The end of 1975 and the Liverpool Empire have great memories for me. First of all, on September 14th I saw Alice Cooper there - the Empire was reportedly the only provincial UK venue which was big enough for the Coop's stage set and then on November 22nd I saw Blue Öyster Cult.

Alice's gig was sold out, BOC's wasn't, but there's no prize for guessing which show had the biggest effect on me.

Earlier that year, "On Your Feet" had finally come out - it had seemed an age since "Secret Treaties" and Max Bell of the NME had been teasing us with reports of an double live album which would kick the Who's "Live at Leeds" into touch. Do you remember old Max? He did some sterling work on behalf of the UK BÖC community plus he was a big fan as well, and it showed.

"On Your Feet" though made a seriously deep impression on me - at last, I was able to hear what they sounded like live... I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever heard. I loved the vibe - from the lyrics which got me reaching for the dictionary and the aspirin in equal measure to the enigmatic Gothic cover and centrefold of the 5 guitars on the altar playing to the hooded masses (a pretty amateurish cut and paste job when you look at it now - it was "pp", after all ("pre Photoshop") - but then it was the coolest thing I'd seen. Sabbath could bugger off - this was the real thing.

When we heard they were coming to Liverpool as part of a small UK tour, we couldn't believe our luck. I just knew I wouldn't be allowed to go another city on my own so this was too good to be true. Me and my mate Ridgey got our tickets - front fecking row, no less and on November 22 we set off, armed with the crappest instamatic camera in the known universe and an unfaltering - though ultimately baseless - trust in the abilities of our pack of flashcubes. Do you remember flashcubes? They'd illuminate anything you pointed the camera at - providing it was no more than two feet from the lens. But we didn't know that then.

A quick anonymous phone-call to the local hotels told us they were staying at the Liverpool Holiday Inn so we wandered over there to wait. I was wearing my home made BÖC T-Shirt - the kronos symbol was actually half an "i" and an upside down "c". In a dark room, you'd think it was pretty good. In a room with a bit more light in it, Ridgey had earlier taken one look at mine, and decided smart casual was going to be his look for the day.

We had no joy at the hotel and after a while decided to head on over to the Empire. There, we hung around outside getting colder and colder - that bloody T-shirt was a big mistake - and watched the crowd build up. Looked a LedZep/Quo/Sabbath collective - a mixture of denim and Afghan coats, and the Patchouli fair took your breath away. And they - we - were all so young!! Little did I realise then but these were the people who were going to age with the band.

We went to hang around the stage door as the Cult finally rolled up and we got a couple of pics - we gave a Buck a Liverpool football scarf and he sort of looked at us with a "what the feck are you giving me a scarf for?" type expression. I think we were hoping for an onstage: "I'd like to thank the people who gave me this little scarf - I'll keep it and cherish it forever" but if so, we were disappointed.

Anyway, after a swift drink we finally got in to the Empire Theatre and claimed our front row seats and waited. The stage set looked portentous - two massive backdrop sheets hung down featuring the Gawlik first LP cover artwork, and, in between, a raised drum dias with Albert's kit in front of the biggest gong I'd ever seen.

Then the lights went down and we held our breath - shadowy figures came on stage to pick up instruments plus one small figure all in white - hard to sneak on stage in the dark if you're dressed like Alec Guiness's Man in the White Suit, Buck mate. It would have looked more impressive if they hadn't then spent a minimum of two minutes or so fine-tuning but finally there was a hush and a roadie invoked us to assume either a standing or kneeling position (apparently it was optional) and - BAM!! There they were belting out Stairway to the Stars.

This was fantastic. Eric dressed in sort of black satin pyjama get up, shades glinting menacingly, Buck in a white jumpsuit, Joe shirt open and brother Albert in his "heaven" gear - leather shorts and open leather jerkin. Allen looked a bit like he was attending a cocktail party, thigh-length leather jacket, leather trousers, white deck shoes - definitely too hip for the room. He played like that too, I thought. He's always been a bit of an enigmatic figure for me ever since. I'd love to see a proper interview with him sometime.

No gap between songs - it was straight into OD'd and it was great to hear them doing songs that weren't on OYFOOYK - we were both hoping for Telepaths and Astronomy ideally - how they missed the cut for OYFOOYK was a big dish of ointment to us, I can tell you.

Harvester followed - seemed a bit slower and more solid than I'd heard before. Next up - deep joy - Telepaths. It was a privilege to hear my absolutely favourite song in the world done live - the keyboards and guitar in that just do it for me every time. I loved that great echoing laugh tape playing as it built up at the end - and it was fantastic. But would it lead into Astronomy?? - we didn't know then that they don't do those two together live... Well, no, but it lead to the next best thing: a great "Last Days of May" introduced by Eric saying "Very glad to be here - Liverpool's a big town for Americans, y'know..." Hmm... You should try living in it, mate..

Though it was great to hear, this Last Days version didn't quite match up to OYFOOYK's one - mind you, that version is probably the best that it could possibly be so it's no wonder, but Buck seems to like to go for a wander during these solo bits - it's unlikely to be the same thing each time so that's why he should tape every gig - you never know when some amazing sequence is going to manifest itself.

Next was Before the Kiss - is Conry's Bar still open, by the way. It was back then - this was great - this version seemed faster, a bit less relentless than the record - a driving wall of guitar sound with a brilliant middle section which just shifts emphasis without warning to take you unawares.

I can't honestly tell you what followed next - it was 2/3 minutes long, consisted of a bass run, hihat and snare rhythm - punctuated by echoey bluesey guitar fills. Albert was snarling out some very echoey lyrics over this and it built to a head - and then stopped suddenly. Bolle Gregmar of the Fan Club has identified a song on other dates of this tour as "Candy Store/Red Light". I've bowed to his starry wisdom on this one because buggered if I know what it was.

"And now... the main event" a maniacal echoing laugh and we're into Cities on Flame. Albert was brilliant - he put everything into it and we loved it. Buck was especially great on this at the end with Eric bashing the cymbals on the podium.

"That was Albert Bouchard on the vocals... and Eric Bloom on the flying drumstick..."

They wandered into Maserati GT next - I say "wandered" because the very beginning was a bit messy but then it got really good. Then it hit the Buck solo bit where Mr D attempted to make as many strange noises as he could to a hi-hat beat laid down by Albert. The crowd joined in in a semi-slow handclap - no, it wasn't in protest, just a desire for interaction but then when the beat wandered about a bit, the handclap sort of tried to keep up, and then petered out and even at my tender young years, I didn't think this the best thing I'd ever heard. This struggled on for a minute or two more and then went straight into a fantastic Buck's Boogie. This really picked the show back up, and Allen Lanier was particularly good I recall. There were Buck solo's throughout this also of course but the beat was always solid.

And then we hit the drum solo...It was keyed into the lighting well, - any epileptics in the audience had it bad for a few minutes, I can tell you - and it was as good as drum solos get, plus I like Albert as a drummer but I am not now nor have I ever been a fan of drum and bass solos. They just kill the momentum of the show. At least we hadn't yet had a bass solo...

"Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!", dropping bombs and wailing sirens introduced Me262 which kicked off at a fair old rate but soon transformed into a festival of self-indulgence which at times slowed the show down to a real crawl and at other times looked and sounded great. First there was some laid back "stereo" guitar swapping (a la Thin Lizzy) during which time the tune meandered about all over the place for a while. Some of it was technically brilliant - there was one bit which built up faster and faster into a crescendo of echoing sound only to fade gently away...

Then THUD!! - the dreaded bass solo, but it didn't last long (especially when compared to later gigs) and Buck quickly joined in. I remember how I was still hoping for Astronomy at this stage and was worried about the amount of time left.

Then things changed as, in a manner reminiscent of a goalie running into the opponent's penalty box towards the end of a game, Albert popped up with a guitar to create that legendary force known as "The 5 Guitars". Wearing a black top hat and having also scored a pair of trousers from somewhere so didn't look quite so casual as he did on the OYFOOYK centrefold, Albert's emergence snapped a jigsaw into place and we had an electric version of duelling banjoes. This bit was just like the record and at last we had an idea of what was going on visually onstage during that part of the track. Me262 built up to it's climax and then they were off.

Cheers, shouts and stamping on the echoing floor brought them back: "We only have time for one more...." Oh no - only one!! What would it be? Would it be Astro - "this is off our live album and is sung by Mr Joe Bouchard..." Oh well, at least Hot Rails is a brilliant track to end on and this was a great performance of it. Then it was "Thank you and Good night..."

We fled out into the night, ran like buggery to the Holiday Inn and caught them arriving - got a picture of me with Eric and Allen outside, got my (by now a bit creased) Secret Treaties cover signed and finally went home to bed. Do Cultoids dream of eclectic sheep? I can't say, but that night the world was mine - all mine. Blue Öyster Cult had played the Liverpool Empire. And they didn't know it - but it was all for me. Just for me.

Oh yeah... and for Ridgey too.