1979 is the year Blue Oyster Cult began to lose the plot when they released "Mirrors" - just my opinion, I hasten to add. I recall waiting with such anticipation for this record and then when I eventually got it on the day of release, even now I can still feel the bitter disappointment...
Anyway, that's hardly an objective assessment, and I should mention that within a year, they'd got back into the groove with "Cultosaurus Erectus" so all's well that ends well...
In May, BOC hit Japan for the first time - Godzilla!!! - and Hawaii saw the last of the laser shows. Crippling running expenses and new Federal regulations made it all but impossible to continue with them.
Tours with Ian Hunter and Rainbow preceded another trip to the UK in support of "Mirrors" but - over here at least - attendances were generally down. :-(
This page, as with a great part of the rest of the site, would not have been possible without the help of ex-BOC roadie, Sam Judd, and it's his notes which inform many of the facts contained herein, as well as BOC pyrotechnician, Ken Welch, who has kindly sent along various gig itineries etc for this year...
Have you got anything to contribute to this page? Reviews, missing info, ticket stubs, posters etc etc - if so, let me .
What happened in January? If you know, please let me ...
I was at the 2/15 show, and they played over 2 hours. I remember they opened with Stairway to the Stars. I got 2 Spectres picks, a Buck pick and string, and the lyrics to Lonely Teardrops off the keyboards, which one of the roadies got signed for me. I wish I remembered more of the show. It was great to see BOC in a small dive. I was only 17 and snuck in:)
Alexander's 2/14-15/79 were the only shows I know of with "TNT" and "Shot in the Dark". I was there but have no tape, actually saw the BOC roadies bust a guy taping during the encores, so they might have it;)
They also played "Lonely Teardrops" that night. I used to get smiles and double takes from Buck and Joe by asking to hear Gun and TNT again for years! At Alexanders, Buck actually called TNT "Tough N' Tender", I don't know if that's the full title.
When the show happened, I remember being kind of bummed with all the new songs I didn't know. It was only later the I realized the historic significance of those shows. I still have my T shirt!
This was my 2nd BOC show. I was in the 2nd or 3rd row, and took pics but they didnt come out, since they wouldn't let you use a flash. Truly awesome night.
Funny about that song Gun, I remember talking to Helen about it years later, and she told me they were her lyrics.
I remember asking a roadie about the lasers, and he told me they could not use them in such a small place, and they needed a 6" water main to cool the lasers. I would say Alexander's held less than 500 people. I had tried to see them in another small joint, the Ocean Ice Palace in 1977, but they cancelled. My buddy went to the 2/14 show, I'll try to see if he remembers any more. I had 2 shirts, and sold the other for over $100 on Ebay. I never saw them in a club again until the June 1981 weekend, where I saw them and David Roter
Benefit for Kampuchean refugees...
the kampuchea benefit at the paladium in n.y.c. with cult, utopia, rick derringer and patti smith was probably the best concert i ever attended. meat loaf was not billed for that show but was listed as 'special guest.' he appeared with his female singer as the final act and performed the bulk of bat out of hell with utopia backing him as musicians. i understand todd rundgron and utopia were the studio musicians who recorded that album with meat.
when meat was playing eric's cult logo sg on stage during the bat out of hell set, he was drinking heineken out of the bottle at the same time and spilling beer on the guitar. he also kept banging it against the mike stand. he was so caught up in the performance.
eventually, a cult roadie came out and removed the guitar from him. very happy to come across your site and really am pleased i would be able to contribute.
There was a gig at The Starwood, LA in 1979 - it had to be in 1979 because my oldest boy was just a few months old :)
The ticket was a hand-written deal because I bought it before they were printed :) I'd never seen one before or since! They were printed in duplicate, no-carbon paper style (which was a newer technology in those days) with the venue name at the top and lines to fill out for the date, time, band and signature. I know there was one left over from the group of twenty or so folks that went, but I don't remember who ended up with it.
I remember everyone told me I was crazy, that BOC didn't do club gigs back then. But Sam confirmed it for me on the board:)
Well, BOC were in LA in March recording Mirrors and the Starwood and the Old Waldorf shows would seem to be shows where they could try out new material, much like they did at Alexanders in February.
As for me thinking the date is 19th March, well, I did see part of a sample sentence of an article from Wednesday 21 March 1979 issue of the LA Times entitled "At the Starwood: Underbelly by Any Other Name" which said: "Previous Blue Oyster Cult performances have been at venues like the Forum and Anaheim Stadium - quite a difference)." Another search brought up another sentence from the same issue: "The worst-kept secret of this past month on the local rock scene was that the Soft White Underbelly, Monday night's attraction at the Starwood, was actually... "
The Monday before the Wednesday 21st March was therefore the 19th March.
By the way - the reason I was only able to see parts of a sentence is that the sodding LA Times is "Pay-For-Effing-View"!! Four bastard dollars to see the rest of the artice!! They can frig off!!
NB: I notice on the offical BOC site, they mention that Ray Manzarek joined BOC onstage at the Starwood for "Roadhouse Blues", but give the date as "1978", which is almost certainly incorrect.
Click here to see a website listing the Bottom Line gigs for 1979 and which confirms this show as a Soft White Underbelly gig...
It also mentions Ted Nugent jammed with them. Anecdotally, I've heard that this was a two-set show but this site doesn't refer to 2 sets...
They definitely played this date. The Bottom Line only held about 300-400, and they would clear out the room in between sets. This was a record industry hangout and most tickets were comped.
May 13,1979 was the last BOC Laser show... the end of an era... a fantastic outdoor show in Hawaii...
It was the second night of an outdoor gig we did at the University of Hawaii (not Aloha Stadium) on the way back to the US from Japan...
The lasers drew patterns on the clouds over Wakiki beach... (after Moon Mullins & I spent part of a day with the FAA, explaining how they needed to issue an advisory to pilots climbing out of Honolulu airport to not look directly down the beams if they saw strange lights in the cockpit... (it would have "dazzled" their eyes and they wouldn't have been able to see their instruments for a bit as their eyes adjusted to the low light of the cockpit) )...
Needless to say the FAA weren't very thrilled to allow this (but they did)... as I watched those planes continuously flying thru those beams, I've wondered til this day just how cool did that look for those passengers who saw it...
this was an amazing night, foreigner was the opening band, boc had just released godzilla , and we were in a amphitheater, a small one. we sat in the grass in the front of the stage, a bunch of sailors fresh from the orient, the drag queen looking foreigner guys played a little too long and the guys from boc took exception. an ass kicking ensued. instruments were broken and blood was drawn.
The little guy from boc came out in a wife beater or sleeveless tee, blood dripping from his mouth, and said these words that i can see every time I tell this story. he said "we just came back from the orient , and we had a real good time, but it is verrry nice to be back in the states, we missed it a lot, but the thing we missed the most was those LARGE AMERICAN BREASTS", the place went wild (most of us had recently been over there so we knew)...
The laser show was most impressive, beach balls were flying everywhere, as well as Frisbees (glowers) drunken sailors were abundant. i was thinking when we went in that we were going to be crushed like the people at the who concert that were killed by the crowd entering the concert at the time, but all seemed to make it ok.
It was partly cloudy, and an overall super night. the band made three ovations after they had left the stage, and seemed to want to play all night, we never quit yelling to them to stop. god it was a great night.
NOPE... didn't happen... if there was any opener it was a local band and I don't think there was one at all!! Also, BOC hadn't just released Godzilla - that had been 2 albums and 2 years earlier...
Regarding the "breasts" remark onstage - one of the band members actually DID say that (I actually believe it was Bloom), cause I remember Lanier running over to tell me that he was fucking appalled... I believe Bloom even had said that at a couple of the Jap shows... he was mimicking the line that Steve Martin had made famous a year or 2 earlier on Sat Nite Live while doing one of his appearances as one of the foreign "Festrunk Brothers" (2 WILD & CRAZY GUYS [ SNL transcript link ]) with Danny Ackroyd he commented on American girls with their "Big American Breasts" and it became a buzz phrase for a while...
Incidentally, those frisbees were the bane of the roadies existence at outdoor shows... each and everyone that ever came on stage was cut in half by either Reyer or myself with our trust Buck Knives and tossed back into the crowd - those things can do an amazing amount of damage to stage gear, knocking guits off stands, taking knobs off synths... etc...
Note the poster above is still advertising a laser show - despite the fact that they were now gone for good...
I have a BOC gig poster for a show that is not listed in the database on either of your sites. The poster is from Boise, Idaho and shows a date of May 24th, but no year.
I lived in Boise from early 1979 to early 1980, so I'm fairly certain that this poster is from 1979. If I understand correctly, the "Laser Tour", which is featured prominently on the poster, occurred in '79.
Also, I did not attend this show, so I don't know with 100% certainty that it actually occurred.
1979 seems pretty definite - same promoter and poster layout as the 19 May Cedar Rapids poster.
Obviously, the next thing to do is to find someone who actually went to the gig to show that it definitely took place.
Can anyone help?
Yes that show happened, i was a dj for kbsu that year, did midnight to 4.
The fairgrounds only held 4500 and it was packed, dont remember who opened, my ears rang for 4 days, it was the best, ive seen boc 35 times.
It was in some sort of school gym kind of place. And it was definitely Mahogany Rush as the opener.
I was at school in Moscow (Idaho) during the school year then, and remembered being home in Coeur d alene when my friends and I heard on the radio the Cult were playing Missoula.
We drove over that very day. I had thought it was during summer vacation, but late May 79 could have been the date...
You're missing the next show after Minot: Monday, May 28, 1979, Rapid City, South Dakota, at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.
Mahogany Rush opened. No lasers although they were advertised. I was at the show. I have a ticket stub and a newspaper advert.
I was there and helped Tasco sound with truss lights - I was a young 19 year old right out of High school - Local boy waiting to go in the army - Big fan of BOC - That's all we listened too - Now I have retired from 24 yrs, just back from afganistan - and listening to BOC made me sane, and got me home...
My kids are now hooked - cant wait for them to come here or Sturgis again...
Please come BOC!
This gig was maybe on 8th June (see Marquee photo above). A-1 show for sure.
I remember walking past the sound board and HEAD EAST was spelled out by the lights on the board. Thought that was neat.
I went with a friend of mine, Mike Gyde. Both of us were in the Army and stationed at Fort Polk, La.
Seen BOC as well when they opened for Sabbath. That was in early 74.
I was there at the Cotton Bowl way back in 79 - in fact the concert ticket you have there looks exactly my ticket I posted on a Van Halen site years ago...
First, the band order was:
BOC didn't come on until long after Boston had quit playing and unfortunately most of the crowd had left. My friend and I ran down to field and joined in with the hundreds who were gathered in front of the stage, this in a place that held 70-80 thousand earlier in the day.
Chip Monck came out and said "OK now our 300th band of the day Blue Oyster Cult" - They were still wheeling out cabs and plugging in Bucks stuff while they were playing the first song.
BOC were troopers however and put on a show like it would be their last. I remember they had lasers on one song that scanned around the stadium, you could see pockets of people here and there but unfortunately the place was petty much empty.
Sorry I don't have any setlist details - I remember Transmaniacom MC early on and of course DFTR was still huge at the time.
Now for something completely different: http://hear-rock-city.blogspot.com/
This blog has some radio shows from BOC - one in the July 3-4-5, 1975 time frame and one in 2003.
The Texxas Jam (yes, dos equis) was an annual event in the Hot Dallas Summers and this was the second one.
It was packed, up to 100K full capacity, and the temps were boiling. It was 110 degrees on the field and the plastic tarp covering the turf was melting.
After each act, those of us against the barrier were sprayed with a fire hose. This was many fans first time to see Van Halen. Fights broke out everywhere, people passing out from the heat, drug overdoses and Hot Texas girls in bikinis galore.
BOC would have been slotted in the afternoon, but were pushed back after the "headliners" Boston and Heart so the highly publicized laser show would have it's awesome effect.
In fact, BOC didn't come on until 1:30 a.m. the following morning and there were no lasers; contrary to another post as they had been either dropped by this time or shipped elsewhere.
I know most in attendance left in disappointment and this had an adverse affect on the band's popularity in the area for some time hence.
Nevertheless, they were great. This was mere weeks before Mirrors was released. There are actually badly reproduced b&w photos of this show in the Cultosaurus Erectus tour book.
Only in my teenage years would I have subjected myself to being packed tight in the multitudes on the floor of a stadium in extreme conditions for 15 hours to see this band.
Here's a quote from Eric Bloom at the '79 Columbus GA gig:
"I'd like to ask all my friends to please refrain from throwing anything onto the stage cause it's a real pain in the ass. So if you see someone raising their hands as if to throw something, just go over and bash em' in the mouth. Thank you..."
The Mobile AL gig didn't happen on this date - the reason was that the truck with our entire PA system in it burned the fuck up trying to get to Mobile from Dothan... a brake hung up on the trailer, the tire caught fire and set the trailer ablaze and there she went... at least no one died...
In the first shot above that shows the long skid mark, I'm standing at the back of the trailer with my cutoff shorts on... Ken Welch is to my right and Rick Downey is in the foreground talking to authorities....
We had to hire another PA company (Cameroun Sound out of Miami) to finish that swing... I believe we did the makeup day in Mobile around the 21st... might also have been a show in Biloxi on this swing too... I seem to remember flying home from either there or Mobile... scary takeoff in big jet on SMALL runway... tend to remember those...
So you could put the truck burning in on the 14th instead of Mobile...
OK - those pics are pretty convincing evidence to indicate that the Mobile gig would have been cancelled but the used ticket stub above shows that the Mobile gig did actually take place but - obviously - on what must have been a later date (Sam reckons it was about the 21st June)...
Do you know for sure what date this - rescheduled - gig took place on?
19 June was appparently the release date of "Mirrors" - see the post below...
Mirrors was released on this day. I was at this show and Eric announced it from the stage.
This is the date Sam Judd reckons was the rearranged Mobile date from the 14th June (see above)...
The stub gives no clue as to the date, only that it's been used.
If anyone has any concrete info on this gig, please let me know.
I went to this gig - it was a pickup gig on the Mirrors tour, I dont have a date or stub. I remember it was sold out and my first show.
[PS] I just found my chewed ticket stub, it was 7/19/79 for the Mirrors, MHCC, Poughkeepsie gig. Roadmaster opened...
This was my almost first BOC show. My brother was taking me for my birthday, I just turned 13. My record collection was basically whatever he had. He had On your feet, Some Enchanted and Mirrors. BOC quickly became my favorite band.
Anyway, he had been to tons of concerts, he said, "Don't worry, we'll get tickets when we get there. we don't need to see the opening band." Well, we were waiting in line at the box office which was inside the building.
There was a guy about two people in front of us who got the last ticket. They shut the box office window. I'll never forget, he jumped up and down all pumped at getting the last ticket. He was thin, black hair shoulder length with blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt. His image is branded in my mind.
Anyway, my brother was trying to bribe the guy at the door to let us in, he offered him two twenties, $40, which was pretty good since the tix were probably only $8 a piece. The guy wouldn't let us in.
We were forced to leave as I heard the crowd going nuts as I believe BOC was coming on. When my brother dropped me off at home I'm pretty sure I went into my bedroom and cried.
PS Me and brother just saw them together for the first time in August 2009.
Fantastic. They were promoting this concert with a handbill that publicized 400 kegs of beer being sold. Drinking age 18, bring ID.
They opened show with Stairway to the Stars.
OTHER ACT(S) ON THE BILL: Blue Oyster Cult headlined for Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, Eddie Money, Rockets, Roadmaster.
Info regarding BOC show in St. Louis, MO. Kiel Auditorium show on July 25th, 1979: Opening act was Breathless, followed by The Rockets.
I saw a mention of Hammond Ind show... the only time I DEFFO remember being there was 26 July 79... which incidentally is NOT in the Giglo... vividly remember as I was struck ill leaving St Louis... sicker than I've EVER been on the road... convulsions and total dizziness/nausea/vertigo... just what you need to ride on a bus, yeah??...
I was almost unable to even walk in Hammond, but Rick Downey got a promoters rep (a cute girl named Wendy) to find me an appointment, get me a cab and ride over with me... Doc looked in my left ear and went ARRRGH!!... I said "Wot you mean ARRRRGH??... it's people like you what cause unrest"...
He informed me that I had a SEVERE middle ear infection and that my eardrum was just about to burst... he could not BELIEVE I wasn't writhing in pain, till I told him that my eardrums had burst so many times as a kid, that they were desensitized and he said yes, they do seem to be mostly scar tissue...
Anyway the infection had spread into my lymphatic system and was REALLY bad... he gave me shots and scripts, told me to get at least a week of bed rest and WHATEVER I did DON'T get on an airplane as my eardrum would surely burst...
I was useless the next day and managed to show Downey and a TASCO guy how to set up my shit and I was sent to a hotel there in Louisville... I had to stay there a couple of days till a doc there said it was OK to fly, then went home to ATL and MY doc who gave me even MORE stuff (steroids as he wanted to see me healed completely before I left town again)...
I did not rejoin the tour until Aug 5 in San Diego... I only recently threw away an old medicine bottle from that Hammond pharmacy, or I would have something with a date to scan for you, but as this was the only time I even remember being in Hammond, there's you a NEW gig for our ever growing list...
Check out this great site charting the history of the Civic Center (as well as other local venues):
My first BOC gig: (or, "What the Hell was I doing that Summer?")
At the age of 15, I took off from Big Bear (in the mountains of San Bernardino) with 2 other buddies for a BOC/ Cheap Trick/ UFO/ Pat Travers shindig in San Diego. The plan was to take 2 or 3 buses down there, but it wasn't long before things went haywire. At our first stop, (the Greyhound station in Redlands, IIRC) we were hoodwinked out of most of our cash by a so-called 'brutha', while attempting to procure some sticky buds. With about 10-20 bucks and 3 hits of Red Dragon LSD left between us, we decided to forego the formalities and hitch-hike down to San Diego. (about 150 miles to you, Jack)
Looking back, I am truly amazed to be alive, after this and so many other bouts with utter teenage stupidity & outright adolescent abandon.
Well, we made it down there alright. We had arrived the afternoon before, so decided to clear out a space in the bushes outside the stadium & "camp out" for the night. Several hundred bug bites and one bag of shelled & salted sunflower seeds later, it was finally Showtime! (and I'm certain we looked like a trio of garden-variety homeless mutts by that time) I don't remember a whole lot of details about the show. We dropped our acid on the way in, and it was in The Hands of The Gods from that point on. I DO remember sitting in the stands, looking down at the concrete between my feet and witnessing the extremely RAPID wanderings of about 100,000 imaginary, nearly microscopic, ant-like creatures. (moving about in extremely intricate patterns)
Soon after that little 'moment', I also saw something that I would never forget as long as I live, and this time it was NOT imaginary. Down on the grass, there was a large clearing blocked off for all of the security guards to gather & plan out their daily rounds. Well my eye was suddenly drawn to one particular yellow-shirt, mostly because he looked like the Samoan version of Sasquatch. Yeah, he was at least 6'7" and probably close to 400 lbs. That was certainly already enough to amuse me for quite a while, but when he went down HARD and started to flop around on the ground, it was honestly almost too much to bear. (pun intended) I almost freaked, because reality was beginning to sink in anyway; this behemoth was having a Grand Mal seizure, and our overall situation was not a promising one.
In case you're wondering, YES the music was entirely KICK-ASS, and every band there tore it up in a big way; it was just rather difficult to 'take it all in' so to speak.
Ed Lee and Tom Remlin? If you're out there, feel free to hop right into this tale anytime!
Thanks for listening, it's been many years since I even thought about this... (sorry, but there's no way I could remember the setlist)
I saw BOC play in Aug. of '79 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego to about 50,000 people. It was UFO-Cheap Trick and BOC headlined. Sam was there! who opened? Pat Travers? I can't remember now.
I think Albert once told me the biggest crowd he remembers was in Cleveland at the Municipal stadium.
I believe the afforementioned Jack Murphy stadium gig is usually quoted as the most people at a BOC headline show...
There were some pretty big shows on the Black & Blue tour, but that was co-headline and we usually played before Sabbath just so there wouldn't be any bullshit from the total & complete bunch of bastard tossers in that band... (Vinnie Appice was a nice guy)
At the San Diego show there was also an opening act that I had never heard of... I don't recall with absolute certainty, but it may well have been Shakin' Street - that name rings a bell. I don't have a setlist for this show.
Several friends and I were in San Diego during summer vacation. Imagine the excitement among this group of 16 year olds at the prospect not only of going to see BOC for the first time, but also to see the likes of Cheap Trick and UFO as openers. We were near the nosebleed section of Jack Murphy Stadium, but that did nothing to dim our enthusiasm.
Cheap Trick knocked our socks off, even more than we expected, but that was nothing compared to the headliners. To actually get to see our heroes live after nearly wearing out vinyl copies of Agents, Spectres and SEE (hey, I was NINE when the first album came out...) was sensory overload...
B.O.C kicked ass at least 55,000 + people were loud and rowdy - there was a riot during U.F.O. but they kept playing.
When B.O.C. played Godzilla they made the Roaring noice and the footsteps and the dude said "there he is above the stadium GODZILLA!!!!!!!!!!!" and I looked and I saw Godzilla i was Freaking out (the Asid helped) then a drum solo in the middle of the song with a green laser going from drum to this crystal ball on the stage and it shot the laser all over the Stadium I loved that Fucking show Hot Chicks everywhere I saw this girl I really dug there Her name was Tina Tano and we would hook up.
SET LIST: Not in this order Are you ready to rock, Fire Works, Hot Rails to hell, The Red and the Black, E.T.I., Cities on Flame, Astronomy, Dominance and Submission, Sinful love, Godlizlla, Don't fear the Reaper
OTHER ACT(S) ON THE BILL: U.F.O, Pat Travers, Cheap Trick, Shakin Street
Cheap Trick's management insisted using Electrosound as the sound supplier; I naturally wanted Tasco, our sound company to do the gig. This went back and forth for weeks until the exasperated promoted said he was contracting for Northwest Sound to do it, like it or lump it. Great decision, the system sounded wonderful, one of the best stadium shows I'd ever done!
I don't have any thing from this concert except my memories. I was able to catch this between a tour of duty in South Korea and Fort Bragg, NC. The lineup was:
Roadmaster was absolutely hideous. It remains in my mind as the worst opening band I've ever seen.
Pat Travers rocked the house. They had an amazing on-stage show and we all rocked with them.
Blue Oyster Cult was great as well. Godzilla was the highlight of the show with the drummer coming up after the lights went off with a Godzilla mask and doing a long drum solo (I've always said 5 minute solo, but who was looking at their watches?).
I was so impressed with BOC that they were the first group that I took my daughter to see when she was 5. They performed here at a county fair in 1996.
I enjoyed reading the review above. It brought back a lot of memories, although I don't recall Roadmaster as being that bad. Pat Travers Band was excellent though and made me a fan for life.
BOC were great once again, even though the "Mirrors" album was a bit of a let down for me at the time it was released.
On a side note, a friend and I were vacationing in Seattle right after this. We didn't get tickets for the BOC show there, but did head down to Seattle Center (where the show was taking place) that night and happened to run into Roadmaster while in the Space Needle (a tall observatory tower in Seattle) and chatted with them a bit. They had just finished their set and were doing a bit of sightseeing.
The word was that Travers' own headlining tour hadn't panned out so they joined ours. They had a great band and decidedly held their own every night. The combined bill did very well at the box office.
I saw a mention of this show in the 15 August 1979 edition of The Spokane Daily Chronicle which said: "Warren Butz, assistant director of Spokane Riverfront Park Center, told the board the Aug 9 Blue Oyster Cult rock concert was the largest single event draw in the history of the Coliseum. According to Butz, the city received a gross income of $19,602 from the concert, attended by a capacity audience of 8,500."
I believe you are missing a show from that year during the Mirrors tour. As I recall, that tour ran from Fall of 79 into the Winter of 1980.
They played a show that I saw at McAurthur Court in Eugene, Oregon in early 1980. This my very first BÖC concert I saw. The opening acts were Roadmaster, and Pat Travers.
My first BOC show was in 1979 in Sacramento, California at the summer Cal-Expo State Fair. It was an afternoon concert and the opening band had a female lead singer, but I cannot remember the name of the band. Cheap Trick was the second band on the bill, and a lot of people were wondering why they were not the headliner (Cheap Trick at Budakon was out at that time).
The concert was held at the race track and I estimate at least 35,000 to 40,000 people. Cheap Trick was very good, but BOC was super - they had incredible stage presence, and they played quite a bit from the Mirriors album (very under-rated album).
BOC has always been very good to San Francisco, in fact when you walk the streets of the city, you always see the Boc logo in the concrete - in the poor neighborhoods to the rich neighborhoods.
My first BOC concert and I was aticipating it *very* much. I had only started to get into the band after hearing my brother's "Some Enchanted Evening" (8-track I think?) about 6 months before.
I was only 18 and just graduated HS at the time so I still hadn't been to too many concerts yet. I remember listeing to the Pat Travers Live tape on the way to Sacramento (the one with "Boom, Boom Out go the Lights") and was pleased to be getting 3 major acts on one bill.
I had never been to Cal Expo before and remember getting there in the morning around 10 or 11 and jumping in line. I remember this girl passing out in line and her two friends holding up from falling shouting for help (that was a bit disturbing as one minute, she's right behind us in line and then the next, passed out!) Some others came to the rescure but the line was moving and at last it was my time to see the Cult!
Turns out this venue is/was a horsed track! Beatiful summer day and don't even remember Shakin' Street at all (were they a Dead cover band?) I remember hanging back for Travers and then Cheap Trick but between the Cheap Trick/BOC setbreak, we moved in about 20 to 30 feet from center stage. Perfect! When BOC came on and started off with Dominance & submission, I was ready, and it was everything I hoped it could be! Of course, they were playing a lot of the Mirrors stuff but the Cities On Flame and Hot Rails to Hell were real treats for this first timer. I think at this point, Bloom and Buck were past the crossing guitars bit on Born To Be Wild and they were riding the Harley onstage (instead or had they been doing that for years?) I saw the Cult two more times in the next 12 months (NYE, San Fran, July 4 1980, Oakland).
I've done a little homework research on the BOC shows I've seen in the past, and have a better handle for them now, although there are still some that seem to have slipped through the cracks for some reason, like the Old Waldorf gig of 80-09-06 in San Francisco.
The night before they played under the name Soft White Underbelly in San Jose at a club near my house. It was cool that only those of us who knew were onto them for awhile, and it was a small club, so the impact was intense.
I lived in the Bay Area for about 11 years, and there were so many venues there to see bands, and as BOC came through the area they would gig at several of the smaller places. I saw them in Santa Cruz on 30 Dec, '79, but couldn't catch their New Years Eve show due to mundane commitments.(Wife's company had a big blowout)
Someone on the BB had a thread about who played with them from time to time, well I said one of the best shows was when Pat Travers, Cheap Trick and Blue Oyster Cult played an afternoon/evening gig at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Ca. It was my 18 month old daughter Jamaica's 1st concert, and everyone had a great day in the sun.
After the show I hooked up with a buddy that had a roommate that was a local DJ at the station that had sponsored the gig. We ended up going to the radio station, as BOC was doing an interview afterwards. We hung out " eventually got to meet the guys as they were partying at the station.
That was August 19, 1979 "I'll never forget it. The radio station was KOME 98.5 FM, and the DJ's air name was Dennis Erectus, kind of a grungy, but very popular radio guy that would go to any length to shock his listeners. I always wondered if he got his name from Cultosaurus Erectus, but never got the chance to ask him.
Anyway, it was a very cool night at the radio station, I got lucky enough to finally meet the band " through the years that concert has always been a favorite of mine. Pat Travers literally kicked ass, and Cheap Trick were heading for stardom with all the antics of Rick Nielson. But, BOC was just killer of course.
I was at this show. The opening bands were Shakin Street and Pat Travers Band.
Links to youTube clips from this filming:
From what Sam says below, it would appear these clips were from this filming day - although Barry confirms that some filming was done the next night also during the actual gig itself to add to the mix.
Funny the tags are dated Oct 16... must have been when it was edited, cause they were filmed Aug 21... the night (and day) before the actual show we played in there
I don't really remember any filming even taking place the night of the actual show... kinda DARK ain't it... that's the first clue as to why it never saw the light of day...
Bet they played that song 50 times trying to get it right... filming that day ran from about 10:30 AM till about 2 or 3 the next morning... to try and get 3 songs... none of which ever saw the light of day...
The bulk of the filming was done the day and night before... with what they call in the biz "Pick-Up Shots" being done on the night there was a small crowd of contest wieners allowed admittance... just the shots that would have shown a crowd... and I didn't see any of those in the finished product i don't think...
As a for instance, there is ONE shot of Allen playing the intro of Joan Crawford live on-stage in the beginning of the Joan Crawford video... that was one of the many "Pick-Up" shots filmed on 23 July 81 at Swing Aud in San Berdoo... I think it was the only one used out of all the pain in the ass filming done at that show...
The thinking was that live shots of the band onstage might be inter-cut into both the "Joan" and "Burnin" vids... didn't happen... massive trouble and expense for nothing
That Berkeley shoot probably cost every bit of 250,000 bucks (VERY high priced union stagehands, grips, carpenters, electricians, etc standing around doing fuck-all for 16 hours at astronomical hourly rates... it could have been shot in ATL for 50K) and probably another 100K for editing... and for what??
What a waste of time and money.... it's kewl that there is a record of it now at this late date, but there was zero return on the band's investment on it to them...
Absolutely - it's fantastic that stuff like this finally sees the light of day. Also, if it really cost the band a quarter mil as Sam says then it would be a terrible waste not to put some more of it up there as well!
The way that shite worked back in the days of the big record companies and Promo videos (remember, this was pre-MTV even) was that the record Co paid for all this stuff, but they got that money back out of your royalties from sales before you got a DIME...
I have no idea where they thought this thing was gonna be used... Kirshner's "In Concert" or "Midnight Special" maybe????
That type biz arrangement is why the other members of BOC hate even the mention of that "Imaginos" piece of crap... when they agreed to finish Albert's little de-railed project and release it as a BOC album (as a favor to Sandy Pearlman), they didn't realize that at that point CBS began subtracting all the CBS advance expense money (almost 1/2 a mil) that Albert had squandered over the years of pretending to make his "solo epic" from the OTHER BOC members royalties that HAD BEEN coming in from their OTHER albums... cost them all about 200K apiece to release Imaginos... several years before they started seeing royalty checks again... kinda left a bad taste in their mouth dontcha know...
THEY ended up paying all the expenses that Albert had gone thru... and of course the thing never made a nickel as it was pretty much released straight into the cut-out racks...
The seamier side of the R&R BIZ...
As best as I can remember, they played Dr. Music, In Thee, Mirrors and Great Sun Jester. Perhaps the Vigil too, but I'm not positive about that one. We also got Hot Rails and Dominance & Submission. I'm pretty sure they also did ME262 and of course they played DFTR. Twice, in fact. A few of the songs were played twice to provide different camera angles.
A malfunctioning string of pyro sparklers caught fire and burned through the string itself, sending the flaming rope of sparklers crashing to the stage floor. Lots of fun. Eric joked about the acoustic guitar he played during In Thee.
We won tickets on the radio, and the silver BOC tour jacket that I donated to the raffle for Sam was one of the prizes. We also got a copy of Mirrors (LP Record) autographed by Eric Bloom. I have have never seen any of the actual footage that was shot that night until now.
It was pretty much a full gig, but due to the repeats it probably wasn't quite as long as the normal setlists of the day.
I'm not sure if the whole thing was filmed but it seemed like it was. At least a majority of the songs were filmed as far as I could tell.
The sad part of it all was that the auditorium was nowhere near full, and I knew lots of folks who would have given their eye teeth to attend the filming if they'd only been given the chance to do so.
Pat Travers opened... "Boom Boom OUT GO THE LITES"...
About 6 of my friends and I went to the UCLA campus on a sizzling hot weekend afternoon to get in line for the festival-type seating at Pauley Pavillion. As I recall it was advertised as a "dance" seating arrangement for the floor, and reserved seating for the bleachers. I thought that was an odd word to use for a seating arrangement for a Blue Oyster Cult concert.
Anyway we arrived there awfully early...it was in the mid morning. We were in such a hurry to get in line we accidentally spilled our cooler filled with ice cold Miller Hi-Life bottles and broke almost every one. It wasn't really embarrassing because we were on the uncrowded side of the arena and there was no one around to see this happen. But it really put a mute on the rest of the day because none of wanted to leave to get more beer...this in fear of losing our choice parking spot.
So we had to ration our dope and what little beer was salvaged in order to last us 10 hours or so.
But once we got in the arena everything was OK! We had great seats. They were touring "Mirrors" and they opened with "Dr. Music." Buck Dharma wore all black. Other songs I recall were "Godzilla" (which featured Albert Bouchard wearing a huge Godzilla mask during the strobe-lit drum solo), ME262, Cities On Flame, Harvester, Mirrors (in which Joe Bouchard and who knows who else left with the duty of singing the backing vocals, which didn't sound very good.)
Of course they did "The Reaper" for their encore, but I vividly remember during "The Vigil" Buck having guitar jack problems on his black Gibson Explorer. I have one too...and I have replaced two jacks on it (poor design.) It happened through most of the song...his guitar silenced, then energized, then slienced...all within fractions of a second. He was very annoyed by it I could tell. I felt sorry for him.
Also during "In Thee" they should've had Buck play the acoustic guitar... not Eric. Then during the solo Buck could have taken it. I am suprised their music director couldn't catch on to that.
But it was still a great BÖC concert... my favorite of all time.
Pat Travers opened, by the way... the line-up was himself, Patrick Thrall (guitar), Peter Mars Cowling (bass frequency guitar), and Tommy Aldridge (Battery). They really kicked ass too.
I was into "Don't Fear The Reaper" and "Godzilla" and I didn't know anything from the Mirrors album but we went just on the strength of the songs we knew. I had heard some crazy stories about BOC using lasers at their concerts--that they would shoot them out of the ends of their guitars at frisbees and stuff--and ridiculous as they sound now, I bought into it.
They had a huge light show that was really cool... but no lasers. The guitarists had mirrors or some kind of reflective stuff on the backs of their guitars that they would use to reflect the lightshow. During one song they help up their guitars and ground the necks up against each other.
The opening act was Ian Hunter, formerly of Mott the Hoople. I believe he was touring his You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic album but I didn't know his stuff. I remember him getting the crowd to chant an anti-Exxon slogan at one point. Maybe he was an environmentalist or something?
This gig date - together with the support act info - is confirmed on Don Thompson's excellent LookAtStubs site.
This concert was cancelled the day of the show. There were about 7 or 8 of us that all had tickets. We all met to form a caravan to go to the concert when the cancelation was anounced.
I think I remember, the bands didn't like the acoustics of the venue... so they cancelled. We were disapointed and refunded the tickets.
FLY BY NIGHT was a local band, they had nothing to do with Rush. I think they might still be active?
My first BOC show it was the mirrors tour 1979 i thought they were kick ass they played 5 songs in a row from the album starting with Dr Music.
I remember watching the guy 3 rows in front of me dancing on the railing at the Boston Garden - also a security carrying a young girl passed out.
They played a long time awesome strobe lite show Flaming Telepaths. I remember mirrors mounted on the back of there guitars which would reflect the spot lites back into the crowd.
Since then I've seem them 14 times and go every time they come around
Confirmed by the Civic Center venue website and gives the attendance as 5,477 (out of a maximum "sell out" capacity of 9500): click here...
Here's a link to some photos from this gig:
One thing I can confirm about this gig was that Ian Hunter was indeed the support act, otherwise how else would they all have ended up together "Going Through The Motions":
That's the Late, Great, Mick Ronson with the blonde Les Paul guitar in between Buck and Eric...
I remember that night, but thought the song they jammed on was "Maserati GT"... the Sax says otherwise...
You might be right. I remember for sure they did do "Going Through The Motions"... you can see Ian still has the words in his hand...
They might have done a rocker like "Maserati GT" right after to end the show...
Now it's coming back... I think Ian came out alone to do "Going Through The Motions", then the rest of his band joined in to close with a rocker... could very well have been "Maserati GT"...
Were Rainbow the support for this gig?
Yes, Rainbow opened. I remember waiting for 6 hours in the cold to get 2nd row for the new haven show, on the mirrors tour.
Rockets were noise, BOC played about 90 min. I recall the best song of the night was the Vigil.
Within 4 years they were playing clubs again.
At the gig in Glen Falls NY on Sept 19th 1979 someone threw some firecrackers on stage and Eric stopped the show and told the crowd to beat the hell out of whoever was doing it.
Security was down on the floor fast and the offending person removed before anybody got to them.
Could this gig have taken place on the 27th September?
There used to be a site run by a guy called Nigel Young which featured known Rainbow dates and he had the following info:
"19.09.79 Glens Falls Civic Center New York, USA - seems to have been cancelled and rescheduled for the 27th September."
You have a question about the September 19, 1979 concert in Glens Falls NY.
I have the ticket stub confirming that date. I can't believe I only paid $8.50 to see them.
Great site!
You questioned the actual date of this show - I can provide my stub plus I have an entry in my notebook both stating that the concert was held on 19 Sept and not 27.
I believe that if concert was actually held on 27 I would have written 27 in my notes. I was very meticulous with my record keeping at that time even going so far as to keep entries of every album that I would buy, when and where I bought them and the price paid!
This was a hometown gig for me as I lived about a mile from the venue. Managed to score 2nd row seats at this new Civic Center that had only opened earlier that year.
This was my very first concert. Skipped the last class of school that day, Popped a hit of something, Hopped in a friends car and away we went.
Got to Binghamton at our peek. By the end of the night, I thought to myself "I want to be a GROUPY when I grow up"... ha ha ha.... (Which I never did)...
I was the chick that smelt like BONG water, spilled the bong on me hours before the concert... UCK!!
I just found your site doing a Google search on BOC and found it to be very entertaining and informative !!
I can offer one update for the 1979 gig list. The opening act for the show at Erie, Pennsylvania at the Erie County Field House on Sept, 27 was Rainbow.
I was at that show. It was a great bill by both bands. Blackmore blew the crowd, and most of our ear drums away !!
And BOC put on their usual great show topped by Eric riding his motorcycle on stage for Born to be Wild.
This was my second time seeing Blue Oyster Cult. I was all ready to be blown away again as I had seen them on the Spectres Tour in Buffalo in March of 1978. Unfortunately, for me, this show turned out to be somewhat of a letdown. I'll explain. Rainbow was the opening act.
I had never seen Deep Purple or Ritchie Blackmore live before, and I've gotta tell you, they really stole the show. Ritchie was absolutely ON FIRE this night. Poor Buck didn't stand a chance and he was pretty much blown off stage by Ritchie. And this is coming from a guy who worships Buck's guitar playing. This was the Rainbow with Graham Bonnet on vocals and the late, great Cozy Powell on drums. I remember the song "Stargazer" very well. Awesome tune. Like I said, Ritchie was red hot. I think he was out for blood that night.
After being stunned by Blackmore, BOC hit the stage. They opened with "Dominance & Submission" and I noticed almost immediately that the energy just wasn't there. It was even more noticeable when they did the songs from the Mirrors album. It was rather strange to see them playing "In Thee" and "The Great Sun Jester" with acoustic guitars. They're decent enough songs on record, but live???
They did manage to pick things up a bit with "ETI", "Astronomy" and "Hot Rails To Hell" but I still wasn't getting blown away. Another letdown for me was the absence of lasers. I would have to get used to that in years to come. Toward the end of the set they started to wake up a bit and "Godzilla" and "The Reaper" sounded great as it should have. I don't know what happened at this show. Maybe it was me. Maybe I wasn't stoned enough (HA HA)!!
I guess it was Rainbow's fault. They were just too hot and BOC were just lukewarm. It must have been an off night for them. The Cult Boys were to redeem themseves a year later, however, during the Cultosaurus Tour. A much better tour and much better album than Mirrors.
Can't win 'em all, right?
30 sept 1979 baltimore civic center; opening act was rainbow with graham bonnet on vocals; BOC used fog and lights and rode a Harley onstage during born to be wild - great show!
Oct-2-79 - Veterans Memorial Auditorium (Stub says "Hall" but "Auditorium" is correct) -- Columbus Ohio Rainbow opening act
I remember being disappointed that there were no lasers, but still a great show I also remember being happy they played Dominance and submission.
Someone threw an apple at the stage, which prompted Eric to stop the show during Dom and Submission to ask that people stop throwing things (an unfortunate pastime during 70s shows -- I never understood it -- sometimes people threw firecrackers)
I was at this show (just turned 15) and I still remember when someone threw something on the stage (to this day I didn't know what it was, but thanks for clarifying it was an apple). I believe it was during the song "Dr. Music" and if memory serves, Mr. Bloom asked the people around the guy who threw it to kick his ass. Rock 'n' Roll...
This was the first concert that I ever went to. I was 16 and BOC was my favorite band. Rainbow (w/ Graham Bonnett) opened the show and were fantastic. A great way to start the night.
BOC had a little technical trouble with Buck's Guitar during the first song (Dr. Music) but quickly got it going and rocked the place.
I remember something being thrown on stage and hitting Eric who stopped the show and said they would walk if it happened again. He also said to kick the guy's ass who threw the stuff on stage. I thought it was a frisbee... time and rock and roll have worn on my memory so I could be wrong.
I've since seen BOC over 36 times and they have never failed to put on a kick ass show.
ps any one have a recording of this show I would love to add to my collection
Madison, Wisconsin show. You have the date but no set list:
Two days later I saw them in Chicago, but did not write set list, but see that you have one.
I do not have OD'd on my Madison list which looks like the only differance. They always liked Chicago better! HA HA HA!
Blue Oyster Cult 10/12/79 International Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL - the support was Rainbow.
At the 14 Oct 1979 show in Springfield Missouri at the Hammons Center there was a mini-programme handed out at the show from either Maxell or TDK or some other cassette manufacturer. When opened, it was a full photo of the band wearing the satin baseball jackets that were offered for sale via mail inside the program. Very shrewd marketing.
Rainbow was scheduled to open, but cancelled due to someone being ill. Eric made a comment along the lines of "the British don't travel that well in the US...." during the show.
It was a long show. A friend of ours was sitting in the lower level to the left of the stage with a good 35mm camera and took a very good shot during Buck's Boogie. Allen Lanier was wearing his dark shades and appeared to be looking straight into the camera.
My brother Mike had the picture blown up and framed. It hung on the wall wherever he lived for a very long time.
With Rainbow cancelling the previous gig in Springfield and the next night after this gig in Indianapolis, you have to wonder if they cancelled this gig also.
So - does anyone know if Rainbow played this gig or not?
Blue Oyster Cult - October 18th, 1979 - Indianapolis, Indiana @ Market Square Arena
Band Performance Order:
The Blue Oyster Cult set for this concert was extraordinarily long because a roadie stepped up to the microphone and announced that Rainbow would not be playing that evening. The crowd almost started rioting until the roadie angrily shouted into the microphone that one of the Rainbow band members was injured in a car accident. The crowd settled down quickly and waited for Blue Oyster Cult to take the stage.
They did about a 3 hour show. It was really, REALLY long. I never did any research to see if the car accident was true or just a way to keep the crowd from rioting.
One of my favorite memories of seeing BOC was actually my first time. I saw them at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana. I believe it was in 1979 on the "Mirrors" tour.
The friend who had gotten me into BOC and I went and I had told him that "Dominance and Submission" and "The Vigil" were probably my two favorite songs of theirs. He had seen them many times before and had not seen either of those songs in concert before... well, you guessed it... they opened the show with "Dominance" and fulfilled my wildest hopes by performing "The Vigil" about 1/2 way through their set!!!!
FANTASTIC!
The opening act was the HOUNDS not the dogs.
NO WAY did they play 3 hours. Perhaps to some of the pot addled teens it seemed like 3 hours But I can tell you with all sincerity that the set was only padded by 3-4 songs.
The official BOC site has this show down as the 19th October.
I've been in contact with the guy who does the main Rainbow site and he confirms that this the BOC/Rainbow gig at the Freedom Hall Civic Center took place on the 19th Oct 1979.
If anybody knows for sure, please let me know.
Oct. 20, 1979. Blue Oyster Cult, Johnson City, Tennessee. My ticket stub states the 20th and I don't remember it being postponed from the 19th. So, I'd say it's the 20th. As I recall, we made a last minute decision to attend and got there as the opening band was finishing up.
As I recall, the opening band was, oddly, Robert Palmer! I got to hear part of his last song but didn't make it inside to actually see him. I'm pretty sure it was Robert Palmer. I'm positive I never went to any show that Rainbow appeared at. Perhaps a search of Robert Palmer concert lists might prove helpful?
I just got off the phone with a friend who's long been a big BOC fan. He could remember seeing Robert Palmer but couldn't remember who with. So, that's possibly some collaboration for my memory. If I find my notebook, it'll definitely have it written down.
There's a useful blog that charts the story of all the acts who played the Freedom Hall here:
They list the show as the 20th October, but list Rainbow as the support... That leaves the mystery of a possible Robert Palmer support slot still hanging...
Anybody with any concrete info on this show - please get in touch!!
Wow! I am very impressed by your website! The setlist is amazing, but I would like to give you a slight change of information - on your entry for Oct. 24, 1979 in Springfield, IL the actual venue was The Armory, not the Illinois State Fair.
The Armory was a popular venue for concerts in the 70's and 80's. This was also the first time I'd seen BOC in concert - I had been waiting forever for them to play in town again, and was highly impressed (I still have the t-shirt from the show!)
Memories fade for me on this one as it was a rough night. My good friends Terry (he had the van), Dano (yo-yo) and Toto (another Dan) headed to the Twin Cities from La Crosse. I was still in High school and my folks were not happy with the fact that my 1st real concert would be with this band on an overnight trip. Well, as you can see I lived to tell about it.
Rocket and Black Oak opened... Black Oak was cool... Rocket... eh.. I remember the 1st hit of weed I took (yes my 1st) coughed for what seemed for ever, but we snuck in a bunch of 8 oz bottles of Blatz light Cream ale and a jug of wine... you could have almost dressed a quarter barrel up as a friend and wheeled it in.
All I really remember about BOC is that I was totally gobsmacked to be there. We were in the back part of the arena, Bloom/Lanier side 1st level off the floor bout 1/2 way up. The energy, sound, vibe, realization that I am at a BOC show numbed me. The entire show was intrancing...
Then came Zilla, Hot Rails, 5 guitars and an explosion of pyro that tossed me back almost 2 rows as Born to be Wild (took me by surprise) ended the show... Sweet Mother of Pearl!!!!!!!!!!!!! then the encore of Reaper... The smile was not gone for a week!
Checkout Mark's BOC pages...
Whoops! Someone boobed.
The Brighton Conference Centre is a vast seaside meeting place, frequented by political parties, the TUC and grey-suited men. Sometimes they feature rock and roll bands, but the place is entirely unsuited to the spirit of the beast.
Maybe it's the absence of lasers or the commercial failure of "Mirrors", but there was no danger of Blue Öyster Cult packing out this 6000 capacity hall. If this opening night was indicative of BÖC's current drawing power in these shores, then someone is going to be doing a lot of hard thinking in two weeks time when the accounts have to be settled.
The band stuck it out through a combination of a new found enthusiasm and sheer bloody mindedness. They've been playing in clubs back home and there is a straighter cutting edge to their performance as a result.
Hell, they even open up with "Dominance and Submission".
The difference between this show and the last time BÖC toured here is that "Spectres" material is replaced by "Mirrors" tunes and no-one is too sure whether they approve.
If Meltzer's absurd "Dr. Music" is gutsier on a stage than on plastic, then the band certainly didn't do justice to either of their potential production numbers - "The Great Sun Jester" and "The Vigil". Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma couldn't be faulted for their vocals, but the momentum of these dual tales of star-fallen icons and star-gazing humanoids simply flew into the rafters and refused to come down.
All credit to the Cult though for refusing to be down-hearted by the open spaces. Roeser's lead work on "Mirrors" captured the subtlety of the song and Albert Bouchard's delivery of "Cities on Flame" was nothing short of gonzo magic; serious heat.
Now the Cult have said goodbye to their lasers there are no visual distractions in the middle of the set. They've also said goodbye to the people who only come to check out the beams. Good riddance is the conclusion if this "Astronomy" was an indication of how they fare without 'em.
Dharma flips in and out of Bloom's pure vocal and Allen Lanier's prophet keyboard with the dexterity of a mini-Hendrix, for sheer melody this is ounce for ounce classic Cult.
"ETI" was similarly inspired but "Me262" drags on like an old relationship. It's dull as ditchwater and they should kiss it off for good.
In any case, "Godzilla" is a superior example of their warped dynamics, leading to the high point of the evening, the third world war definition of heavy metal that segues Joe Bouchard's admirable "Hot Rails to Hell" into "Born to be Wild" and the inevitable "Reaper". I'd go for the closing chords of the single hit, a fine song but definite millstone.
The final 20 minutes suggested that BÖC should have their jet lag and initial looseness ironed out by the time this show hits the provinces. Maybe they'll let Bloom ride his Harley Chopper onstage at Newcastle; it would certainly be funnier than watching the pod explosions fail to go bang!
Overall, this Brighton rock was average Cult. If they leant more heavily on their repertoire and allowed a greater degree of flexibility into the set then Britain would see the band operate at the same intensity they generated in the clubs.
They're old and practiced sea dogs these days, the elements of surprise are inherent in their make-up. BÖC can still burn your eyes and melt your ears.
When I look back at this gig, all my memories are of stuff not to do with BOC!!
I remember queuing outside for ages in long switchback lines and meeting old friends. I remember flashes of Magnum, the support band and then BOC in the distance. They only did three songs off "Mirrors" and I remember being happy at that - I'd been expecting more as they were touring in support of that record.
Don't get me wrong - the songs they did off that were fine - it's just that I didn't appreciate that record at the time - maybe not even now... apart from "The Vigil" and "I am the Storm", of course...
After the gig, I got a lift into the centre of Leeds and popped into the hotel where BOC were staying and met them in the bar. For some reason, I pretended I was with a national music paper and interviewed Buck - I used to write reviews for one and still had my pass... (I admit, I'm a bit ashamed of such behaviour - although, I did have previous!! When I interviewed Joe Bouchard in 1978 in London, I think they somehow got the idea I was with a national newspaper then also... oh dear...
After my deception, I wandered down to the Leeds train station and spent the night being thrown out of the all-night café there. I went to a lot of gigs in Leeds (more usually at the University) and that all-night café was great when you were waiting for the first morning train... the first gig I did that for was the Runaways and the last was probably Iggy Pop...
Those were the days...
I have just come across your website after listening to Don't fear the Reaper on youtube, which then lead me to think "When did an ex girlfriend take me to see the BOC for my 18th birthday".
And bingo after a internet search I found your site and there it is a concert at the Hammersmith Odeon for Wednesday the 7th of Nov 1979.
I can't add much to the record other than to say that we were in the circle when they played Don't fear and two of them reversed their guitars which were polished on the back and reflected back into the audience the spot lights.
I remember that more than if I also got a birthday treat after the concert.
Keep up the good work.
I was 18. It was definitely November 9th not the 10th because I know we had classes that day and a quick look at an online calendar for 1979 tells me this was a Friday and I also know that on no other day of the week would I have been as drunk as I remember being that early in the evening during my first term as a student. Friday's last class, for me and one of my show-going companions, finished at 1.45pm, cue the official start of the weekend and a general stampede to the student union bar.
5 of us went from Portsmouth to Southampton in a Ford Fiesta. Me, Michelle, George, Neil and Michelle's boyfriend, Bimbo (don't ask, I don't know). 2 of us - Michelle, who owned the car, and myself - were very drunk. George and Neil, who finished classes an hour or so after us, were well on the way to being very drunk. Bimbo had preferred to swallow, smoke, inhale and/or mainline industrial quantities of illicit substances rather than drink therefore we judged it perfectly safe for him to drive.
I was the only one in the car who had even heard of Blue Oyster Cult before and I was the one who had bullied, begged and badgered my companions into coming with me. I was also the one who provided the in-car entertainment, it was OYFOOYK on a home-recorded cassette tape since in those days they hadn't yet come up with a satisfactory way to play vinyl in a car... still haven't come to think of it.
I remember the Gaumont Theatre very well, I saw many gigs there when I was a student in Portsmouth and I know we were on the balcony that night. I have a vivid recollection of leaning over the balcony and immediately wishing I hadn't because it made me feel seasick to see all the heads bobbing around below me so I passed the rest of the show some way back. The Gaumont wasn't a huge theatre but the band members seemed very small (ok ok I know that now) and far away.
It was packed, hot and very loud and the floor seemed to be shaking from the vibrations of the music but that sensation may also have been caused by the onset of delirium tremens as my blood alcohol levels subsided slightly.
I know they played Astronomy, I'd been hoping they would, and that did register, even in my fuzzy drunken state it was amazing and I know they played several songs from Mirrors (I hadn't yet got my hands on a copy) I didn't know them but I think I hummed tunelessly along to them anyway. I know they did the 5 guitars.
I seem to recall Born to be Wild but that may be a 'subliminal' memory planted by my reading of the other setlists from that tour. The thing is, although I have never heard that song live at any other show, I do have a very strong conviction I have seen it performed live so Southampton '79 would have to be the one.
I also know they finished with Reaper because just as it finished my very drunk friend Michelle came round from the coma she had spent the rest of the show in and exclaimed loudly, 'Ooh I like this one!' (apparently the only one that had registered with her when I had force-fed her my BOC albums some days prior to the show) before passing out again as the house lights came up and the doormen started moving in to eject us.
That's it, that's all I know.
The set list for Manchester Apollo on 11th November 1979 was:
I went to the Leicester gig 12th November 1979, the venue was changed at the last minute, I seem to think I found out on the day, to Granby Hall in Leicester.
The reason given was that the US tour equipment wouldn't fit in De Montfort Hall. I recall Magnum were the support band, after every song Bob Catley kept plugging their new album Magnum II.
Cracking gig by BOC, I have a program and plectrum, not sure about the T-shirt and sweatshirt (sadly both were a bit naff design wise!)
What you said about the equipment being unable to fit inside sounded strange. BOC played the De Montfort the year before with a full laser rig and it was OK then - 1979 was cut down kit.
I wonder if it had anything to do with poor potential ticket sales - hence a move to a smaller venue? Mind you, is the "Granby Halls" a smaller venue?
Well, I bought OYFOOYK when it had just been released. I was 14 and a glass collector in a hotel, after school. A much older and wiser 16 year old colleague persuaded me to give him some cash so he could buy me the album. (I guess he taped it before handing it over). Actually, he had recently lent me his Rainbow On Stage album and introduced me to Richie Blackmore and loud rock - I think he thought I was to be his disciple!!
But, well, when I heard BOC- it was just amazing , especially having no real knowledge of music other than top of the chart stuff - oh dear... I'm remembering that little Jimmy Osmond single I bought.
So, I spent the next couple of years wearing out the record, and spreading the message. I bought Spectres next, then I got my Nan to buy me Some Enchanted Evening for my birthday - she was surprised as she remembered "that lovely record".
I live near Cardiff in Wales when out of the blue, a UK BOC Tour brought them to Sofia Gardens in Cardiff in November 1979. This was the Mirrors Tour. So, we missed school about a dozen of us to get our tickets.
I remember it was a wet night because, after the concert, I was able to slide a black BOC poster off a billboard. This was on my bedroom wall for many years.
I remember being at the front of the queue on concert night. We could see BOC eating a pre-concert meal in the canteen. Once in, we had to run to the front of stage when the doors opened, as it was pretty badly controlled. I think it was Magnum in support.
I remember being blown away by Buck's playing, just like on the album, but with loudness, and reality in a white suit!! Eric was dynamic. In fact, just superb. They had mirrors on the back of the guitars which they turned over when hit by a spotlight to pan around the audience. All the band did the five guitar scene. I can feel the heat now of all the bodies behind me, and fireworks and lighting really close in front. We got showered by the fireworks. Someone from school got a drumstick and someone else a plectrum. My ears buzzed for days.
Roll forward now to 2002. Middle aged bloke going on Amazon to find a CD version of OYFOOYK, which someone had borrowed and not returned. Found a link to BOC website, still going. Yet, a music magazine had told us they had split in 1982.
The link said they were in Swansea, Wales UK, so one middle aged bloke on his own goes to see... maybe a BOC cover band. Nope, it was the real deal. So, this year, girlfriend in tow, we are doing London and Swansea. A Tale of Two Cities on Flame... with Rock 'N Roll!!!!!
Gamma opened this one. I see you already have an accurate setlist so I won't send one.
Having seen the band in San Diego almost 5 months earlier, I couldn't wait to see them again in my own town. 1979 was a pretty exciting time for a high schooler as far as concerts rolling through town: J. Geils Band/Head East in April, Van Halen in early October, REO Speedwagon/Molly Hatchet a week later, and this was the days of $10 shows. And guess who's coming right after Christmas...?
I still remember the radio commercials promoting the 27 December BOC show, playing bits of Mirrors. Didn't have that album yet, but I knew it just had to be stellar...
Most concerts at the coliseum in those days were general admission. Naturally we arrived early enough to acquire positions on the floor, perhaps 10 metres from the stage. With Mom's Kodak Instamatic I was able to get a bunch of great photos of Ronnie Montrose (while I was not very familiar with him at age 16, I knew he was *somebody*) during Gamma's set. Later I got some excellent shots of Eric Bloom playing a logo-shaped guitar. I'm sure I got more that don't currently come to mind, but it pains me to say that I misplaced all these photos some years or decades ago...
Lasers, a Harley-Davidson onstage, five guitars: this was classic Blue Oyster Cult at their peak. I thank my lucky stars that I was able to witness it. I'm also grateful every time I get to see them now, most recently at Arizona Bike Week 2006.
BOC was the headliner. Ronnie Montrose's newly-formed Gamma, followed by The Pat Travers Band were the opening acts. What a fantastic night of Rock N Roll it was.
Gamma opened up to a scant crowd due to the typically stoned and late SoCal concert crowds of the time. Those who were too stoned or late missed out on Ronnie, tearing it up with a solid cast of characters backing him up through a spendid array of Montrose classics and a sprinkling of their new material.
Pat Travers was riding a wave of newfound success created by his hit, "Boom Boom, Out Go The Lights". Boom Boom was definitely a crowd-pleaser, but the highlight of the night in my opinion was the drumming of Tommy Aldridge. His bare-handed solo (a la John Bonham) was one of the most magnificent displays of percussion I have ever witnessed and normally I find drum solos somewhat tedious.
BOC was the headliner for a reason. They just flat-out rocked the roof off of the place. The playing was tight through all of the standards, as well as the newer material.
The accompanying lightshow and pyrotechnics were beyond belief and didn't miss a hitch. The highlight of the show for me was Godzilla. Seeing BOC jam on what is my favorite tune of theirs, with a huge inflated Godzilla floating above them blew my 16 year old mind.
I am a huge boc fan, in fact just saw them here in the San Francisco area for the 16th time [20 July 2009].
I wanted to contribute a little note for a specific date they played in Santa Cruz CA Sunday DEC 30 1979, I went to the second show at 10:30pm and midway into the 2 song Buck completely passed out on stage!!!!, roadies came out, picked him up, and took him off, and about 10 minutes later they canceled the concert!
Now Santa Cruz CA is very far from the San Francisco bay area so it was a total drag to leave at 11pm driving home half stoned for a hour and a half to get home... well that's my little story, love your site man
This was the debut of the big Godzilla set piece. I remember this show pretty well. It was the first time I met Dave Pier of MPA. New Years Eve was the Cow Palace.
I busted my ass all day making up lots of crazy extra pyro. The show itself kicked ass.
The next day I took one of my most awesome pictures ever... a shot from the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge looking south at a low hanging cloud bank totally covering up the city of San Fran. I think Hatchet was with me on this trip.
We also went to the wharf and ate. It was a very good day. I was in a red-letter mood for sure. This marked the end of my first full tour.
Perhaps one of the most memorable BOC shows of my youth, this performance showcased the band at the peak of their late 70's arena rock phase.
A stellar set by Gamma, the new band Ronnie Montrose formed after the demise of his self titled band got the show off to an electrifying start. Playing a fire engine red Stratocaster, Montrose wowed the crowd with his considerable array of guitar pyrotechnics.
The real spectacle was still to come however, as BÖC was bringing their legendary laser show to the Bay Area for the second, and final time before it was ultimately banned by the government. They had previously unveiled the lasers at a prior Winterland performance; but since that was a relatively small venue in comparison, not very many people had borne witness to the lasers. The 12,000 seat Cow Palace was sold out for this much anticipated show, and the crowd was ready to rock.
So it was only appropriate that the band opened with RU Ready to Rock, and catapulted into a set which amongst the usual concert staples included Golden Age of Leather, and the 5 guitars during Hot Rails to Hell for a nice change of pace.
An extended bass solo by Joe Bouchard still stands out in my mind as the single most impressive feat of bass playing I've ever witnessed. He brought the whole thing back to earth with a brief segue way into the unmistakable bass line from Pink Floyd's "Money." One of my friends turned to me and said, "I've never heard a bass guitar do anything like that before." Indeed, he was right.
Astronomy marked the point in the set where Eric set off the lasers with his wrist bracelet, flashing a beam of brilliant green light off the array of 4 huge mirror balls suspended over the crowd. The laser show had progressed since the last time I had seen them play, now the lasers mounted behind the drum kit could now be synchronized to form simple designs on the back walls of the arena. A laser generated Kronos symbol and Godzilla figure were animated, and the crowd went wild.
Albert Bouchard also performed a drum solo during Godzilla complete with his trademark Godzilla mask, laser mounted drumsticks and strobe lights that left the crowd completely dazed. And being that it was the 31st of December, Dominance & Submission marked the climactic point in the set where New Years Eve was indeed the final barrier. The capacity crowd went home stunned and amazed at the audio and visual spectacle of the Blue Öyster Cult in full sonic fury.
New Years eve of 1979 I saw them at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, opening acts were Gamma, and a band called STV. Now the songs played that night were - Mirrors, The Vigil, the Great Sun Jester, Dr. Music in support of Mirrors - I remember going with high schood friends and really enjoying it - one thing that stands out during the Vigil, is all the members were on stage with guitars and they turn the guitars around and mirrors were on the back and they were reflecting a beam of light off of them into the audience - very cool.
I think also that these date(s) were played in 1979 - if you have any info, please let me know:
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