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...).

I'm thinking of writing a review of the show one for your web site because it was a blast (I even managed to get one drum stick, well, half of it...). I also need to find the ticket stub that I know I have somewhere.

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!

• Show moved from Udine

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...

• This was Joe Bouchard's last show

• This was Jon Rogers' first show

• Ronnie Montrose guested on Roadhouse Blues

• KBFH broadcast gig
• Show was videotaped

• This show featured Eric with red hair!!

• This show featured a beardless Eric!!

• This was tech Danny MacAleer's first show

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.

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....

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...

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/

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.

• "One For The Sun"

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.

Sometime in late June 1986, Metallica pulled out as support to Ozzy on his Ultimate Sin tour. Dates were hastily rearranged and somehow BOC got drafted in at the last minute as the new support for a number of dates (best count so far, five gigs).

Nobody bothered to tell the hoards of Metallica fans who turned up for some of these shows and when it was announced there was no Metallica - only BOC - they booed and pelted the band with anything that wasn't nailed down.

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!

• http://www.ozzyhead.com/olddates/olddates.htm

• Metallica were the original support - BOC were late substitution
• The date of July 2 is open to speculation....

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. 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.

• Again, Metallica were the original support - BOC were late substitution

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 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:

• http://www.thespeeddemon.com/music/shows/past.htm

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:

• http://www.metlists.com/Tourdates1986.htm

They also have a link to a ticket stub 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:

• Monday June 24: Spokane WA
• Tuesday June 25: Portland OR

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...

• Again, Metallica were the original support - BOC were late substitution

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..

• Metallica were the original support - BOC were late substitution

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.

• Eric Johnson guested on Guitar? (according to boc.com)

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:

1. having made the grandfather clause for D.C. raising the drinking age from 18 to 21;
2. it being my first BOC show; and
3. it being summer after freshman year

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!

• Joe Bouchard guested on encore!!

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...

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. :)

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...

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:

1. Blade Runner End Theme
2. RU...
3. Dominance..
4. ETI
5. Buck's Boogie
6. Beat 'em Up
7. Take Me Away
8. Veteran...
9. Last Days of May
10. Dancin' in the Ruins
11. ME 262
12. Cities on Flame
13. Burning for You
14. Godzilla
15. DFTR
16. Let's Go
17. Roadhouse Blues

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 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 can confirm this show took place on this date.

• At the time, this was thought to be the last ever BOC gig!!

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...

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:

Possibly a University gig...

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?

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...