1986: This was the year BOC died... only to be born again the following year in Athens...
BOC started the year off with a European tour promoting Club Ninja at the end of which Joe Bouchard quit the band, to be replaced a month later by Jon Rogers.
During the year, the band had a series of support slots with the likes of Kiss, Rush and Ozzy Osbourne but by September they had reached what seemed to be the end of their road. There was a final gig at an unknown farm festival in an unknown town in West Virginia, and then that was it. The end...
As usual, 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...
Have you got anything to contribute to this page? Reviews, missing info, ticket stubs, posters etc etc - if so, let me .
The most striking thing I remember from this show, was Eric Bloom dressed as a Ninja with a nunchaku in his hand striking the cymbals during one or two songs. Funny...
The band performed well that enchanted evening. Veteran of psychic wars and Dominance and submission were, to me, that night, the best songs. Veteran is not played so often, so we were all very happy in the audience, a kind of hystery went on...
Tokyo Blade? I don't even remember...
I was so happy because they started with "RU Ready 2 Rock" and "Dominance & Submission", two of my favourites. It was a very good show but not the best BOC show I saw. Maybe because of the line up (sorry Mr Zvonchek) or maybe Joe was already thinking to leave ! I was in military service so I came too late to see the two bands opening - sorry guys !
They played two encores during this concert: Cities on flame and hot rails to hell...
I saw your website and, man! it's cool. I went to check one of the BOC show I attended back in 1986 in Italy (I'm Italian) and wanted to point out a couple of corrections.
I'm talking about the show held in Turin, Italy on February 7, 1986. It was held at the Palasport of Turin, and not at the Teatro Tenda (there's no such Teatro Tenda in Torino). BOC were the headliners and Tokyo Blade was the warm up band.
BOC lineup and songs list are correct (I'm 99% sure of that, but I can't find the song list anywhere at home for 100% accuracy...).
The Teatro Tenda entry came from the official site - that looks like it was maybe a typo, as the same venue name is given later on in the tour...
Thanks for the correction!
That night, I went to the Palasport gate very early because I wanted to be one of the first to enter and go in front of the stage. I surely succeeded, because I was the third or fourth and waited some long hours before the gate opened and I rushed to the floor and placed myself exactly in front of the center stage and waited.
I sent my best friend who was with me to buy the concert T-shirt and then Tokyo Blade opened the act. I did not know the band, but I did not either liked nor hated them. I think they overall did well in warming up the audience, that I estimated being between 1500 to 2000 people, not bad for the first time of BOC in Italy where they are not to well known.
My song list of the concert is below. According to my notes taken at that time the songs order is different than the one on the side box, but the songs are the same:
When the band showed up on stage I hardly recognized Buck because he had shaven his mustache and was not sporting his classical white outfit I saw on many pictures of BOC. Nonetheless his guitar style was astounding and superb. The band played well, energetic and the crowd went wild from the beginning.
My friend and I had prepared a banner saying "BOC FANS TORINO" and waved it during most of the songs and finally throwing on the stage where it landed right on the arm of Eric's guitar! He picked it up and put in on the floor. We retrieved the banner after show from a roadie.
During "Burning for You" I sang very loud and Buck saw me so excited and gave me a thumb's up for my involvement. I also kept asking the band throughout the concert to play "Veteran" to such an extent that I had a sore throat for many days after. Other nice memories of the show were the superb singing of Eric and his and Buck guitar in "Take Me Away", surely I did not miss Aldo Nova!
Joan Crawford had a great and long piano solo by Tommy Z. The crowd was ecstatic and silent, the Palasport almost entirely dark, an eerie feeling all around. During "Godzilla", Joe B. stepped front stage for his bass guitar solo and snapped one of the string right at the beginning and had to step back, grinning to the rest of the band, with Buck filling in with his guitar. Poor Joe!
During "Shadow Warrior", Eric sported a black velvety kung fu jacket and a nunchaku with which he helped Jimmy W drumming during the song. I thought that was pretty cool.
Two superb encores and the night ended with Jimmy throwing his drum sticks to the crowd. Myself and another guy to my side jumped higher than anybody else and each grabbed one end of one stick. We looked at each other a while deciding what to do, none of the two willing to give up its prize and then decided to split the drumstick in two halves. Since I was holding the tip, I got that half and he got the handle.
A night to remember forever!
The 1986-02-09 show of BOC in vienna was opened by blind petition (austrian band - nowadays well known and famous here in austria) and tokyo blade
A review, hmm? It will take a little time, as I have to sail back through the mist of time. I was so young, you know.
Early 1986, then; I was 20 and very depressed because of a 'bad case of loving her' and because of my studies not going very well, to say the least. They were at the nadir of their career of evil, 3OC and their weakest album ever to be promoted, so I wasn't much concerned about seeing their Club Ninja Tour (although it was their first -and last ever- time in Italy). I changed my mind when the Udine gig was moved to a small disco club about a km. from my house. I didn't even call a couple of friends who shared my cultism (they both came to the show on their own) and there I went.
Some 300-400 people attending, poor supporting act and a terrible sound. I expected to see shadows of a band I once did like, yet they were very tight and professional, a fine rock act nevertheless (wonder how they sounded like in their glory days).
9:30, Blade Runner theme, I never thought I could hear 'people of Monfalcone, R.U. Ready?' in my whole life. They started with a good performance of 'RU Ready 2 Rock' very similar to the 'SEE' version, and followed with a chaotic D&S, the heaviest track of the evening, and a classic version of ETI.
I soon noticed that Zvonckeck was trying his best to replace Lanier, with a little help from Bloom playing more guitar than usual.
Also evident was that Buck's guitar style was getting stronger and more 'sustained', with sparse echoes of fusion scales and a heavy edge to his playing.
I remember Eric was wearing black with a japanese 'hachimaki', was in excellent vocal form and played an ESP black guitar, Buck was thinner than any picture I've seen of him before and after, in a white tshirt with a german heraldic sign (how do you say it in English?), dealing with Telecaster-looking (which I later recognized as St. Blues) and Steinberger (early model) guitars.
Joe played a Music Man and looked almost fat, with an odd-looking moustache (he looked like Kimball of Toto), dressed in black leather and playing almost motionless at the right side of the stage.
They played great versions of White Flags and Take Me Away (with a lenghty synth intro), far superior to the studio versions, then a striking Veterans with a beautiful, almost haunting 'delayed' guitar solo (I'm listening to it right now) over a boogie double-time feel, possibly the best of the entire set.
They went on with Ruins, J. Crawford (another fine version, although Zvonckeck intro is a little overlong), Shadow Warrior and the Big Three (with a boring drum solo on Godzilla), which were given a standard rendition (fans went nuts anyway). In spite of the cries of 'Astronomy' from the crowd, the encore songs were Let Go and Hot Rails.
85 mins. of good rock'n'roll in a small town in the northeast of Italy and that's all. My only regret is that I didn't join a DJ friend of mine for a short radio interview, with the unlucky result of Buck been annoyed by silly questions by a teenage metal kid. Well, you can't always get...
I was there, at the age of 18 and, as somebody else wrote, at the highest point of my BOC addiction. They had been being my fav band since 1981. It was the first and - until now - the only tour of the band in Italy and although Revolution by Night and Club Ninja disappointed many followers, it was quite a unique chance that could not be missed - reports kept coming that they were close to split-up.
Audience was around 850 people in a venue which could have contained 3000.
Opening act was Tokyo Blade (who did not succeed to warm the crowd), and I could confirm the BOC track list (though, I have no audio recording).
I remember that the opening sequence of Me262/ETI/BB, played almost breathless, was quite a fist in the face: I did not expected Buck's Boogie to be included in the set - what a pleasant surprise! The audience responded hotly to the heavy rifferama.
Like many, I went to the show (doing some 250 KMs, in snowy weather) quite prevented and skeptic towards new members Wilcox and Zvoncheck, but I had to admit that their performance was superb. They were indeed trying to deliver the best, and I still remember the slower-then-usual intro to JC By Zvoncheck, a great version of Take Me Away (a song that, until then, was far from being one of my favs from the cult), as well some parts of a very good drum solo. For sure Wilcox and Z. had not the personality of former members, but they were excellent executors.
Buck showed no moustache, but I remember the vitality of his eyes as he seemed quite amused to see young kids going once again wild at their tracks.
Bloom seemed a bit low on energy and not quite communicative - later I read that all the band was sick at the and of European tour and maybe he had some sort of flue or else, but overall all the band did a good concert. I still remember Joe sitting like a satisfied quiet cat for all the gig, but eventually - during Godzilla - made the fastest bass solo I ever saw in my life.
Definitively a gig worth attending to. At least for me remains close to the archetype of a Rock concert - was similar to the Metallica gig with Cliff Burton I saw in 1984.
At the end of the show all the audience was aware they have witnessed a ritual officiated by a legend.
I saw BÖC there for the first time. I wasn't really a fan, because I only know Secret Treaties before. I've won the tickets at a local radio station contest and so I'm going with a friend to this gig.
After the show I WAS a big Fan of BÖC and now 23 years later BÖC is still my favourite Band.
Tokyo Blade was the support, I think, but I haven't any reminds on this Band.
Then at 9 O'Clock the houselights went down, and the stage were lighted in blue.
A mysterious voice was screaming "on your feet or on your knees, here they are the amazing Blue Öyster Cult". The crowd was screaming, there were a lot of American people in the hall, because in Mannheim and Heidelberg (near the venue) were US Army villages.
The Band started with RU ready 2 Rock, I think. I haven't heard this tune before, but I was on fire. Then there was a great 10 minute performance of Dominance & submission, which ended with Eric Bloom lying on the ground of the stage. A very heavy performance of the Band.
I don't know each song that was played on this evening, but I know some songs from Club Ninja (of course) and Astronomy, Joan Crawford and Roadhouse Blues, Godzilla and The Reaper.
An evening later SAGA played in the same venue and I was there also. In the encore, Roadhouse Blues I think, Saga's guitar player Ian Crichton entered the stage and played with the Band for this song.
After the concert I bought a T-Shirt but I didn't have it anymore (shame on me) and I was going to buy all their LPs. Next day I bought On your feet or on your knees and it's putting me down. What a performance!!
I saw them for many times again and I hope I will see the Band more times, so Boys, German BÖC Fans are waiting for you to play in Germany again.
I think Tokyo Blade were probably almost definitely the support on this show but my policy is never to guess or suppose - so I'll leave the support band info blank for now until somebody tells me for sure.
Just as it had become a tradition with BOC that at the end of every tour I came out to play with them on the last song, Tokyo Blade also had me come out to play Midnight Rondevu with them...
However, the catch was they had to dress me! What a great bunch of guys they were...
According to the 20 March 1986 edition of the Fresno Bee, this gig had originally been scheduled for 20 March 1986, but was postponed until Tuesday 25th March. All tickets already purchased were honoured at the re-arranged gig.
This complete show is available for free listening (sorry no downloads) at Wolfgangs Vault. They have digitally remastered copies of many original soundboard tapes from King Biscuit, Bill Graham, Record Plant, other original sources. There are no bootlegs or audience tapes, some shows are available for download, but unfortunately not the two BOC shows they have.
The show is available for listening at:
The ticket stubs above mention a special "video taping" - I know this was a KBFH show and this is where I know Wings of Mercury from but that's radio so where's the video bit come in?...
It was indeed a full video shoot... that's why the multi tracks were made that were eventually sold to KBFH to help recover the costs...
Apparently the video was so bad it's never seen the light of day... although Tommy Z told me recently he has dubs of the raw footage that even has time code on it...
The only show that Eric Bloom had red hair for was a show we opened for Kiss in Baltimore on Apr 10...
He shaved his beard, cut his hair short and dyed it red just to be contemporary and then got busted by federal marshalls at the BWI airport the next day for having nunchucks (rubber practice ones that he used onstage) and handcuffs (his belt buckle on his stage pants) in his carry-on bag... he was convinced that it was the red hair, so he dyed it back, but I believe he kept the beard off till after the grand jury (where logic triumphed and all charges were dropped....
At least that's the way I remember it... I'll have to ask Bloom about that sometime...
I just checked a KISS site and KISS WERE playing an unnamed venue in Baltimore that night, along with a band called King Kobra - no BOC mention, though...
This tour with Rush was a lot of fun after the hell of Europe earlier that year...
It was like Rush throwing us a bone for having them open for us in the late 70's....
Club Ninja tour. April of 1986 at the Broome County Arena in Bingampton, NY. They opened for Rush on Rush's Power Windows Tour. Great place to see a show. Not a bad seat in the house. I was so close I scared the band. Standing right in front of John Rogers for BOC, then Geddy Lee for Rush. Such an awesome show!!
I think they opened with White Flags. Eric was running around in a a red satin and black karate outfit, barefoot, short hair, dark glasses but no beard. They came out and before the lights went on and they started, I recall wondering where Eric was. I didn't think that was him. He looked 20 years younger.
Here's an excerpt from The National Midnight Star, Number 166 (Tuesday, 5 February 1991) from a Rush fan called PDK:
I was also at the Power Windows concert in Binghamton, NY (my first concert).
Yes, it was amazing. It's funny that the rush-mgr called it a killer concert. During the intermission, someone threw an M-80. (For those of you that don't know, an M-80 is a BIG firecracker.)
Well it landed about four people away from me. It was the loudest thing you ever heard. It blew the guy up. Well, not exactly. But, he did have powder burns, and the girl next to him did have blood all over her sweater.
When we asked him if he was OK he only said "....no". Needless to say, he didn't get to see the Boys. Just thought I'd add my Rush experience to the Archives.
I saw them at EM Loews, in Worcester (Club Ninja tour)... also the only time I saw Eric without a beard... what's up with that??
E.M. Loews held about 2500 people...it's now called the Paladium, but made into two clubs...
I remember this show well... didn't Jon Butcher Axis open??...
I can confirm Jon Butcher as an opener, even though I saw about 2 minutes of his set and the date 4-17-86 and I have a set list:
I had seen Jon Butcher a bunch of times, always as an opening act... being from the Boston area, he opened up for many a show.
When his set started I headed for the bathroom for a toke; there was this guy selling joints in the bathroom, but was matching everyone he sold to... before you know it we're in this big circle passing around joint after joint... my friends in the mean time thought I was getting sick or passed out... they went to check up on me... much to their surprise, I'm in the middle of one of the best smokeouts ever!
Another note: It marked the first time I saw them without Allen...
I've always tried to remember just where that show was, cause we fired a drum roadie that morning leaving Philly and had to leave him passed out in a Hotel room (some people just don't know when they've had enough Roherer 714's)...
So after the show in Mass that night I had to step into the vacant seat in the equipment truck and help out with the drive to Hampton VA... I drove all nite and woke up the other roadie ("Zilla Dave" Thorpe) to drive only about an hour from the Hotel... that's just the kinda roadie breath that I am...
We had that day off, so we used it to find a drum roadie and we had gotten the ph# of a really kewl stagehand at Harpo's in Detroit, so Thorpe made the call and Danny MacAleer worked his first show for BOC on 19 Apr... Danny was around till 92 whan he left to play drums for Mitch Ryder... he then got married and had a couple of kids and worked at a machine shop for a few years and is now back on the road with Foghat as Drum Roadie/Lighting operator/Road Manager....I recently got to hang out with Danny for a couple of days when BOC/Foghat was in town...
Glad somebody came up with just where that Mass venue was...
LOL... This was rare... But what Sam forgot to mention is that I was the one that left Rizzo in the Hotel when I could not wake him. I told the Hotel manager we had an emergency and he opened Rizzos door, we could not wake him so I called Paramedics/Schenck and hit the road.
Drove like a maniac but made the gig in time. Sam drove that night to Hampton as I was pooped, but he made sure i got no sleep as he kept making noise with a monster bag of potato chips all night at my face. LOL... It was all in fun though.
FYI... Danny MacAleer was an Excellent addition to the road crew and one hell of a safe driver as well. Danny and Sam were the BEST and all the Hell was worth it as long as the 3 amigos were on the crew together.
I saw them open for Rush in Greensboro, n.c. 4/22/86? they were bad, not enough equipment for sound.
Eric was doing karate kicks and wearing a red sash. Club Ninja tour was kinda lame.
I was at this show, about 40 rows back on the floor. I was working in a record store at the time, and had heard all of "Club Ninja" on the job (I wound up buying it for "Perfect Water"). I certainly don't recall the full set list, but I believe BOC opened with "R U Ready 2 Rock"--but don't quote me on that one.
I'm sure that they played "Perfect Water" and "Dancing In The Ruins" from the "new" album, as well as the usual hits: "Godzilla," "Reaper," "Burnin' For You." Eric introduced "Godzilla" with, "It's time for the big green guy!" Personally, I was disappointed that "Joan Crawford" wasn't in the set.
That's about all I can recall 21 years later (I'm sorry to say that I went 20 years between shows; I didn't catch BOC again until September of 2006), but I do remember Eric was in fine voice and Buck kicked his usual amount of arse on guitar.
I was traveling (flying) with the band and it was amazing how fast we could get done and back to the hotel on these Rush shows... sometimes fast enough to even catch a late movie or a decent dinner....
After the Birmingham show, I drove back to ATL in a rental car after and was home in time to watch Letterman in my own living room!!
Scary stuff!!
This was the last show on the Rush/BOC swing and during the pre-recorded giant footsteps bit at the start of Godzilla when Eric was inquiring of the audience "who is it?... is it Rodan?... is it Gammera The Flyin F'ing Turtle?"... out of the PA came the familiar TV voice... "Hello, I'm Mr.Ed"...
It was probably inspired by the fact that around this period, we would occasionally list Mr. Ed on our guestlist each night... (along with Elvis Presley, Don Ho, Joan Crawford, etc...)
How did Eric take this? Did he know about it beforehand?
Oh he definitely knew about it when it happened as it was REALLY loud thru the incredible on-stage monitor system (that's Foldback to you Tea-Bag types) Rush was using....
He looked a bit confused initially, but once he figured out what had happened, he was almost as amused as I was...
I think the crowd was more than a little bit confused....
30 Apr 1986: Kansas Coliseum, Wichita, KS... I was there at this show! BOC warmed up for RUSH...
I've checked on a Rush giglist site and they are SUPPOSED to have played a gig at the Kansas Coliseum, Wichita, KS on May 2nd 1986...
Can anyone help with this one?
I remember seeing BOC when they opened for Rush in 1986 at the Kansas Coliseum (Britt Brown Arena) in Wichita. My ticket stub states only Rush, but whoever tore the ticket ripped the date off of it.
I searched Rush's tour date archive and found the date to match the ticket stub. The date was May 2, 1986. The Rush website also states BOC played with them. The concert was the Club Ninja tour and I bought the BOC Ninja tee shirt at that concert (I still have it).
It was the only Club Ninja concert I saw that year. BOC opened for Rush on the Power Windows tour. BOC didn't have much of a stage show, it seemed very relaxed. It was nothing fancy, I remember them playing around their tour cases.
OK - on Ed's ticket stub above, although it has had it's date ripped off and is a bit on the bluured side, you can - if you squint - make out "Fri" which helps pin this gig down to May 2nd rather than the 28th April date (which was a Monday) suggested by Bryan.
I think there are a BUNCH of dates missing from May and June 86... we played several weeks of shows in TX during that period...
This gig was confirmed by this site: www.kfmx.com
Anyone able to put a date to this show?
Actually I think I do have a way to pin the date down, since it was supposed to be the date of my graduation but it was postponed because of rain...
A good friend of mine is one of those people who can't quite let go of the high school days, is very active with the reunions, etc. etc. and she immediately knew the graduation was supposed to be on June 6th but got postponed twice by rain to the 8th. I remember that now because when it got postponed on the 6th I thought we were going to have to miss the gig before it got postponed again!
So, I can say for sure that the gig at Kingston Fairgrounds in NH was Saturday, June 7th, 1986!
Blackfoot was definitely there, because my friend brought a Blackfoot shirt at the concert. I have a picture of him in it during the party later, then late at night he tried to put it back on because it was cold but he was so drunk he tried to put his head through one of the sleeves, and being a typical cheap concert shirt, ripped the sleeve apart! Hilarious.
On the other hand, I'm not sure Molly Hatchet was there, they may have been at the Kingston Fairground gig in 1988. BOC was definitely the headliner!
A side note: Six Flags Atlantis was wrecked by Hurricane Andrew in 1994. Here is a memorial to the site that lists BOC as one of the groups that performed there under the "shows" tab: http://www.lucas-photo.com/atlantis/
I attended this show... was center stage for BOC... It was a very hot afternoon... During Roadhouse Blues, Eric Bloom handed me the rest of his Budweiser and told me "make sure you share it with the rest of the audience". Of course I did not... my friend and I finished the Bud and kept it as a souvenir.
I remember Blackfoot really kicked ass during their set... the rest of the bands were watching them from the side stage.
I can't remember if Molly Hatchet was there but there was a band called the Jam band (I believe it was an all star band of some sort).
The only source I have for this is that it's listed on boc.com. - but no town is given...
The Center Stage was and is in Atlanta GA.... and we DID play there on that date... first time my daughter Rosie came to a show...
I wanted to confirm the June 20, 1986 date at the Center Stage Theater in Atlanta. I don't have my ticket stub but I do remember that it was early summer in '86.
I also recall being disappointed that "Psychic Wars" wasn't on the setlist because I hadn't seen that performed live and I was excited by the possibility that they might play it.
Just to confuse things - I saw an ad for this show in 23 May 1986 edition of the Atlanta Journal which said: "Tickets for the BOC concert at the Centerstate Theatre go on sale Saturday. $14.50"
So is it "Centerstate" or "Center Stage" Theatre...?
The only chance I've had to see the mighty BOC was in 1986 when they headlined a multi-band amphitheatre show in Nashville. The crowd had been pretty normal for most of the day long event - the best acts being Greg Kihn, Carl Perkins, and Nashville's Walk The West (the Fabulous T-Birds and some members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were also on the bill) - until BOC hit the stage and all of a sudden the seats were filled with bikers that most have been drinking alcohol in the parking lot for most of the time.
At first we were a little bit scared of them, but as soon as they saw we had sat through all of the crap just to see BOC they accepted all of my geeky friends and myself. It was a total blast.
This was an annual multi band event called "One For The Sun" that used to be held at the start of summer at Hermitage Landing. They moved it to Starwood Amphitheater in 1985.
The last show before the 24 June show you have listed was in Fla and there were a few days between those... the DAY before the FLA gig we played an outdoor arena (The Starwood Ampitheatre) in Nashville TN... we usually played the Center Stage in Nashville, so there's a chance that the Nashville gig was the 20 at the Starwood, 21 was the unknown Amusement Park in Fla. and the 24 June then would be right for the Trocadero gig in Philadelphia PA and not Wisconsin as shown in giglopedia...
Since Sam sent the note above, I've had independant confirmation of the Nashville gig being on the 21st June, so that'd make this Florida gig the 22nd.
Saw BOC on June 27, 1986 at Rocky Glenn Park Music Hall. I have the ticket but can't remember much else except it was sponsored by some radio station... Just thought I would pass it along.
Sometime in late June 1986, BOC got hastily drafted in at the last minute to replace Metallica as support to Ozzy on his Ultimate Sin tour for a number of dates (best count so far, five gigs).
Why did this happen? Well, initially there were reports that it was as a result of James Hetfield breaking his arm skateboarding before a gig - and indeed, this did happen, but at a later date, and wasn't the reason for BOC's insertion into the tour.
This all happened in the context of some cancelled and postponed dates, with the added confusion of tickets subsequently coming to light with incorrect dates on them and other helpful things like that.
In the Sacramento entry below, Alex gives a helpful account of the context and some of the reasons behind the cause of this confusion.
In a nutshell, Ozzy and Metallica were touring the West Coast quite happily together in June 1986. Coming up was a slight break in the schedule, during which Metallica were booked to play a handful of Scandinavian dates before resuming back with Ozzy in early July.
However, it seems that during one of their Long Beach gigs (13-15 June 1986), a fan died and Ozzy cancelled or postponed the next few gigs to deal with the fallout. Metallica's schedule couldn't cope with the re-arranged early July dates, so a replacement band was needed - and that's where BOC came in.
They shouldn't have bothered! At a number of the shows, it seems that nobody had bothered to tell the hoards of Metallica fans who turned up that this was now the case and so - when it was announced there was no Metallica - only BOC - they booed and pelted the band with anything that wasn't nailed down.
The story that it was as a result of James Hetfield's broken arm can't be true as the arm-break occurred at an Evansville Indiana gig with Ozzy and Metallica on July 26th - this was confirmed by attendee Curt King who sent me a copy of his ticket stub for that night to prove the date. Curt was very miffed that Metallica didn't show up that night and you can check out his blog post here:
Due to the last-minute nature of the scheduling of these dates, as I mentioned above, they are still somewhat shrouded in confusion so if you saw Ozzy supported by BOC in 1986 and have a stub or a handbill or something like that you could scan, or even just some memories or thoughts you'd like to share, please send them along. I'm interested in seeing anything with a date on it, although obviously it's going to be 50-50 whether or not that date will be correct or not...
The shows we opened for Ozzy that year included Spokane Wash, Portland Ore (I believe those were back to back) and a big ass outdoor festival I believe in Sacremento where we were the last minute replacement for Metallica as they had wised up and wandered off to do their own even bigger tour...
I remember 2 or so days off in SF and then flying to Des Moines for another Ozzy gig...
So the order was Portland, Spokane, (this could be reversed as I WANT to say Spokane was first, but I remember giving the monitor guy our plot and specific mix instructions in Portland and wouldn't have had to do that if we'd done a show the previous night) then possibly a day off, Sacramento, deffo at least 1, possibly more, days off as I stayed in Frisco and everybody else went home... then Des Moines (I flew there from S.F.)...
Minneapolis was deffo the last one on the swing... crew left 2 guitars behind (I was NOT loading the truck that night) and the aforementioned monitor man held them for ransom till he was paid for the 5 shows (proof that it was the last show of the swing, otherwise we could have taken care of this next show)...
I got a phone call around 1AM informing me of all this, had to go wake up Shenck and ask him for $500 cash and keys to his rental car (don't you fancy THAT job eh?)... definitely an unforgettable night.....
Hope that helps... these have always been flaky as they were indeed jumbled up due to Metallica moving on to bigger and better things... first time I ever felt really sorry for the band was that Sacramento show when they were being pelted with anything and everything from that crowd just because they weren't Metallica...
I guess if there is a decent Ozzy Gig list somewhere, that's a start on some more "unknown" shows...
Well, here's a link to an Ozzy list but (a) it doesn't look like it gets updated and (b) this guy's entry for 5 July 1986 has Ozzy playing "Saapasjalka, Wvaskyla, Finland"... with Metallica supporting!
My first BOC gig was actually a bit of a downer, but I enjoyed it regardless.
It was in June 1986 and some friends had purchased me a ticket to see Ozzy on the Ultimate Sin tour in Portland, Oregon. I was not sure I wanted to go, given the let down that album was combined with only a passing interest in Metallica, who was opening up.
About a week before the show, Metallica cancelled due to James Hetfield breaking his elbow I found out later [ See above. Ralph ].
Blue Oyster Cult was picked as the replacement act. As soon as I found out I told my friends I'm there!
The audience was eager to see Metallica, so as a result they booed BOC most of the show. It wasn't until they played Burning for You and Don't Fear The Reaper that the teen age girls started getting into the show. As a result guys either walked out, or shut up for fear of offending their girlfriends. I still remember the set list to this day, but cannot confirm the exact order:
Dominance & Submission (opening!)
ETI
Dancing In The Ruins
Veteran of The Psychcic Wars
Burning For You
Godzilla
Don't Fear The Reaper
Roadhouse Blues (encore)
The band played through regardless of the audience, so the members of the audience who wanted to see them still saw a good show. Looking back on this nearly 20 years later I find it interesting that Metallica has since fallen from grace and are accused of being sell outs by the same fans that booed BOC. Blue Oyster Cult on the other hand has stayed true to their sound and maintains their core following.
My first BOC show.
It was early summer of 1986, I believe it was june. Ozzy was touring with Metallica and I had tix. there was a rumor that BOC was going to be the opener, I dont remember how I heard that but I was delighted. either was was going to be good. Ive harbored a fantasy since hearing that the Who pulled a guy out of the crowd to help finish the show when Keith Moon couldnt do it anymore, I hoped that I would get my chance here (and any show that I go to now I still hope that the drummer has some non-painful or non-life threatening condition that prevents him from going on and POW, I fill in). I knew all the songs off of OYFOOYK, ETI, and SEE plus the whole Club Ninja album, I figured that if the light shined on me I'd be up for the challenge.
I arrived at the Spokane Colleseum early in the afternoon and was one of the first ones there. somehow I still ended up way behind a lot of other people.
I rushed to near the front of the stage and ended up in what would be the EB zone. Eric was clean shaven and had a very big afro going on. He wore a kamikazee headband and at one point played a Budweizer Bow tie guitar that last I heard was stolen. I didnt recognize Buck, as he was shaven as well.
As for the rest of the band, I dont know who was there. I only had pics from the record jackets and EB was easy to pick out.
I was disappointed that they didnt play anything from Club Ninja. I remember ETI, DFTR, and Godzilla being played.
I think that a lot of the crowd that was there with me at the front of the stage was there for BOC as when their set was over we all left. I went to go sit down, the others just dispersed.
It was 13 years before I got to see them again.
I worked out the date for this one thanks to the Friday 4 July edition of the Spokane Chronicle which described the gig as having taken place on "Thursday night". That would mean the gig took place on the 3rd July.
The gig was described as a "mellow", tame affair...
I can confirm that on July 5th, 1986 I saw B.O.C. open for Ozzy at the Cal Expo Amphitheatre in Sacramento, California as I was there - see the stub above or else visit my page here:
I remember hearing through the crowd as we made our way to the amphitheater that Metallica had cancelled and that B.O.C. was now opening-up for Ozzy. This was confirmed when we saw signs at the entrance and then seeing them on stage. I remember the booing that they got, what a shame, but the main interest of the attendees was for Metallica and then Ozzy, they had no interest in B.O.C. whatsoever no matter how great a band they are/were, and with the cancellation of Metallica and that a lot of them had traveled far to see them, they were mad and took it out on B.O.C.
After B.O.C. left the stage and Ozzy came on, the crowd was in good spirits and Ozzy made sure that we up front stayed cool by pouring water on us with hoses and buckets, as it was a very hot night.
A big ass outdoor festival I believe in Sacramento where we were the last minute replacement for Metallica as they had wised up and wandered off to do their own even bigger tour...
The crowd was not told about the change until BOC was introduced and the band was booed and pelted with debris mercilessly... I really realized that the wind had truly changed for the amazing BOC and that their day was over...
I've never felt more sorry for the guys as they put their backs into it and finished out a dynamite set to the loudest, most continuous BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO that I've ever heard... a sad day for sure...
Ralph, this is just my recollection, which I will only vouch for if I can wind up vouching for it.
The two shows I have a memory of playing supporting Ozzy that year were Spokane and Sacramento. No others, to my recollection.
Spokane was Okeydokey, we did fine, and stayed to see Ozzy getting over great with the crowd.
When we did the Sacramento date, the Metallica fans that expected a performance by Metallica, behaved in a fashion that justifies the thread header. [ NB: This reply was in response to a thread called "Ozzy Tour 1986: BOC booed and pelted thoughout... " ]
We were not prepared for that response, but WTF, how STUPID is an audience that knows in advance that their darlings are not appearing, and in their place is a band whose performance would be a history lesson that an attentive listener might actually LEARN SOMETHING from?
Did I take away from that gig a lessor opinion of Metallica's audience, while trying to maintain my respect for Metallica's success?
Yes.
Yeah we did those other shows too, the dates are just a little hazy...
I don't think most of the Tallica heads knew Metallica weren't going to be there... all the stagehands told us that - even as of the night before - radio ads were still saying they were on the bill and no mention of BOC till time for them to play...
This Sacramento stub has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons, date-wise! I now have TWO different stubs for July 5th 1986 - Minneapolis (see next gig but one) and Sacramento!!
Interestingly, here's a link to a Metallica site which lists a Sacramento Ozzy/Metallica gig for 18 June 1986:
They also have a link to ticket stubs for that date! So my thinking is that this show, originally scheduled for 18 June 1986, was at a later stage rescheduled for 5 July 1986. Metallica were mentioned on the June ticket by name but not on the July one above supplied by Steven. (It seems like nobody actually bothered telling the crowds that turned up that Metallica had buggered off to Europe)...
Incidentally, looking at the metlists.com site link above, after the Sacramento show, they list:
That's interesting in that Portland and Spokane seem to be the opening two dates of this mini-tour with Ozzy - too much of a coincidence, in my book. It seems likely that these two shows also got re-scheduled for approx 2 weeks later and are the ones which Mike McPhee and EDog attended above - obviously minus Metallica...
I have some clarification about the July 5, 1986 Sacramento gig supporting Ozzy; there seems to be some confused recollection among some of the stories. I was at that gig, 16 years old at the time. It's not true that nobody knew BOC were on the bill until they came on: the change from Metallica was announced ahead of time, but there may have been some fans who hadn't heard about it.
The gig had originally been scheduled for sometime in, I think, June (which is why some people recalled ticket stubs with a June date on them), with Metallica as the opener. However, Ozzy put his entire tour on hold after a fan jumped/fell to his death from the upper level at a concert at Long Beach Arena, which I think had been just a day or two before the originally-scheduled date at Sacramento. The later dates on Ozzy's tour were eventually rescheduled, but I believe Metallica couldn't continue as the support act on the rescheduled dates because they had other dates booked (I think in Europe) right after the tour supporting Ozzy. Which is why BOC was substituted.
I heard about the BOC substitution at least a few days before the rescheduled gig, and I was actually happy about it, since I'd been a fan of theirs long before Metallica appeared on the scene and I was a little slower to take to Metallica than many of my peers. However, in 1986, Metallica was blowing up HUGE on the metal scene -- they were really the hottest new thing going -- and I can understand to some extent the disappointment of the kids who had been really pumped to see them. Seriously, among my burnout high-school friends, the excitement to see Metallica at that show was greater than that for Ozzy (much like when the comparatively hot-new-thing-at-the-time Guns'N Roses opened for Aerosmith's Permanent Vacation tour two years later).
So I definitely remember hearing a lot of friends complaining about the substitution. But I didn't care, and judging from the crowd right up front, at least a good chunk of the audience besides myself didn't either. I was right up against the barricade when BOC came on, hanging on as best I could for as long as I could until finally forced back into the crowd, and was thrilled when I managed to catch a couple smiles of acknowledgement from Joe Bouchard right in front of me. I don't recall hearing booing for BOC, but then again I was right up front, with the PA system right in my face, so for all I know it could have been going on farther back.
But if it is any consolation, that's just the 1980s Sacramento audience for you: they liked their rock and roll, the harder the better, and they could be pretty rowdy and obnoxious about it at times. As another illustrative story of the Sacto rock and roll audience goes, sometime around 1981 or 1982 there was a Sammy Hagar/Y&T concert at that same venue, Cal Expo Amphitheatre. After Y&T's opening set, there was another support act placed on the bill by Sammy, which had not been previously announced: a little-known blues band led by their guitar player. The audience had never heard of this group, and proceeded to give them a warm Sacramento UN-welcome, with booing, catcalls, and perhaps even thrown missiles.
I wasn't there, so don't know whether they succeeded in booing this act off the stage or whether they stuck it out, but as I heard it, Sammy Hagar was pissed at this reception and gave the crowd a piece of his mind when he finally came on.
That previously-unannounced act was... Stevie Ray Vaughan. ("And now you know the rest of the story.")
By the way, I couldn't tell you much about the 1986 BOC setlist except that they came out with "Dominance & Submission" and what I remember about the rest of it was pretty much a greatest-hits set along with a few from "Revolution by Night" and their current release at the time, "Club Ninja," but I don't recall song order at all.
Regarding the confusion over the actual date: I recall clearly that the rescheduled date in Sacramento was July 5, and it only got shifted once. I have a June 18 ticket just like the one on the Metallica website somewhere in a scrapbook; they honored tickets for the original date at the rescheduled show. July 5 must have been the originally-scheduled date for Minneapolis, and the person who thinks it was on that date is mistaken -- it had to have been pushed back from then, because Ozzy & BOC couldn't have been in both places on the same day. (Sac and Minneapolis are a long ways apart. :-)
The only reason I'm certain it was July 5 is, this was the second big rock show that I ever attended, and I recall clearly thinking at the time that my first one had been almost exactly a year prior, on July 4, 1985: Iron Maiden at Cal Expo. July 4 is US Independence Day, and I recall being very excited at a 4th party that I was to see Ozzy and BOC the next day.
(Incidentally, at that Iron Maiden show the year before, there had been yet another incident of Sacramento fan f*ckwittery: someone threw an M-80 firecracker on stage during their third song, "The Trooper," which exploded very close to Steve Harris. Bruce didn't sing the last verse, gave the audience a withering bollocking after the song, and I was afraid they were going to call off the entire show after that but fortunately they went on.)
Thanks very much for that post, Alex. It's proved to be very informative and helpful in trying to put some order on these dates.
Des Moines was after Sacramento - I flew there from San Francisco...
FYI the Des Moines show was deffo in the Memorial aud or whatever it was called... same place we played with Slade in 75..
Minneapolis was deffo the last one on the swing... crew left 2 guitars behind (I was NOT loading the truck that night) and the aforementioned monitor man held them for ransom till he was paid for the 5 shows (proof that it was the last show of the swing, otherwise we could have taken care of this next show)...
I got a phone call around 1AM informing me of all this, had to go wake up Shenck and ask him for $500 cash and keys to his rental car (don't you fancy THAT job eh?)... definitely an unforgettable night.....
OK - now as I mentioned above, I now have TWO different stubs for July 5th 1986 - Minneapolis and Sacramento!!
The Minneapolis stub was sent to me by Melne from boc.com who attended the show...
Clearly the two gigs took place - but as they BOTH can't have been on 5 July, obviously at least one of them took place at a later date. I know with the cancellation of the Metallica shows, the original dates must have been thrown into some initial confusion (to say the least), and I suppose some re-scheduling is only to be expected, so that's why it's not TOO weird that one of these two gigs - at least - got switched...
I think the likelihood is that it was Minneapolis which got rescheduled (if so, when? Anybody know?) because if it wasn't, then that would mean that Sacramento would have had to have been rescheduled twice!! If that was the case - then no wonder there was booing!
I can attest 100% that I attended BOC opening for Ozzy at the Met Center, Minneapolis. The date confusion is weird, and I can only suspect that the other show was the rescheduled one because I have no memory of ever being at a rescheduled BOC show. The MSP show was never advertised with Metallica, only as Ozzy/BOC. When I find my scrapbooks (buried in a box somewhere) my backstage sticky pass may have the date on it.
Memories from that show: Outside the venue (a big sports arena) I ran into Eric Bloom. He and I sat on the grass near the backstage entrance in the sun. A fan came up to me and asked some question about BOC. He had no clue that Eric was the guy sitting next to me! (funny!) (Probably because this was the Eric-clean-shaven era).
Other memory: seeing Ozzy stroll by backstage in a dark (maybe it was purple?) tight lycra jumpsuit with stars and moons on it. He was too fat to wear that sort of thing--oh well!
I did not watch Ozzy, I spent their set backstage with the BOC folks.
BOC were well received - the show was never advertised as having Metallica on the bill, so no one was expecting Metallica to be there. It must have been advertised on the radio that way - Otherwise I'd have never known BOC was even playing if it been advertised as Ozzy and Metallica.
Anyway, Ralph, I am sticking with the idea that my ticket stub (Minneapolis) is the correct date. When I dig up my scrapbooks, I'll let u know.
By the way, I have NO memory of Eric Johnson jamming with the band at the Bayou club, although Pat Travers did jam with the band at that show I believe...
Eric Johnson didn't jam with the boys till the last show of the swing, which I thought was the place known as JB's, but if Giglopedia is correct would have been the show in Syracuse, cause Eric Johnson was definitely on the show in Boston...
This was my first BOC show. Sam is absolutely correct about Pat Travers/Eric Johnson - I absolutely confirm that it was Pat Travers and not Eric Johnson. I remember EB introducing Travers, saying that since Pat was playing there the next night, that he was going to jam with them.
Eric played a Bud logo guitar and the jam was very long with Love Me 2 Times thrown in. Great jam.
This was also Two Oyster Cult, but didn't bother me. Was Jon Rogers on bass? The bassist looked very young so I think it was.
The Bayou in Washington, D.C. - opening band was local group "Mask".
I actually don't remember any on-stage guests at this show, Eric Johnson or anyone else. Eric Bloom was beardless. BOC came on *ridiculously* late and were visibly intoxicated when they did come on. Not one of their better shows, though it had its moments.
Set List (incomplete and order uncertain, sorry):
R.U. Ready To Rock
ETI
Cities On Flame
Dancing In The Ruins
Joan Crawford
Take Me Away
Beat 'em Up
Burnin' For You
Godzilla
Reaper
Encores:
Wings of Mercury (unreleased - cover version?)
Roadhouse Blues
Eric Bloom played a guitar shaped like and bearing the Budweiser logo for Roadhouse - I was dismayed and thought that was tacky as hell. though it was funny when he tossed an open Budweiser bottle into the front row after singing "...got myself a beer" and it sprayed all over the fans as it got batted around it the air!.
OK - a couple of anomolies here: first - the Eric Johnson business - both Sam, James and Gardner reckon there was no EJ at this gig so that seems pretty good testimony that he didn't jam that night. In fact, James is certain that it was in fact Pat Travers.
The setlist... the setlist I have is from a tape in Bolle's possession - Gardner mentions 3 songs that aren't mentioned on the tape: Joan, Take Me Away and Wings of Mercury...
If Gardner's right - then maybe the tape Bolle has is from another night - especially if Eric Johnson is mentioned on it...?
Well on the first two songs, it's possible I could be wrong, but I know that they played a song called "Wings Of Mercury" as an encore - I remember thinking that it was better than 90% of "Ninja" and wondering why it wasn't on the album - I also assumed that it would be on their next album which I expected (incorrectly) to come out in 1987 (I had no idea that they were fragmenting at the time).
Also I'm pretty sure that there was no Eric Johnson at that gig. Unlike the many Slim's in San Francisco shows I've been to from 1990 - present, which all run together (in a very good way), I have vivid recollections of this show - it was right before I went off to college & I dragged my cousin to the show (which she 100% hated - BOC coming on so late didn't help).
I don't know about Bloom being intoxicated, but:
I certainly was!
I vividly recall Eric tossing the beer can. It was a fabulous rendition of Roadhouse Two Times Blues. Wish they'd do more Doors. As for Wings of Mercury, I don't recall it at all - one way or the other. There are certainly more shows that I can better recall, ashamed to say.
As for whether Mask opened? I was hanging outside and would've skipped the opener.
New gig addition: July 25 1986 Agora Ballroom, West Hartford Connecticut
Opening act: Eric Johnson.
This show has some historical importance since this was JB's Theatre's last show. The sheriffs department was waiting outside the venue to summons the owners with a foreclosure notice after the show and then padlocked the doors. They at least waited until everyone was cleared out.
I knew one of the owners so it was no surprise. These were the same owners of Albanys' legendary now defunct club JB Scotts, who moved to the more spacious JB's Theatre.
JB Scotts hosted U2 on their first American Tour along with hardcore punkers Black Flag and a lot of other alternative and progressive bands. I believe it is Bono who is sporting a JB Scotts T-Shirt in their "Gloria" video.
BOC was in top form that night despite what a local newspaper, The Times Union wrote about them. The reviewer called them "A shadow of their former self". Not even close, they shredded!
This was my first time seeing TZ on keys and he did a great job. It was also the first time seeing BOC without a single Bouchard! Jon Rogers held his own though,playing comfortably like he'd been there right along.
All the songs were tight and Buck was his usual self with his blistering solos. Watching Buck play is always a treat. His version of "Bucks Boogie" sounded as fresh as ever, and he is always changing up his solos.
The vocals and harmonies were perfect. Even "Beat 'em Up" not exactly one of my favorites,sounded great live with all it's energy. As far as I can remember "Roadhouse Blues" was the only encore. It was a nice long jamming version with opener Eric Johnson joining them on stage.
My only complaint, JB's was a sweat box with bad ventilation. The great acoustics more than made up for that!
The last time I performed with BOC (I think it was July 30, 1986) was on stage at the Chance. I played Allen's strat on Roadhouse Blues for the encore.
I was there because a group I was producing Catania was the opening act and I mixed their sound. Catania did really well in the opening slot so I was in a good mood.
Eric Johnson was definitely on the show in Boston...
Eric Johnson was NOT a happy camper on this deal since there was very little room to put his rather LARGE amp rig onstage and he just couldn't understand why I was adamant about refusing to remove Zvoncheck's LARGE keyboard rig from the stage just to make more room for him...
He was definitely in a state at the Bayou, initially refusing to play unless we moved shit, then deciding to play when we just said "fine"...
I'll never forget that night as this was the night that Zvoncheck got the ass at me and called Pearlman and said that if Shenck didn't fire me, he was quitting...
Shenck's word to Zvoncheck was "would you like the stagehands to load your keys in your rental car for you?"...
Really blew my mind that Steve felt that the band would rather replace Tommy than me... it put the fears into the rest of the road crew, as they had NEVER seen anything like that, where a roadie was more valuable than a band member... they realized that they really didn't want to cross me in any way... not that I had any beef with them ever...
I only know of the existance of this gig due to an advert I saw in the 1st August 1986 edition of the Providence Journal...
The official site gives the venue as "Apocalypse" but as you can see in the above advert, the venue was "Lost Horizon"...
This may not be much help but there was definitely a show at the Penny Arcade in the summer of 1986 in Rochester NY which i saw no mention of on your site.
I was there but remember very little other than being stoked and a little surprised that my heroes were gonna play in a local bar for 400 people or so...
OK - got a date for this now thanks to research by Jill Atwood who uncovered the above advert...
For the August 6th 1986 show in Canton, Ohio I notice a couple of missing pieces. The venues name was Tripper's Night Club and The Godz opened up.
Sorry, I can't give you a complete setlist, those hazy days of youth coming back to haunt me. :)
The 3rd August 1986 edition of the Chicago Tribune gives the information that BOC and Cheap Trick were booked for the "nightly grandstand stage show" on August 12.
First of all, this was the first (and as far as I know only) concert held at Detour Meadows, which in reality was just a big field behind the Detour Bar... there were rumours of more shows to follow, but for whatever reason they never materialized.
Benzonia is a small town on Lake Michigan about 120 miles north of Grand Rapids, or 30 miles southwest of Traverse City. The friends I went with and I were curious about the various potential logistical problems, but from what I remember there were enough gates, toilets, beers, etc. Maybe somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-5,000 people showed up, maybe more, so it qualified as a 'Big Rock Show' in my book.
I was way more into BOC than Cheap Trick, and was disappointed that Cheap trick would close the show, but I have to say Cheap Trick blew me away... I had seen some of the schtick on tv, but live they were a force to be reckoned with, and I was glad I stuck around for them after BOC.
As for the Cult, they had been a favorite band since I was a kid in the 70's, but I was a snob that ranked the first few albums ahead of the 'new' stuff, especially FOUO, and of course Burnin' for You, which I considered a sellout at the time.
Now of course I am able to appreciate the songs without such pettiness, but one one of my few actual memories of this concert was the song Dancin' in the Ruins, and thinking to myself that it was the 'new Burnin'...
Overall though, I was totally stoked to see BOC... I had never seen them before even though Tyranny and Mutation and Some Enchanted Evening were some of my most-played records of all time, and I had almost all the rest too... I wish I could say this song or that one stood out, but mostly I just remember the overall impression that BOC could still rock out, and my opinions about them being sellouts or washed up were sorely mistaken!
Although they played first, they did a long set, with at least 2 encores, the last of which I remember was roadhouse blues. I never thought that much of the Doors version, but again they tore it up and I was floored. My other main impression was of Buck absolutely blazing on the guitar, knowing he was good, but still getting blown away by solo after solo.
Hard to believe that's the only time I've seen them!
I think this was the show where we showed up with no gear... just so happened Melne was living nearby at the time, so we borrowed guitars and bass from her and I only had to rent keys and backline...
We actually played that one...
I also remember walking out with the band after the show and some guy running up out of the parking lot cursing and acting like he meant to do harm, so I laid his ass out flat with a shot to the adam's apple and the fucker looked like he was gonna die before he finally got a breath...
I think this is the right date because the day before, we were somewhere in Mich (outdoors with Cheap Trick) and the equipment truck failed to make the ferry that was their only shot at making the gig... too far to drive otherwise...
I remember Shenck made them drive to Minneapolis anyway as punishment for missing the ferry (they arrived long after we were back at the hotel after the gig) and they had to turn around and drive right back the other way (East to Chicago?)...
That would be right, cause I remember going shopping for sunglasses with jimmy Wilcox on the day off before the Chicago show (we went to an actual Bauch&Lomb store and I had a custom set made with Black frames (from a pair of Amber-Matics) and a pair of G-4 dark green lenses (from a pair of Large Aviators)...
I knew I had cool shades when a Missouri State Trooper wanted to know where I got those glasses... wish I still had them boys...
Here is another date missed and set list. This show was in Hartford WI, the day before the Madison show at Headliners. I have great pics of this show.
The place was an old ball room in a very small town about 10 miles from where I live now. Place is no longer there.
Eric Bloom had shaved off his beard by this time and looks totally different. He also was playing his BOC logo guitar and wearing a headband.
The setlist I have for this is as follows:
On a side note I was with my friend Z and after show took our time leaving and spotted Buck getting into a car with EB in the back seat. He was putting his bag in the trunk when we approached him. We were kind of nervous [of coarse].
We said hello and my friend said "Buck, you'll always be bigger than life to us", he may have mumbeled thanks, and got into the car and off he went. This was my first encounter talking to him which would set the tone for the coming years even though I did not properly introduce myself.
Our gear didn't make it there... truck broke down and cost them 8 hrs they didn't have for making that drive from Wisconsin... probably 1500 miles +??
And I was the ONLY road crew that made it... it was me and soundman Steve Griffiths against the world... burnin up the phone lines rounding up gear to rent, getting it there...
It was an outdoor show in a pretty good sized permanent pavilion/amphitheater in a park... didn't even have instruments... rounded up enough stuff, changed strings and tuned 5 or 6 guits...
We got everything ready on stage, ran up to the dressing room to get band and as we came down the steps, the monsoons hit... I felt so badly for the folks from the music stores who had provided all the gear... it was all brand new gear... and it was all full of water...
I remember helping take down the Yamaha piano and showing the guys from the store how to turn it up to get all the water to drain down out of the keyboard action, and telling them to NOT stop blowing this thing with several hairdryers till it was completely dry if they EVER wanted it to work again...
But it didn't break my heart that NONE of this soaked gear was MY JOB!!!
I can personally attest to the fact that "Beat 'Em Up" has been performed live.
The first I saw B.O.C. was in August of '86 at The Ritz, here in Dallas.
"Beat 'Em Up" was one of the two Club Ninja songs the Cult played that night. ("Dancin' In the Ruins" was the other, of course.)
I have very distinctive memories of my first BOC show.
I'd gotten interested in BOC in 1982, after falling in love with the song "Shooting Shark". The local record store had a bunch of their albums on sale, so I bought SOME ENCHANTED EVENING and FIRE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN and was immediately hooked (and went out and bought two more albums the next day).
By the time 1986 had rolled around, I'd more or less given up on ever seeing BOC in concert. They hadn't released a new album in 4 years, and it seemed like I had managed to get interested in them at exactly the wrong time.
And then CLUB NINJA came out and they went back on tour.
The show was held in August 1986, in Metarie, Louisiana, at a bar called Jimmy'z.
Metarie is a suburb of New Orleans. Jimmy'z was noted for two things: No seats (standing room only), and no air conditioning. So, to recap: August. New Orleans. No air conditioning. Oy.
To make matters more interesting, I had just had surgery on my left foot, and was hobbling around on crutches with my foot in a cast. Did I mention that Jimmy'z had no seats? Thankfully, there was a guy in front of me in a wheelchair, and he was cool enough to let me rest my cast on his chair. I probably wouldn't have made it through the entire concert if not for that.
We stood there listening to some lackluster local band open up the gig. Only thing I remember about 'em was that the lead singer was female. And then, finally, they cleared the stage and we all geared up for BOC.
When BOC finally hit the stage, we all got a big shock. Eric was completely clean shaven. Buck had shaved off his trademark mustache by this time, and we'd seen that in the videos for "Dancing in the Ruins," so we (or at least I) wasn't surprised by that. But to see Eric with no beard or mustache was quite a surprise, and one I haven't seen ever repeated in the dozen or so times I've seen Blue Oyster Cult since.
Don't remember much of the gig list. I do remember that it was the only BOC concert I've seen that featured a rendition of "Shooting Shark" or anything from Club Ninja. At the end of the show, dizzy from the heat and from standing on one leg and two crutches for 3+ hours, I finally gimped my way back to the car, a happier man for having finally seen my favorite band in concert.
I only know of the existance of this gig due to a small ad I saw in the 3rd Sept 1986 edition of the St Petersburg Times, which said: "Sept 5: Blue Oyster Cult. Don't Fear The Reaper is BOC's major claim to fame along with a highly dramatic stage show. But that was in the early '70s, and they've done little since. The price is right for this show: free at the Martin Luther King Plaza on the USF Tampa campus"...
I only know of the existance of this gig due to a small ad I saw in the 5th Sept 1986 issue of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel...
I can confirm this show took place on this date.
I only know of the existance of this gig due to a small advert I saw in the 31st August 1986 edition of the Orlando Sentinel, which said: "Finky's in Daytona Beach will also play host to Blue Oyster Cult at 9.30pm Sept 9."...
I can only assume it took place...
I went to a 1986 show at Baity's in Winston-Salem, N.C. Unfortunately, I don't have the date of the show, but I do have a setlist - Club Ninja Tour - somewhere after the Club Ninja opening dates for Rush:
There was no opening act for this show. I remember because BOC came on very late. The gig was outside under a shelter (the "Music Garden").
I only know of this gig's existance on this date because a guy called Chuck Padgett posted that he saw it on the following link:
I emailed him for more information but didn't get a reply, so if anyone out there can confirm, please let me know.
This gig was in the middle of nowhere on a farm... no clue as to town... I remember we had to drive several hours to get to an airport to go home... that gig was to be the "last" BOC show... the band had no further plans to tour or record....
The gig itself was your typical festival in a field kind of deal... it was a very wierd vibe though as it was supposedly the end... Dave Thorpe on Guitar and Danny McAleer on drums (roadies) joined the band for Roadhouse....
This gig was also my last show for a while - in Nov 86 I was stricken with a BADLY pair of herniated discs that put me flat of my back for 6 weeks (residual damage over the years from lifting too many Marshall cabs and B-3's)... I made a partial recovery, but was unable to do ANY work in all of 87 and never qualified for any dole either... hard times, but Margot had a real job then...
My condition worsened in Nov 87 and in Jan 88 I had surgery (Chymopapain injections to the nucleus of the discs, dissolves them and turns them to water... it's an enzyme extracted from Papaya plants... same stuff used in meat tenderizer) they don't use that procedure anymore cause if you had an allergic reaction to the enzyme you'd just die on the table of anaphylactic shock... but it FIXED my back in 15 fucking minutes!!!
I was most of 1988 in recovery and saw the boys in summer 88 over in Birmingham and Steve called me in the fall and said if I came back out, he'd not only make sure I didn't have to lift gear, but I could travel with the band and somebody would even carry my suitcase... he only told the band that he'd found somebody for the tour (the Ill fated Imaginos tour... we actually had a tour bus) and it was a total surprise when the guys saw me return to stage right on 24 Oct 1988 at the Oregon gig... that tour was supposed to last thru Crimbo, but the sales were dismal and it was bagged after San Jose...
My replacement during that time was Paul Crook, who is quite the guitar god these days, playing in that Queen Musical in Vegas among other ongoing projects... he was only ever called "Laughing Boy" by the BOC bunch, cause he walked around with an insane grin at all times...
I remember this gig as if it was yesterday. Regarding the pix of me jamming with the band - Buck started all of this - one day he asked me to join in on the last song and then it became a tradition. At the end of every tour i was called out to play.
I also was playing guitar parts off the side of the stage anyways. See also the shot further up the page under 23rd Feb 1986 - Tokyo Blade had me come out to play Midnight Rendezvous with them,however the catch was they had to dress me. What a great bunch of guys they were.
LOL - of course with BOC i was not dressed for the occasion as you can see. Roadies do not wear leather.
On this WV gig - what I can remember is lots of drinking for me and some of the guys and lots of hugs and I will call ya. I remember Schenck on the verge of tears but he will Never admit it.
We were all sad, you get to be a family after working so close to people for so many years. You see their kids grow up, eat dinner at their homes and always have their back if needed.
Regardless how some of us left I would do it all over again as long as Sam and Danny were on the crew.
With BOC apparently defunct, nothing much would have appeared to have happened in October...
Dunno what happened in November...
Or December for that matter... ?
I think also that these date(s) were played in 1986 - if you have any info, please let me know:
| 001 | Memorial Auditorium | Burlington | Vermont |
This show is mentioned in the boc.com gig lists, but the date is given only as "April".
| 002 | Venue Unknown | Orlando | Florida |
Possibly a University gig...
| 003 | Six Flags | St Louis | Missouri |
it was one of the late spring months of 1986, that i first saw boc. i had no idea what to think, as this was my first taste of boc's music!
i was living in illinois, a senior in highschool. it was time for our senior trip, we would go to six flags in st. lewis. our senior class sponsor told us that blue oyster cult would be there!
the show was incredible! i would love to have a setlist from then. (can anyone help?) i do remember dont fear the reaper and godzilla being played! the whole audience sang along to godzilla! ;-) i think they also played dancin' in the ruins, and some other club ninja songs.
it was a great time, and one of the real definitive moments in my life in music appreciation! a turning point, if you will, and the 2nd concert i had ever been to!
i would love to see boc again! 20 years later!!!
Any ideas of a date? And by "St lewis", I'm presuming you mean "St Louis"?
it would have been either may or june in 1986. it was right before graduation. i really wish i had more info. i would love to see a setlist from then! it was one of my first real concerts!
i remember they played 2 shows that evening. i saw the first one, i wish i had watched the 2nd one too. it sounded like the same setlist as i recall.
they played six flags in st lewis, missiouri in '85 also, i think it was something they did a few years in a row.
i wish i did have more details. i remember eric with his moment before godzilla, scratching the strings on his guitar, ROOOOAAARRR! that impressed me!
it was the club ninja tour, so i believe they played a lot of material like dancin' in the ruins.
the songs i remember (wow, 25 years ago!) are joan crawford, e.t.i., dont fear the reaper, godzilla... i am sure they performed take me away and burnin' for you.
eric announced some song about getting high from their first album, i am sure that was the last days of may.
that is about all i remember. i wish i had more to go on. the band was very professional sounding and put on a good show. eric had a good charisma as a frontman. at one point, during the end of the show, eric was playing a custom guitar in the shape of the BOC logo.