1994: This page contains all I know about Blue Oyster Cult for this year - and all I know is what you folks send me, so if you want to see more info on this page, there's an easy solution...
Have you got anything to contribute to this page? Reviews, missing info, ticket stubs, posters etc etc - if so, let me .
Did anything happen in January? If you know, please let me ...
Did anything happen in March? If you know, please let me ...
The original band site gig lists had just one gig here and gave the venue as "Peel's Place". However newspaper adverts and ticket stubs reveal there were two shows here - on the 8th/9th April - and that the venue was actually named "Peel's Palace".
Here's the text of a large ad for this gig which appeared in the 08 Apr 1994 edition of the "The Cincinnati Enquirer":
Grand Opening
Peel's Palace Concert Hall
646 Donaldson Road, Erlanger KY
Reserve Ticket 727-5600
Blue Oyster Cult
Fri & Sat, April 8th & 9th
Doors Open at 7.30pm, Showtime 8.30pm
Ticket Prices $10.50 - Reserve/Floor Tables $12.50
VIP Booth (Total 6 People) $80
Palace Guard Opening
Plus Special Guest
Our concert hall seats over 1000...
I was wondering why an ad for a Kentucky gig was appearing in a Cincinnati paper, and it turns out that Erlanger is pretty much on the border, and is a quarter of an hour's drive from downtown Cincinnati...
Here's a listing for this gig from the Friday, April 08, 1994 edition of the Bryan Times (Bryan, Ohio):
Piere's
5675 St. Joe Rd. Ft. Wayne, Ind.
April 8 Charlie Daniels Band
April 10 Blue Oyster Cult w/Ma Kelley
April 13 Small Ball Paul w/Suckerpunch
April 15 Billy Dean
April 20 Big Shoulders
April 21 Jim Rose Circus SideShow
April 27 Best Kissers in the World w/The Hatters
Here's a listing for this gig from the Sunday, April 10, 1994 edition of The Star Press (Muncie, Indiana):
PIERE'S
Blue Oyster Cult, today
Tickets: $6
Small Ball Paul with Suckerpunch, Wednesday
Tickets: $2
Billy Dean, Friday
Tickets: $12
So - BOC were $6 and Billy Dean was $12...? Interesting ticket pricing structure...
Thanks to a newspaper clipping sent to me by Steve Hobbs, I now know the band running order and the venue name...
Just one other thing: I downloaded a page off the old RockDetector site that concerned UFO's history between 1994-1997, and it said this:
After putting in work with the idea of teaming back up with PAUL CHAPMAN, it was finally announced in 1993 that the 1978 line up had reformed for a very low key tour of Germany. The alliance was pushed through so quickly that tour promoters were unaware of Schenker's involvement. The shows, with support act QUIET RIOT, were a huge success for UFO as they played the classic 'Strangers In The Night' set plus some of Schenker's own 'Thank You' record.
Testing the waters in America, UFO performed at a festival in San Antonio in April 1994 alongside MOTORHEAD, BLUE OYSTER CULT and YNGWIE MALMSTEEN. UFO signed to Zero Corporation Records in Japan for a phenomenal advance later the same year to record the superb 'Walk On Water' album, which arrived towards the end of 1995.
So that rather sounds like this gig, don't it? Can anyone confirm or deny UFO's comeback presence at this gig...?
Corpus Christi Texas gig in 1994 was at the Piranha Room... great show!!
Pollstar seems to think this gig took place at the "Midnight Rodeo"... (but Pollstar does seem to always use the later names for venues...)
This gig was confirmed on the gig history page of the "kfmx.com" site (though they're hazy on the year):
This gig was in a Bowling Alley turned into a large country/western dance hall called The Wild, Wild West. It was located in a then-unincorporated area just north of Tucson (it has since been annexed into a town called Marana).
As I recall it was another great show by the BOC. I've seen them around ten times but this one was the smallest venue I ever saw them in. I doubt there was more than 500 people so everyone was close to the action and the boys played all the greats including a fantastic job on "Joan Crawford".
I only know about this gig date because it was listed on the original BOC schedules and fits in - geographically - with where BOC were at that time.
Recently [Sep 2021] a setlist from Hickory was posted on Facebook and would appear to be from this gig:
No encore was included - I asked the poster did he remember what they were...
I have long since forgotten unfortunately.
I believe a band called Mantissa opened. BTW: they dropped one of these tunes and played Last Days Of May instead as a special request (but I'm not sure which song was replaced).
I am sure that the replaced song would have been Astronomy - they would alternate those two tracks anyway...
I think the encore would have been either one of - or a combination of - the following tracks: Summer of Love, Golden Age and Red & Black, but obviously I have no way of knowing which.
BTW: there used to be a mySpace blog (now offline) by Chuck Padgett which reckoned that BOC played "Horse Park, Conyers Atlanta" on this date, but as I've never found any evidence to substantiate this I've therefore classed this report to be erroneous.
I found a short preview mention of this gig in the 27 Apr 1994 edition of the "The Charlotte Observer":
Proving, once again, the diversity of this city's entertainment scene legendary rockers Blue Oyster Cult will return to Charlotte to perform at Rocky's on Saturday, April 30.
With hits such as "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" and "Burnin' For You" Blue Oyster Cult have proved to be one of rock's most enduring bands.
Incidentally, BOC will release a compilation of their most popular songs in May titled Cult Classics.
But, meanwhile you can see them live at Rocky's on Saturday, April 30.
The 29 Apr 1994 issue also contained a listing:
Rocky's: 4220 E. Independence Blvd. (at Albemarle Road). Live rock and roll, 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Thursdays-Saturdays.
Tonight: Seducer, with Wicked Ways, Faith Collapsing and Obey Bazar. April 30: Blue Oyster Cult. May 14: Smithereen. Cover varies. 532-9172.
BTW: The same blogger mentioned in the previous gig entry also posted a report that BOC were at Earth Jam '94, Stone Mountain Park, Atlanta on this date.
Just to make sure, I researched that gig, and it did indeed take place on 30 April 1994, but the participants were Jackson Browne, Mary Chapin Carpenter and The Indigo Girls. No BOC...
This was my first BOC show. They did 16 songs including Reaper, Godzilla and E.T.I., but the rest were pretty obscure.
They did a 2 song encore and played 2 hours in a small club. We were right up against the stage. My buddy Jason got his records signed by the band after the show.
This show was at a place in Greensboro, NC. "The Cathouse". Near a Howard Johnson's off I-85. Located in front of a strip club, or part of the club? Not advertised well... maybe 50-60 people. We pulled up chairs in front of the stage.
Allen autographed a shirt for me. They weren't too happy about things, but soldiered on.
An advert on eBay to buy a DVD of this gig provided the following setlist:
Also on the bill was Great White.
According to the original official BOC schedules, this was listed as a "cancelled" gig - no reasons given...
Again, according to the original official BOC schedules, this was listed as a "cancelled" gig - no reasons given...
The Scoreboard was/is the name of the bar at the OTB (Off Track Betting) Teletheater just outside of Downtown Albany, New York.
It is a big room with many large screen televisions scattered everywhere you'd look. It's a place to go and make bets on horseraces and they'd broadcast the races and other sporting events on those TV's.
At that time somebody got the idea to start having some concerts in there and BOC was one of the first. I also saw Leslie West play there around the same time.
Don't know if advance tickets were sold. I think it was a show up and get in type of gig. It was a well attended show but I can only remember having a good time.
The Tag's website lists this gig as:
1994 6/13 - Blue Oyster Cult
However, the Thursday 21 July 1994 edition of the "Star-Gazette" provides this information:
Cult Heroes Coming to Town
Blue Oyster Cult, heavy metal hitmakers with "Don't Fear the Reaper," "Godzilla," "Burning for You" and "Cities on Flame with Rock Roll," comes to Tag's in Big Flats Saturday evening with A.K.A. Tickets are $12 in advance; for information, call Tag's at 607/562-7500.
The above poster suggests The Doobies were the scheduled headliners for this show, but I found a listing for this gig in the Friday 29 Jul 1994 edition of "The Salt Lake Tribune" which implied differently:
Livestock, featuring Foreigner, Doobie Brothers, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Blue Oyster Cult, Rare Earth and Iron Butterfly, Utah State Fairpark, Saturday, 10:30 a.m.
Tickets, $10, Pegasus Music and Video Stores.
So, assuming the above band line-up list was given in descending order of magnitude, it looked like it was going to be a Foreigner headline show.
This was confirmed by the account of the show that appeared in the Sunday 31 Jul edition of the Tribune:
Classic Rock Lovers Get Down and Dirty at Livestock '94:
By Lori Buttars
The Salt Lake Tribune
Though temperatures hovered round the 100-degree mark Saturday afternoon, it didn't get too hot for the nearly 50,000 classic rock fans gathered at the Utah State Fairpark for Livestock '94.
Sponsored by Salt Lake radio station KLZX, the day-long music festival marked its third edition with a bill of rock bands whose names date back a few years: Iron Butterfly, Rare Earth, Blue Oyster Cult, Bachman Turner Overdrive and the Doobie Brothers. But it was the man with the fire hose at the front of the stage who got the biggest cheers.
"Water! Water! Water! chanted the audience as the hose-wielding man did his best to douse the crowd. Fans who were fortunate enough to be within the hose's reach didn't even mind that the repeated showers soon turned the stage front into a mud pit.
"It's all part of the fun," said Salt Lake resident Ron Trinity smiling though his mud-soaked T-shirt - "Wanted: Jimi Hendrix" - probably would never look the same.
Behind the mud pit was a sea of blankets and lawn chairs where the remaining fans set up camp to work on their tans and listen to the music. The large crowd was a welcome sight for Gil Bridges, whose band Rare Earth had its heyday in the early 1970s.
"I look at the audience out there and I see kids who weren't even born when we first made our music. If this is classic rock, I take it as a compliment. It proves that our music has stood the test of time," Bridges said.
His band's 20-minute rendition of the 1971 hit "I Just Want to Celebrate" best summed up mood of the day.
Salt Lake City police and a host of security personnel who were patrolling the crowd said that the fans, for the most part, were behaving themselves.
A few incidents, mainly heat-related, were reported. Among them was a 13-year old pregnant girl who went into labor and had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. Paramedics were called to the Fairpark 14 other times. One girl, 15, was knocked unconscious when she modestly tried to cover herself after a concertgoer cut off her bikini top. She dove off her boyfriend's shoulders and hit her head on the ground. She was taken to University Medical Center.
Not even news that the headlining band, Foreigner, had been pulled off the bill due to singer Lou Gramm's sore throat was enough to dampen the revelers' spirits. When officials made the announcement at noon, offering a no-questions asked refund for the following 30 minutes, ticket takers reported that only a dozen or so patrons asked for their money back.
"This is just as fun as going on vacation to the Caribbean or some other exotic place," said Steve Thomas, a visitor from Anchorage, Alaska, who planned his summer respite around being in Utah for the festival. "I saw most of these bands in the '70s and I don't know of another opportunity where you can find music like this."
A bit more info appeared in the 2 Aug 1994 issue of the "The Daily Herald":
Foreigner absence doesn't dampen spirits at Livestock:
By Kevin Niendorf
The Daily Herald
Salt Lake City - There was little evidence that the absence of Foreigner at Livestock '94 had any dismal effect on the 40,000 classic rock'n'roll fans who turned out for the annual festival.
In fact, very few accepted the full refund offered because of Foreigner's last-minute cancellation and went on to spend eight hours in 100-degree heat being doused by waves of water from fire hoses while listening to five proven bands of the 70s and 80s.
"It's at the point where the event is bigger than the bands," said Z-93 disc jockey Jon Carter, who co-hosts the radio station's morning show with Dan Bammes.
"Just being here is amazing. This event has grown so huge, it's Jon and Dan and 40,000 of our best friends."
Bammes agreed, saying "It's the summer thing to do in Salt Lake City. I was grateful they were understanding about the Foreigner thing."
The day-long festival, held at the Utah State Fairpark on Saturday, featured performances by the Doobie Brothers, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Blue Oyster Cult, Blue Oyster Cult and Iron Butterfly.
Lou Gramm, lead singer for Foreigner, was examined by a doctor Saturday morning and was diagnosed as having strep throat. He was advised against singing due to the possibility of damaging his vocal chords.
As in the previous two Livestock concerts, the crowd looked like a throwback from the Woodstock concert. However, new this year was the amount of mud puddles near the front of the oversized stage. Numerous mud fights left people covered with mud, but it didn't stop the endless chants for more water.
One hour before taking the stage, Keith Knudsen, drummer and vocalist for the Doobie Brothers, told The Daily Herald he looks forward to playing the outdoor festival concerts.
"Outdoors is cool," he said. "I hope they leave here today saying, "What a great band!" We hope they walk away glad that they came."
Like the four other bands before them, the Doobie Brothers reeled off hit after hit with the fans citing the words to their classic songs.
"I looked down and saw a lot of 21-year-olds singing along," said Lee Dorman, world-renowned bass player with Iron Butterfly.
"What does that tell you? For our element of rock'n'roll, people loved it when it was there and they want it. There's several other bands that still have it."
Ron Bushy, another founding member of Iron Butterfly, said he jumped at the chance of playing Salt Lake City but was a little hesitant at first about playing at a event called Livestock.
"At first I thought, 'Alright!' he said "But then I thought, 'Oh my God. We're going to play at a state fair where there's cattle."
Blue Oyster Cult lead guitarist/vocalist Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser said Utah is like no other state in the nation in terms of geography and has fallen in love with it since his first visit in 1970. He was also in favor of the outdoor format.
"The show tends to have less quiet stops," he said "Outdoors, it's all rock 'em, sock 'em."
The Cult's mega-hit Don't Fear the Reaper, written by Dharma, elevated Saturday's crowd into a frenzy along with two other hits, Godzilla and Burning for You.
After exiting the stage, Dharma said he never gets tired of playing Don't Fear the Reaper.
"At least it's a good song. I'd hate to be playing Achy Breaky Heart for the next 20 years."
So this confirms that The Doobie Brothers headlined, and I've gone with the gig listing and poster to work out the order of the other bands. If you know differently, please let me know...
An advert on eBay for a poster from this gig provided the following band list:
I originally found a listing for this gig in a piece on that year's Nebraska State Fair line-up in the Sunday 26 June 1994 edition of "The Lincoln Star".
A diverse program of musical entertainment was planned, and part of that diversity was a rock festival:
A rock festival featuring bands that reached their peaks in the late '70s and early '80s is set for Sept 1. The lineup includes: Nazareth, Foghat, Uriah Heep, Blue Oyster Cult and Black Foot
State Fair Devaney Center lineup
Fri Aug 26 - Crash Test Dummies, with The Millions
Sun Aug 28 - All-4-One
Wed Aug 31 - Taping of "River City Folk With Tom May"
Thu Sep 01 - Rock Festival with Nazareth, Foghat, Uriah Heep, Blue Oyster Cult & Blackfoot
Fri Sep 02 - Sawyer Brown
Sun Sep 04 - Statler Brothers
Mon Sep 05 - Blues Festival with B.B. King, Little Feat, Dr. John and "A Tribute to Muddy Waters."
Adverts for the rock festival ran all the way through July and August
1994 Nebraska State Fair Concerts
Rock Festival Starring:
Nazareth, Foghat, Uriah Heep, Blue Oyster Cult & Blackfoot
Thursday, September 1, 7:30 p.m.
Then, in the Saturday, August 13, 1994 issue, they brought this news:
Fair's Rock Festival hits rock bottom - Low ticket sales force cancellation of planned Sept. 1 show.
The good news at the State Fair Board meeting Friday was that interest is revving up for the return of sprint-car racing to State Fair Park.
The bad news is that the Rock Festival planned for Sept 1 at Devaney Sports Center has been canceled because of low ticket sales.
Nazareth, Foghat, Uriah Heep, Blue Oyster Cult and Black Foot will not be appearing at Devaney Sports Center. The ticket office will be contacting ticket buyers and sending refunds.
As a strange postscript to this, despite having informed their readers that the Rock festival part of the State Fair was now an ex-Rock festival, both the The Lincoln Star and the Lincoln Journal Star published the following listing in their Sunday, August 21, 1994 editions:
Thursday, September 1
Rock Festival with
Nazareth, Foghat, Uriah Heep, Blue Oyster Cult & Blackfoot
Concert at Devaney Centre
7.30 p.m.
Clearly, they don't read their own newspaper...
There was - apparently - an unplugged accoustic version of DFTR done at this show:
There is a studio tape that I made of a unplugged Reaper recorded in Erie PA Sept 2nd 1994. Buck,Eric and Jon - it also has Slow Down...
On this gig they headlined but also playing were Foghat, Starship and Steppenwolf.
I found a listing for this gig in the Sunday 04 Sep 1994 edition of "The Fresno Bee":
Bisla's Nightclub - 50 E. Herndon Ave... 9 p.m. Wednesday, Blue Oyster Cult, $12 advance, $15 day of show;
Two things - first of all, the Pollstar data for San Diego seems to have the wrong date down for this gig - see the ticket above, dated 8 Sept 1994. Pollstar think it happened on the previous day, but as I already have a Fresno gig listed for the 7th (complete with setlist), I'm reasonably happy that they've got that wrong.
Second - Pollstar reckons the venue was the "Che Cafe Collective", which is located on the University of California, San Diego campus in La Jolla, California, USA. Again, the ticket stub above directly contradicts this - plus, I checked the Che's notable past performance gig history, and there's no mention of BOC...
So, although it doesn't seem to happen very often, I think Pollstar have got this one wrong, but whether or not the figures they quote (see above) apply to the Flash Cafe, however, remains to be seen...
UPDATE: I have since found a listing for this gig in the Friday 02 Sep 1994 edition of the "Times-Advocate":
Blue Oyster Cult:
When: Sept 8
Where: The Flash, 10475 San Diego Mission Rd., Mission Valley
Tickets: 619-220-TIXS
Info: 619-563-0024.
Printed on the day of the actual gig itself, this confirms the date and venue and thus demonstrates the fallibility of that Pollstar data quoted above.
I found a listing for this gig in the Friday 02 Sep 1994 edition of "The Modesto Bee":
The Street Presents:
Coming Attractions
Sept 9
Blue Oyster Cult
$15 Advance; $17.50 at the door
I found a listing for this gig in the Saturday 10 Sep 1994 edition of "The Los Angeles Times":
Blue Oyster Cult and A.R.M. play rock at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. 8 p.m. $18.50. (714) 496-8930. Story, F2.
This was a charity event billed as the "Dream Ride", which was kind of a rip-off of an annual event held at the same venue each year called the "Love Ride."
I worked at many events there as a volunteer staffing the barley pop booths, as I did for this event as well.
I believe it must have been massively under-promoted as the attendance was what seemed like a few hundred people compared to the 20,000+/- the Love Ride usually attracted.
At any rate, I guess BOC got paid to play, and play they did. They put on what was like a private show for about 100 people (at most) that sat on hay bales in front of the stage.
They didn't play a full length gig, but were very gracious considering the circumstances.
Well that's weird, then - check out the reported Pollstar ticket sales above...
This concert was a promotional disaster. When we arrived at the Eugene fairgrounds performance hall, tickets in hand, ready for the show, the parking lot was empty and the hall was still in use as an ice rink!
Dazed and confused we asked the ice rink ticket guy if he knew anything about the concert. "Oh yeah, they didn't sell enough tickets so at the last minute they moved it to the Red Lion." Say what?
Well, we headed over to the motel where we stood in a small line in the parking lot for about three hours until things finally got rolling. It was unbelievable; the "stage" was an area in a large conference room that was separated from the audience by some chairs and there were maybe 100 people in the audience. You were so close to the bands that it was like something in someone's basement.
Uriah Heep kicked off and rocked like they were playing to a stadium of crazed fans; very cool attitude. When BOC hit the stage, they were pissed! You could see the anger in their faces and for three quarters of their set they were like the song says, "Going through the motions."
They finally warmed up by the end, but it wasn't their finest hour. I figure that after the concert someone probably took the promoter out back and beat the crap out of him. It wasn't how we expected the evening to go but it was definitely a memorable show.
Looking at the dates either side of this one, you would think that logic would suggest that Uriah Heep might have been the support for this gig - can anyone confirm/deny this?
I had just arrived in Portland to start at Portland State University, when I saw the poster of the Roseland show at a local record store, and I was already glad I was there. Not only that, but Uriah Heep was also on the bill- being a fan of the David Byron-era Heep, I was jazzed for this show, no doubt.
The Roseland Theater is one of the best night club venues in Portland to see a band like BOC, a very cool place that holds about 500-600 people, a good little balcony area, great sound system, and close to downtown, right off Burnside on NW 6th ave. Portland is an excellent city for music and the arts-if you're a music fan, chances are you will see many concerts there.
This was to be my sixth time seeing BOC in three years (all SF/Nor Cal area), and still... I was ready to rock! I got to the Roseland a few hours early just to check out the venue from the outside and maybe catch band members from either Heep or BOC, met some good fans outside waiting in line, and before that, caught up briefly with BOC bassist, Jon Rogers while he was leaving the parking lot, and got to chat a bit with him.
Jon is a class act, heck of a nice guy, and great bass player. We talked a bit about the "Cult Classic" cd, which had just been released (awesome cd, btw) and an update on the new album, which was still a few years off. Anyway, also caught Mick Box from Uriah Heep exiting as well, he waved to his fans, said hello, etc... that was kinda cool.
The place was packed, and oddly enough, there was a warmup act before Heep started, a local folk singer guy, who played a short 30 minute set. Don't remember his name. I got right up front. Finally, Uriah Heep came on, and they were excellent. Mick Box of course was still there, on lead guitar, and "classic lineup" era drummer Lee Kerslake was on the drums.
They played a couple newer tunes, and a few gems from "The Magician's Birthday", and "Demons & Wizards" records, which I was more familiar with. After about a 45 minute (or more?) set, the Heep exited, and the tension was mounting...another great BOC show was just minutes away.
To my surprise, BOC opened up their set with "Dr. Music", I had seen the band play this as the 2nd number a few times, but never opening with it. It was great, a fun song that rocks, and sets the mood for a rock and roll party.
Also new were Buck and Eric's haircuts, way shorter and new looking, since the previous year. The band proceeded to deliver one of the tightest, most rocking performances I've seen them do, and the setlist did also feature songs like "Flaming Telepaths", which I had never seen them do until this night, and the usual classics "ETI", "Take Me Away", "Astronomy", new songs "Harvest Moon"and "Still Burning" (or was it "Demon's Kiss"?), "Cities On Flame", and if I remember correctly, "I Love The Night" or maybe either "Before The Kiss, A Redcap" or"Buck's Boogie". If someone has the exact setlist, I'd love to see it (not to mention a live tape!).
Of course "the Big 3" brought down the house. The band and crowd were one that night, and BOC put on a killer show. Jon Rogers got on the mic between encores, and said something to the effect that "BOC loves Portland- a real music fan's town!", etc. That was a great compliment.
This was also to be the last time I would catch a BOC gig until 1999. But man, what a great night it was-the band was tight, great setlist, and the crowd was loving it.
I remember after the house lights came up, walking from the front of the stage to leave, wading through a sea of glass beer bottles. That was a fitting ending to a very Rock And Roll night with BOC. For me, the early 90's lineup of the band was extra special: Eric, Buck, Allen, Jon and Chuck were a killer live band, one of the best lineups in the Cult's long and storied history.
Kenny Aaronson was bass player on this gig - I'm sure it was Aaronson because he partied with us after the gig. Burgi kicked ass...
Can anyone confirm this? This is news, if it's true...
Harley's pass above mentions Uriah Heep - yet the Heep site says Uriah were playing the "Red Lion Ballroom, Pasco, Wash" on this date...
Now the info I have for this gig is that apparently the show was switched from the original venue of Benton County Fairgrounds in Kennewick as the promoter had a liquor license dispute with the fairgrounds. I've not seen any previous mention of Uriah Heep anywhere.
In fact, if you read the preview for the Spokane gig the next day - see immediately below - which was published on 16 Sep, then you'll see it says there that BOC were to play Benton County Fairgrounds on this day "minus Uriah Heep"...
Can anyone provide any definite information on this?
BOC played the Shiloh Inn on 17 Sep 1994 with Uriah Heep opening. The Heep website has it wrong...
I found a preview for this gig in the 16 Sep 1994 edition of the "The Spokesman-Review":
Blue Oyster Cult, Uriah Heep still going strong
By Don Adair Correspondent
Want to watch a big-time morph job?
Watch the Masonic Temple transform itself into Flashback City Sunday, when Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep blow into town.
Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep? Well, now were going back a ways.
England's Uriah Heep very nearly qualifies for pioneer status. Its bass-heavy 1970 LP "Very 'Eavy, Very 'Umble" followed hard on the heavy metal heels of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Later that year, the group released "Salisbury", which featured a 16-minute track backed by a 26-piece symphony orchestra, making it a forerunner of that hoary British beast, prog-rock.
Blue Oyster Cult came a few years later, drenching metal licks with a strange East Coast blend of humor, cynicism and gloomy mysticism.
Apropos of the name, it remained a cult item for a few years, thanks to the underground success of such songs as "Cities on Flame" and "Bucks Boogie".
In 1976, it moved surprisingly close to the mainstream with "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", a ballad that overcame its gloomy symbolism to break into the Top 10.
A second single, "This Aint the Summer of Love", was more down the old BOC pipe, title-wise at any rate. It sold fairly well, too.
In some respects, Blue Oyster Cult suffered from the outlaw image promulgated for it by Sandy Pearlman, a rock writer who invented the band much the way Malcom McLaren later invented the Sex Pistols. In person, BOC members are not nearly the 21st century motorcycle demons portrayed in their early years.
As always, the question with these elder statesmen is how many members of the original band remain. BOC seems still to be in the good hands of singer Eric Bloom, guitarist Buck Dharma and keyboardist guitarist Allen Lanier.
Uriah Heep is slightly less certain. Original members Mick Box, guitar/vocals, and Lee Keerslake, drums/vocals, are still with the band. Bass player and vocalist Trevor Bolder dates to the 1976 edition.
Dave Byron, the original lead singer, was asked to leave in 1975 because of a drinking problem and later died of a heart attack. Bernie Shaw, a Canadian who saw duty with Grand Prix, Praying Mantis and Stratus before joining Heep in 1986, now handles vocals.
Sunday's concert at the Masonic begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $18.50 and are available at G&B; you must be at least 21 to attend.
Blue Oyster Cult will also perform (minus Uriah Heep) Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Benton Franklin County Fairgrounds in the Tri-Cities. Tickets are $18.50 and are available at G&B (and you must be at least 21 to attend).
Two days after the gig, on 20 Sep 1994, "The Spokesman-Review" published the following review:
Heavy metal sound still, draws the crowds
Raw but tight, Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep prove they are still major players in the world of '70s heavy riff-rock
Concert review:
Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep
Sunday, Sept. 18 at the Masonic Temple
By Joe Ehrbar (Correspondent)
Rock dinosaurs like Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep must look forward to playing Spokane, because time and time again they know they'll attract a large audience. Sunday was no exception.
An audience, yearning to take a trip back into the heyday of 70s heavy riff-rock, turned out in great numbers for Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep at the Masonic Temple.
As anticipated, Blue Oyster Cult turned in a startling performance.
The 25-ycar-old band anchored its blunt, tightly wound set with influential classics like "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll".
And, boy, does a quarter of a century of incessant touring make for a tight sound.
Most bands fall apart during long-winded jams. Not this band. B.O.C., which capitalized heavily on free-form jams, remained solidly intact all through its performance.
Buck Dharma's guitar playing continues to wow audiences. His dynamic solos, never overly self-indulgent, amazed the crowd Sunday night.
The group may be old and it might never again be as celebrated as it was during the 70s, but don't discount the band's efforts. B.O.C. not only rocks with a vengeance, but it still attracts a strong cult following.
Uriah Heep's set was a wonderful surprise.
This band, too, has racked up the years. Its sound, more dated than B.O.C.'s, contained a nice biting edge.
What was amazing was the band's striking resemblance to Iron Maiden and Queensryche, bands which were undoubtedly influenced by old Uriah Heep recordings.
Uriah Heep probably wont regain the star status it held more than two decades ago, but the band showed plenty of spark and enthusiasm throughout its set. It made every note count.
A rigorous ovation at the close of its performance was testimony that Uriah Heep still has fans.
If there was any lesson learned from Sunday's concert, it was that modern-day heavy metal owes much to 70s bands like Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep.
Blind Melon's 1994 - My younger brother wasn't really into them but figured he ought to see them while they were still around. Apparently he didn't believe my "On Tour Forever" t-shirt ;-)
Partway through the show he commented on how much better these older classic-rock touring bands were than any of the newer stuff because they knew how to interact, play the crowd and really put on a show. No s***!
This was my first BOC show. I'm pretty sure Astronomy, Flaming Telepaths and Buck's Boogie were played. I remember my jaw hitting the floor because when he announced Buck's Boogie, he said that the Cult Classic had just come out. I had no clue.
Also, this was the night they debuted "See You In Black". Eric announced this brand new tune, "...first time, anywhere!!!!". They also did Still Burning, which Buck (?) mentioned he co-wrote with Rogers. I was blown away by the first tune, not so much with the second. I was convinced that song would send them back into the spotlight!
Talk about a walk down memory lane here!! I had thought that Jon Rogers was Joe Bouchard (I had no idea), and later in the gig Eric said "...and that's Jon Rogers, Joe Bouchard hasn't played with us for # years, so get with the fucking program".
Hee hee...
I came across a very home-made looking ticket for this gig on ebay... the thing is, the original date on the ticket is crossed out in black felt tip and "Nov 4" is written above it. It was only a low-resolution jpeg, so it's hard to be sure, but the original date seems to have been "Sep 9" - but don't quote me on that...
However, the other thing I noticed was that the venue was given as "Palos Verde Inn" and a phone number of "(310) 316-1700".
This is a little bit strange because that is the number that is given for the Strand club in Redondo Beach, CA, and when I look up details for the Palos Verde Inn (Redondo Beach, CA), the phone number is given as (310) 316-4211.
Luckily, the Strand's Facebook page gives a potted history of the venue that provides some explanation:
The building went up in 1955 and was christened the Plush Horse Inn in 1960...
South Bay History website wrote:
----------------------------------------------------
The Plush Horse Inn and Restaurant in the early 1970s.
The Plush Horse Inn opened at 1700 Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach on August 3, 1960, with help from a throughbred horse from Del Mar named Plush Horse. According a Daily Breeze story, he helped to untie the ribbon to open the motor hotel for business.
The Plush Horse's rooms contained all modern conveniences, including air-condtioning, telephone and even indidivudal televsions.
The facility near the corner of PCH and Palos Verdes Boulevard had two adjacent eateries, a larger restaurant knows as the Plush Horse, and the Plush Pony coffee shop, and was large enough to serve as a banquet and meeting room.
In November 1980, the Plush Pony restaurant began a short but successful run as Annabelle's Discotheque, but that incarnation was troubled and eventually closed because of unruly crowds and unhappy neighbors.
Upscale restaurateurs Michael Franks and Robert Bell transformed the Inn's smaller coffee shop, the Plush Pony, into Chez Melange in 1982, when the inn was still known as the Plush Pony. It became one of the South Bay's best-known restaurants almost immediately. In 1983, The Plush Pony Inn became the Palos Verdes Inn.
After its stint as Annabelle's, the main restaurant became the French restaurant Renaud's, after its chef, Renaud Defond. Then-Daily Breeze restaurant critic Charles Britton gave it two stars in a 1985 review, but Renaud's closed soon thereafter.
----------------------------------------------------
The Strand nightclub opened at the site in May 1986, and drew name acts such as the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Leon Russell, Chris Isaak, Gregg Allman, Nick Lowe and Pancho Sanchez during its ten years of operation as a supper club featuring musical entertainment.
The Strand struggled in its later years, filing bankruptcy in 1994, though it continued to hold shows.
The Strand nightclub in 1994.
It was rechristened as Club Caprice in 1996 with the idea of attracting a more upscale and less rowdy clientele, but increasing competition from venues such as the House of Blues in West Hollywood, who paid more for acts and insisted on exclusivity, hurt the club's revenues and it closed in late 1999.
Bristol Farms drastically remodeled the building before opening one of its gourmet grocery stores on December 6, 2000.
So I suppose, after reading that, my main question is why on earth were the Strand using old "Palos Verde Inn" printed blank tickets for its own shows...?
OK, the Pollstar data gives a different venue and town for this gig from the one listed in the original BOC schedules.
However, the two options aren't as far apart as it would first seem - "South Lake Tahoe" (which seems more accurately to be located in California) literally touches "Stateline NV", separated only by - yes, you guessed it - the state line.
But which of the two venues/towns is the actual one where the gig took place remains to be seen.
Can you help?
I've been sorting through some live BOC recordings and listening to a few of them along the way. Most of them have no tracklists, so I've been checking your site to see what songs to expect. I seem to have found a discrepancy in the setlist for The Catalyst, November 9th, 1994. My copy of the show lines up with your setlist up to and including Cities On Flame.
Then Eric gives the crowd a choice between Astronomy, Psychic Wars and Last Days. The next song they play is Astronomy -- not Last Days as indicated on your site. They follow it with Buck's Boogie, not ME262.
After that, the setlist lines up. The announcer calls out Santa Cruz when introducing the band, so I think my disc is correctly labelled.
Can anyone else shed any light on this? The setlist as given on the right is transcribed from one of Bolle Gregmar's tapes.
Here's the band line-up as printed in the Friday 18 Nov 1994 edition of "The Orlando Sentinel":
Stage C, Magnolia Avenue and Church Street:
5.30-6.15 p.m. Mark Samansky's Sammy Demo Band
6.45-7.45 p.m. Bloodline
8.15-9.30 p.m. Great White
10.15-11.45 p.m. Blue Oyster Cult
I found a listing for this gig in the Friday 18 Nov 1994 edition of "Newsday":
Roxy Music Hall:
Yngwie Malmsteen, Blue Oyster Cult, Rot Gut, Hummer, 9 p.m. Wednesday, $20. 277 New York Ave., Huntington, 424-7699, 424-7703.
Judging by the above, I've assumed Yngwie Malmsteen headlined, despite the fact that gig listings for the Glenside gig 3 later all clearly stated that Yngwie opened that one... if you know otherwise, please let me know...
I found a listing for this gig in the Friday 25 Nov 1994 edition of the "Asbury Park Press":
Birch Hill: Blue Oyster Cult, Edgar Cayce, Luv Junkies, today; Blackfoot, Mental Case, tomorrow; (908) 536-0650. Route 9 South, Old Bridge Township.
25/11/1994: Birch Hill, Old Bridge, N.J.
Support: 2 local bands
Setlist:
I was there! Yngwie opened and wouldn't go away... lol
We thought he'd probably do a 40 minute set and be done. The crowd was definitely a BOC crowd and pretty rowdy. Yngwie played about a 90 minute set and came back for like 3 encores... the crowd was chanting BOC, BOC, BOC... but he kept coming back for another song.
The guy across the aisle from said "He's like a wind-up toy, he won't go away" People were actually booing.
I'm not really sure if he ate into the time allocated for BOC's set, I just think nobody cared about seeing him play...
This date was down on the official site but cannot have occurred because:
All in all, this must be a phantom listing...
I found a listing for this gig in the 30 Dec 1994 edition of the "The Times" [Munster IN]:
New Year's Eve at Union Station
Featuring Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult, Larry Crane, Duke Tumatoe and The Oliver Syndrome, starting at 9 p.m., 39 W. Jackson Place, Indianapolis. Tickets are $19.95 and are available at Union Station or all TicketMaster Outlets. For more information, call (800) 969-1888.