollections of the event.

I do remember Dusty Hill passing out on stage; face down in his ten gallon cowboy hat.

Sam Judd tells of another ZZ Top gig with BOC (29 June 1975) where Dusty Hill again hit the deck!! Was this a regular thing with this guy or was it just BOC gigs he had a problem with?

OK - got the following email with very opposing info for a gig on this date:

I seem to remember that on or about Aug 03, 1973 that BOC played the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, NC in support of J. Geils Band. I was definitely there in person sometime late in the summer.

It's very vivid to me because it would have been my first ever BOC concert, and hugely anticipated at the time.

I have no reason to doubt that this Tucson gig didn't take place on this date - despite the above email, which itself goes from the very specific (3rd Aug) to the rather vague "sometime late in the summer"...

As usual, if anyone has info on either gig, either Tucson or Charlotte, please let me know...

8/3/73 BOC warmed the J. Geils band up in Charlotte NC @ the Coliseum. Mary Stewart confirms this also. No way are [we] I wrong.

I remember them all soloing during Diz Busters like the 3rd song thinking whats up with this.

OK - that's a couple of votes now designating 3rd Aug as Charlotte Coliseum in support of the J. Geils Band, and not Tucson after all...

My original thoughts were that a Charlotte gig on this date would be a bit of a surprise as BOC were - supposedly - touring the AZ/TX/CO area at the time - and NC is a fair distance away from that region...

Now, clearly BOC did play Charlotte supporting J. Geils around this time - I just need to pin the date for sure to 3rd August, if that's what it was, so obviously I'd appreciate hearing from anyone with any more info on this Charlotte gig...

Or the possibly mythical Tucson gig also!! :-)

Here's the stub from that J. Geils Band gig at Charlotte Coliseum that shows the date was 3rd Aug...

My second concert ever. Zeppelin played the Coliseum earlier in the year (my first).

Savoy Brown opened, followed by BOC, followed by the headliner ZZ Top.

Nice site.

Thanks for the BOC site. I went there searching for the concert where I saw them for the first time. It was Thursday, August 9, 1973, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The location was the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds. I'm fairly sure the other bands were local bands.

This was part of the "Strawberry Fields" concert series held in the summer from 1972 to 1975. The stage was outside under a shelter. There was a huge open air grassy area to gather around the stage. Lots of kids attended, mostly 14 to 20 years old.

I know the lineup was the same 5 as the night before in Philadelphia. I certainly CAN'T remember the song list, but if you put this date on the site, some other fans at the concert might be able to contribute something.

OK - those two pseudo-psychedelic posters on the end above first appeared on eBay in May 2008 and are clearly not originals. Also - they both also contain the same spelling mistake and whereas the original gig was a "Daydream Production" - according to these two posters, it's "Another Daydream Production".

I've seen a bit of a disturbing trend appearing on eBay lately of non-original posters - and you really have to examine the accompanying text to find out that they're just "recreations".

Watch out for them...

I had noted that you didn't have it on there, yet there is a Tampa show in about the same time frame.

I will need to work on the dates... I have no records such as ticket stubs etc. But I do remember that it was at the Hollywood "Sportatorium" and the line-up order was:

1. Spirit (w/Randy California!) opening
2. Bachman-Turner Overdrive
3. BOC
4. Focus headlined

I remember BOC playing Hot Rails to Hell with Joe on vocals, Cities on Flame with Eric bashing the symbols with a chain and Eric, Albert and Buck playing drums at one point, and Me 262 with the 5 guitars with Albert

If BOC played Tampa on Saturday Aug 18, as indicated on your site, then it would follow they played Hollywood the day before or after.

I've managed to pin a date to this show thanks to seeing a review of this gig in The Miami News dated Thursday 30 Aug 1973. This refers to the "Saturday night show at the Sportatorium". The previous Saturday was the 25th, thus the gig toiok place on 25 Aug 1973...

I wasnt able to make it to this show as my family had just moved to marietta about 3 weeks before but i can still vividly remember the radio spots for it cause it started out with a healthy chunk of Hot rails to Hell.

What a drag it was being 14 in a new town and no idea were anything was or anyone i could yet call a friend since i had a few weeks to go before i started the 10th grade after moving from wichita kansas where i saw boc open for Alice Cooper on the Billion dollar babies tour.

I was bummed but that was about the only boc show i missed after moving to the atlanta area... woot

I later met most of the members of Mose Jones in social situations (partys lol) and what a great bunch of guys they were. great musicians too.

Did they really play Mommy live?

Oh yeah, they performed Mommy about a dozen or so times, it was rejected during the recordings of Tyranny & Mutation along with Buck's Boogie, and they never actually put any vocals on the Mommy track back then.... the version you have on the remaster is a new vocal track by Bloom...

Mommy and Born to be Wild were the encores of that show... sorry I forgot you need that added info...

Also, That was the Late Show, they did two sets that night, probably the same songs... who knows?

The show was in California at the Hollywood Palladium and the actual date was September 14, 1973. I still have the ticket stub! There were four bands in all, opener - Orphan, then BOC, then Joe Walsh, then Mott the Hoople

BOC played 7 or 8 tunes that evening - maybe 45 minutes max.

I believe they played all of side one from Tyranny and Mvtation along with COF, Before the Kiss, A Redcap, either Workshops or Transmaniacon(???) and a rolling stones cover of It's Not Easy. This would be very close to the actual set-list that night.

As for Mott the Hoople - Mick Ralphs had just left the band prior to that gig and lots of people were shouting where's Mick during the show that evening. He had just been replaced by very short notice with one Aerial Bender on guitar.

My first Mott the Hoople concert was at the Hollywood Palladium, August 1973. Opening acts were Cactus (I think), Joe Walsh and Barnstorm, and Blue Oyster Cult.

No seats resulted in "festival standing". Enjoyed the hell out of the night! Bummer of the night was that someone tried to break into my Vega.

FEW GROUPS in recent memory have had as successful a California debut performance as Blue Oyster Cult's here this September. Third-billed to Joe Walsh and Mott the Hoople, BOC stole the show musically and elicited an extremely enthusiastic crowd response that was equal to that for the two more popular groups.

The surprising thing is, the crowd was with the Cult from the start. Yells for Manny Bloom and specific Cult songs filled the air. Astute as you'd expect them to be, BOC's set list answered with the first three cuts from Tyranny And Mutation and the crowd was on their feet from the start.

Visually, the group's focal point was Manny Bloom (the guy with the frizzy hair, glasses, and greaser black leather), strutting around the stage with his red Gibson SG like a John Kay Honcho - totally jive but totally alive. The Cult's stage act is impeccably professional, flowing from one highlight to another without a letup, essentially the same stage presentation (although with different material) that the group spent two months in seclusion working up in early 1971.

Highlights of the Oyster Cult's 45-minute set included the thunderous 'Cities On Flame', 'Buck's Boogie', and an extended rendition of the Stones' 'It's Not Easy' replete with quotes from 'Born In Chicago', 'Land Of A Thousand Dances', and 'Walking The Dog'. Not since the Flamin' Groovies has a group walked the dog, much less their guitars across stage! 'Born To Be Wild' was the encore as usual, Manny Bloom and Buck Dharma crossing their guitars above their heads in a sonic blitzkrieg. The music rumbled on, Alan Lanier's skill on rhythm guitar making the Cult one of the few groups around with an awesome four guitar lineup (drummer Albert Bouchard also plays guitar) when they want it.

No doubt about it, Blue Oyster Cult slayed the crowd as well as this fan, and Joe Walsh's interminable 60-minute Grand-Funk-gone-bad tuneup jam and Mott The Hoople's vaguely disappointing set of English arrogance (lots of fans upfront yelling "where's Mick?" at Ariel Bender's fucked up guitar playing) were pretty much an anticlimax (although Mott finally drew big response towards the end of their set and several of the editors of this magazine insist they were great).

With a live show this impressive, it seems highly possible that Blue Oyster Cult will break big within the next year or two, joining the handful of fellow heavy metal groups at the top of the charts. BOC have had good success so far, selling over 100,000 with both albums already, but potentially they have the ingredients to go far beyond that, all the way to solid gold.

Asked for the reasons and the roots behind the Blue Oyster Cult's brand of metal mania, manager Sandy Pearlman (who is to the BOC something of what Andrew Loog Oldham was to the Stones) summed it up succinctly: "A technical attitude from the Yardbirds, and Ideas from the Doors". That's a pretty cerebral combination, probably the reason for an extreme musical calculation that is BOC's one major shortcoming, but otherwise it works out just fine. R. Meltzer wasn't in California, and hence unavailable for comment on Mr. Pearlman's analysis ("It was a good gig - just like Chicago!"), but I have the feeling he'd agree. This group looks like a big one.

• "Carney Rock II"

This date is confirmed by the Capitol Giglist on Moyssi's website.

This was my first concert... still have the ticket stub... row F... seat 7... orchestra,left... the price was $6.00.....

Saw B.O.C. several times more at the Capitol, including a show when Kiss opened in April of 1974. Was reminiscing about the Capitol earlier today and was surfing the web looking for lists of old shows. That's how I stumbled upon your site.

Tyranny & Mutation tour, October, 1973, warming up for Savoy Brown. White suit and white SG times, first time I had even heard of them, immediately went out the next day to purchase T&M, and very quickly returned to the record store ("Autumn Stone" great name for a record store/head shop!) to pick up the first album too.

The line-up for this gig was Aerosmith opening the show, BOC following them, and then Mott

At the time we figured Aerosmith were just another Boston band, and I decided that night they were another poor-man's-Stones outfit -- and never changed my mind.

The Hoople, on the other hand, had a big impression on me and I was an even bigger fan of Ian Hunter when he went solo.

This show is also listed on my concert blog:

• dorseylandmusicother.blogsome.com

Did this gig happen? I know there's a contemporaneous newspaper clipping above which suggests it did, but BOC just played this venue exactly two months earlier supporting Mott.

Is it likely they played it again so soon?

Stop Press: I now have a stage pass off eBay which seems to confirm the date but adds ELO as a headliner. If that were true, wouldn't the newspaper clipping above mention that?

Buddy Miles opened, followed by BOC, and Rare Earth was the Headliner. A strange combination, I know, but interesting and enjoyable. I'm a little foggy on the date, but I can do some digging.

The Special Events Center at the University of Utah still exists, now known as the Huntsman Center. It sits next to the 2002 Olympic Village.

The Huntsman Center was named after the Industrialist/Philanthropist, John Huntsman, who has donated large sums of his fortune to many causes at the University of Utah, and has several operations of his Worldwide Chemical Company in Great Britain. The Huntsman Corp. is the World's largest privately held company.

The venue was the Decatur Armory. The show was put on by the Decatur MacArthur High School booster club, and by the local head shop "Crystal Ship". There were several thousand in attendance, and the venue was like a gymnasium. One floor, no seats, we sat on the floor (it was too loud to stand up) I was 14.

It was my first concert, and we were already hard core BOC fans, having heard GTDTW and the first two records. Buck played the red (soon to be painted white) SG, and Allen and Eric played a lot of guitar that night, as well.

Some of the setlist included Stairway, Bucks Boogie, Hot Rails, Red and The Black, Diz, lots from the first two records, and whenever we'd yell out requests, Eric would respond "got ya covered".

The opener was "The Flock" and I think the lead singer played some kind of electric fiddle. They sucked, and when we chanted BOC during their set, and yelled for Bucks Boogie, he said, "Wanna Boogie?" people yelled Yeah! and he stuck his finger in his nose and replied "HERE"!... like I said, they sucked, and were the first band that my friends and I heckled off of the stage. My friend Jeff Turley was at that show, unbeknownst to me, and when he gets on here, he may have some other recollections. Also, I'll ask my brother to send me some more memories.

I have had reports that this gig took place a week later on 13 December!! If anyone knows for sure, please let me know.

The above handbill is off eBay. The thing is - BOC played at this venue less than three months earlier with Slade and Hydra...

Can they have played two gigs here in such a short space of time?

As usual - if you know the answer, please let me know...

Well the 29 September Slade date is verified by my calendar...

Not that unusual for a support band to play a city 2 months apart in those days... Hydra did it all the time... we were big in Louisville...

I was a student at the University of Louisville, and attended this show and I recall that Mountain was the headliner...

I think the answer to the question could BOC have been in Louisville as a support act twice in such a short period of time is "yes"...

As I recall, BOC was quickly becoming a hot item, and Louisville had a very active concert schedule.

BOC blew Mountain off the stage that night... and I'm a Mountain fan too! They opened with "The Red and the Black"...one of the best set openers I've EVER heard.

The BOC set list from other shows on this tour appears to match...

• Iggy and The Stooges didn't play and were replaced by The Raspberries ...

While searching the archive, I found a review of an early gig from December 14, 1973 at the Chicago Auditorium that you questioned in the gig list. I think the author of the attached article got Buck and Eric mixed up. I doubt it was Buck in black, swinging a chain.

I can imagine the Raspberries fearing for their life though. BOC drew a pretty rough crowd. I remember some gigs at the Aragon Ball ( we used to say "Brawl") Room that got pretty rowdy.

BOC headlined at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago - the Raspberries opened and were treated very rudely. Iggy and The Stooges were supposed to open,but cancelled,so the very wispy Raspberries were brought in to face a near firing squad.

People were lighting their show programs on fire and throwing them on stage at the poor pretty Rasps! One of the funniest things I've ever seen at a concert. This show was some time in 73,I think.

PS: I spoke with Albert Bouchard at a 2005 Brain Surgeons gig in Wisconsin Rapids, and asked him if he remembered this particular gig. He told me that he indeed remembered it well, and said that BOC felt really bad for the Raspberries that night, because Eric Carmen "is such a nice guy".

I'll check it out, but my father told me he saw BOC in Chicago in '73, and that the warm-up act, a band called "The Raspberries", were booed off-stage. He may even have a ticket stub...

I have been sticking up for the Raspberries since my first concert. I believe it was the first night in the band for Scott and Mike.

The Berries were a late sub for Iggy Pop, backing up Blue Oyster Cult at The Auditorium Theater in Chicago. I spent every cent I had to get second row seats to see my favorite band and heard the BOC crowd start booing before they even got started.

The boys played great, but they had no chance. They started with "I Wanna Be With You" and ended with "Go All The Way". I think I was 12-13 at the time and I waited on hold for three hours to get on an all night radio station to tell the people how they deserved better.

One of the most prolific moments that affected my becoming a musician was sitting so close up front and seeing Eric Carmen backstage (while BOC was playing) shaking his head in disgust and dismay at the reaction they received. I left after four BOC songs. I will never forget that image.

I attended this concert and thought it strange that they billed The Raspberries along with BOC. I now know, thanks to your project, that The Stooges were supposed to play, but canceled. I remember Eric Carmen saying after 3 songs "I don't know about you people, but we're having a good time up here". Almost in unison from the crowd came "F--- Y-- Blue Oyster Cult!"

BOC started out with The Red And The Black while their BOC Logo flag was slowly lowered in the backdrop of the stage. It was all our rock and roll from there on out. We were in the 1st balcony, and somebody threw a lit package of firecrackers from the 2nd balcony, and it landed in this chicks frizzy hair and exploded. It was really a bizarre concert and one that I won't forget.

The lasting image 35 years after the show was the Raspberries guitar player walking to the amps at the end and yanking his cable out. They were all so po'd as they stormed not walked off the stage. It appeared to me they thought they could win the crowd back with their rocker "Go all the Way" at the end. Not a chance!

• Lynyrd Skynyrd were original scheduled as support (see ad above)

I first saw Blue Oyster Cult back in December of 73.

We were hanging out at Stoner Park in San Pedro, California. Someone said there was a concert that evening at the Long Beach Auditorium. We had never heard of BOC before, but what the heck.

We each scored a .75 cent "big mouth" quart of Coors beer at the local 7-11 and with a $10. three fingerbag of Mexican dirt weed we were off to Long Beach. Bus fare was .25 cent and the the concert tickets were around $5.

We were seated in the last row of the auditorium. We smoked our weed and rocked out to the music, what a show!

Then the guy seated in front of us turned to us and said "If you liked them, you're really going to like Blue Oyster Cult." He was right, we did and never looked back.

Later we would learn Eric Burdon was the opening act for the band that evening.

When I was 15 I took my girlfriend to see BOC at the old Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California. It was Friday, December 21, 1973. I hadn't been a particularly big BOC fan, but my local radio station (KNAC Pure Rock) was promoting the show and convinced me to go. We sat in the balcony and the place was packed.

When BOC started playing dust began falling out of the old speaker well columns on each side of the stage. Within an hour it was hard to see the stage through the smoke (not talking dust here). Wish I could remember more details. Our ears rang for days! It was great.

I just found your site and was blown away to find my first Blue Oyster Cult experience... I've probably seen them 50 times or more.

Anyway, what I remember about this show was that that the tickets were virtually free. We went to downtown San Diego (Golden Hall, where the concert was, I think) and exchanged a can of food for a ticket, about a week before the concert.

The first album was out, a friend of mine had it and I thought it was OK, but all that local radio stations KGB and KPRI (R.I.P.) played was Buck's Boogie, which was fine by me, cause I loved the tune.

I hadn't heard "Tyranny" yet, but certainly did that night. We arrived early and stood pretty close to the stage with an excellent view of the band and our minds melted just right... if you know what I mean. I remember being absolutely blown away from the beginning with the opening chords of Red and Black.

This was the days when Bloom was in leather and cape and Buck was in his white suit... kind of good vs. evil. This really was evident on 7 Screaming Dizbusters... really sinister... till Bloom disappeared in the light.

I think I remember them doing Flaming Telepaths too, obviously before "Secret Treaties" was released... and between my state of consciousness at the time, and the strobes, the joke was on me.

Since this was a "charity" type event I remember a pause in the action and a pretty young lady in a white dress coming on stage to thank BOC for playing the event and presenting Bloom with a bouquet of roses. He gave a long half hearted thank you and then proceeded to tear the bouquet apart and to crush it under his boots, while the band started playing Before the Kiss, A Redcap.

For some reason I remember this song as the "5 Guitar song" that BOC usually did back then. I'd love to have a version of that. I also distinctly remember a drum solo with Buck and Eric joining Albert on one drum set. Seems like that was during Cities.

BTW, the opening act was a band call Daddy Warbucks... they had one cool song with an Edgar Winter type Frankenstein synth solo in it... other than that, BOC blew them away and have been my favorite band for 36 years!

The Cowtown Ballroom was a Fillmore type venue that was popular around here in the early '70's... BOC was the headliner, with the Charlie Daniels band set to open. Daniels was late getting in, so BOC came on first. This was the first time I'd seen them. Little uncertain of the date on this one...

I think I've been able to pin a date on this one at last, thanks to Joe Heyen, who runs this great website:

• Cowtown Ballroom - That was Special [or try the Flash version]

Joe is currently engaged in making a documentary about the venue so if you ever saw a show there or have any photos or anything at all, visit the site and get in touch.

Just a curious note - Joe says the date was the 28th December - he says there's a poster he possibly can get access to in order to snap a copy to post here at a future date which will back this up, but there's an entry in the guestbook on his site [link] which says the following:

I found this interesting - for a start, the date mentions the 27th. not the 28th on the ticket. If they were being re-used, you'd have thought that might possibly indicate that the BOC gig had been cancelled?

Also - the fact that a Strawbs ticket was printed on the back of an "unused BOC ticket" seems just plain weird - but it also suggests that the BOC show on that date was cancelled and they just re-used the tickets by flipping them over and printing the b-sides...

Of course, it COULD mean that the show was originally scheduled for 27 Dec and then got rescheduled for the 28th, and new tickets got issued for that - but if these promoters were so mean that they re-used already-printed BOC tickets for a Strawbs gig, then SURELY they'd have re-used the 27 Dec BOC tickets for the 28th show!!

Re. the Strawbs ticket, much was weird back then. Venues changed, dates changed or were added, just about anything was possible.

It's conceivable that the tickets for the 27th were printed in error, and - to save money - the paper simply was flipped over to print the Strawbs tickets. Or that unused BOC tickets were simply reused, AND the concert was slipped from the 27th to the 28th. Or... (speculate freely here).

Joe has kindly since sent a copy of the poster - see above - and check out the date: 28 December. Looks like the 27 December date was a red herring...

Additional: Bill Swenson has very kindly sent me a scan of that original stub for the 27th December (see below), together with the reverse featuring the Strawbs gig that it was subsequently reused for...

Let's hear it for recycling...

Looks like the mystery is solved. The Strawbs ticket was printed on the back of BOC tix (printed in error) and reused.

I only know about this gig thanks to the newspaper ad above that Rob Beresford kindly sent to me but I did also find a confirmation that the gig took place on this Stooges gig list (they have a photo of Iggy from the gig):

• Iggy-Fan Stooges Gig List

In the "Please help me date these..." section below (where I list all the gigs I think happened in this year but can't currently pin a date on), Dick Wallsmith mentions an Indianapolis gig at an unknown venue, but I don't think this is the same show as Dick seems to indicate that his show was either in late 72 or early 73...

I don't see any mention of the New Years show at the Academy of Music aka Palladium. When they played there it was Kiss first ever {big time} show, and they were 1 of four bands, Kiss opened, Teenage Lust then Iggy Pop then BOC.

Don't think Iggy would remember anything as he fell off the stage into the lighting, he was so F'ed up he couldn't stand.

Like i said about Kiss it was their debut in Rock and i'm pretty sure they could help on this one. You were actully allowed to take pictures back then and i still have the Kiss pictures but have lost the BOC ones. Tis a sad sad day when i think about not having them.

Anyway since your interested i will search for old freinds and i even have all the Circus and Hit Parade and many other rock magazines from back then with the tours of bands in them every month,

Will go over them and get back to you.

I think also that these date(s) were played in 1973 - if you have any info, please let me know:

A buddy of mine was in his 3rd year at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana & I decided to drop in on him on a rainy fall afternoon in 1972. He's got some jams playing on the stereo & we enhanced our conversation with a little pick-me-up so we were having a good time just jammin' along when a neighboring housemate stopped by to check out what we were doing. He had just been out to the local Record store & had about 3 or 4 new albums to check out, so we started looking at his new stuff & one album was so different & cool that we put it on right away.

It was Blue Oyster Cult, with the fantastic cover drawings that made us wonder what kind of new band they were (Gawlik seemed so mysterious), & where they were from. Well, from the start of Transmaniacon MC we were hooked by the guitar army sound and thought the lyrics were so cool as we cranked the volumne up.(Saddam's Boytoy's hogs, no pig at all, you know)

We spent that afternoon listening to this great new record by a band we had no idea of who they were, but we really dug the music. Every song seemed to have it's own killer way of rockin', and by the time Redeemed finished we knew this was a good rockin' record, and band. In fact, Thereof Came The Last Days Of May became THE song of the album for me, it was just so bluesy the way the notes just dripped from Buck's guitar against the beautiful simplicity of the song structure. It wasn't long until that song became one of my alltime favorites, and is to this day.

Onward, we'll fastforward about 6 months to late winter/early spring 1973 and the local Sunday newspaper lists the upcoming concerts in Indianapolis. When I see that BOC is coming to town, I immeadiately tell all my friends about it & make plans to go. The day comes & we get there early enough to get right up close to the stage. We were well prepared for a great show & man did we get it.

By the time they 1st played Indy, their second album, Tyranny & Mutation had came out, so we were treated to a set list from the 2 albums that night, and I mean they pulled out all the stops. I was within 10 feet of Buck (I didn't realize it was the Buck zone yet), and after the full guitar assault through Dizbusters & Hot Rails, they came back with Buck's Boogie & the Red and the Black. Mere words cannot convey the effect & emotion of seeing & hearing this incredible band up close. After the crossed guitars we were all bowing to a new master. They kicked our a** like no other band ever had.

I remember standing there thinking that this was what a Rock & Roll band should look and sound like. Mysterious, intelligent lyrics sang by a leather clad singer, with twin killer guitars that were led by this little a** kicker with ice water in his veins that played so effortlessly. Natural born killers on a rock stage, oh yeah, I was hooked.

I've never been the same since that night, and I've followed them everywhere that I could to see them play. It was a few more years before I got to meet them. I've seen them all over the Midwest & California, in every edition of the band. Thank God they're On Tour Forever.

Saw your website and I was at a show that is not listed. Unfortunately I don't know the date. I was wondering if you did.

It was Blue Oyster Cult with McKendree Spring and Streat. It was at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, NY. All I remember was that it was incredibly loud.

Now I see a date that BOC did with McKendree Spring on 18 Sept 1973 on your website so perhaps it was around that time. Any ideas?

Wow! You have quite the site going on there. I do remember a few dates with BOC. Mike Dreyfuss, our violinist, may remember the specifics. I'll ask him...