2001: 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 .
Regarding the BOC show on Jan.26,2001, the venue was Marshfield High School Auditorium, not Marshall High School as is listed.
Thought I would clarify that for you. It was a benefit concert for Coos Bay area firefighters.
The opening band was Thunderfinger.
2/2/01 Temple Theater: from what I can recall and not exactly in order:
For the life of me, can't remember if i heard stairway or not, had a flashback of the knarly eyeball and kinda got lost in time
Hiya Briz! Sorry I didn't run into you there. :~( I was to the left of the sound board (facing the stage) for the openers with my wife & a couple of friends. How about those openers, huh? Wooo boy! *gag*
I do have to make a couple of corrections to your set list. I was hoping somebody would post a set list. I remember distinctly the first 4 songs, but after that, MINE becomes blurry. :~P
First was ETI, then Dance On Stilts (killer song, btw...loved it!), then Buck's Boogie, then Cities. From there, I'd have to say your list is pretty good... can't seem to recall anything you didn't cover. Would have liked to have seen them play Now is the Time The Old Gods Return, as everyone has been saying this is quite the killer track, but not that night. :~(
I tried to take some pictures, but they turned out like crap, again. I have the worst luck... or the worst equipment. heh heh 'Course, when you don't come prepared, ya get what ya get. I am trying to play around with them electronically to make them a little better (read: visible).
It kinda put a damper on my plans when I saw the "NO CAMERAS" sign on the door. That meant I'd have to be sneaky. Consequently, the results were even worse.
Here are the setlists for the BB Kings BOC shows from 2001-02-08.
BB Kings February 8th 2001 - Set One/The Early Show:
Set Two/The Late Show:
Here is the setlist for March 31, 2001 San Manuel Casino Highland, CA.
That was the 5th May 2001 show. I had some time off work & my partner couldn't make it so I thought 'What the hell'. Bolle Gregmar had said he would arrange for me to go backstage if I made the trip so I booked a flight to Vegas & found accommodation when I got there. The US customs at the airport were a little nervous as I was travelling light & they didn't like the fact that I had nowhere to stay. If I had done this after 9/11 I may have been deported straight away!
Anyway I found the Casino but before the show looked around some shops nearby. Wearing my Buck Dharma T shirt I was noticed by Paul & Sue [famous BOC fans who seem to travel the world to see the band] & I have since met them at gigs in the UK.
Bolle was very friendly and I hung around with him for a while. He told me about videos he had of BOC on TV & also promo videos & sent me some for a small fee.
I decided to try to ring Buck in the hotel assuming he was actually staying there but the operator could not locate a Buck Dharma. I said try Donald Roeser & before I knew it Buck had answered the phone! He said I could watch them rehearsing for the show but for some reason I missed that.
I remember walking to the stage area before the show & nobody was about. The Band's bus was close by [along with Nazareth's] & I opened the door to see if any Cultoids were in but it was deserted. I felt I shouldn't really be there & left quickly!
The show itself was outdoor behind the Casino, quite a small seating area, & it was light when the gig started. BOC were on first & it just didn't 'spark' that evening. Maybe because it was outdoors although I saw them outdoors in Copenhagen in 1997 [I think] & still remember 'Last Days' bringing tears to my eyes.
When they finished their set I was allowed backstage & managed to talk to Buck while Nazareth blasted out. Eric & Allen were there but I didn't feel able to just go up to them to say 'Hi'. You feel a jerk saying how great you think they are & it can be difficult to make conversation with these 'stars'. You have to see it from their point of view. Why would they want to speak to a complete stranger who is dumbstruck at meeting his heroes.
Later on there were a group of fans in the Casino talking about the show & Buck came to talk to us. There were some hardcore fans who he knew pretty well but he was polite to everybody & signed T shirts. So that was my experience of BOC close-up. Probably won't get to do it again but I have great memories of that trip. When I flew out of Vegas at night the plane banked & the Strip was laid out superbly below me. Everything just seemed to go right!
At the 5 May 2001 show in Vegas, I was dutifully scribing a setlist. Exiting at one point to use the facilities, I asked my date (a casual BOC fan) to keep track of anything they played while I was gone.
I kicked myself for missing "Many Voices," God love her...
I attended a BOC show on May 6, 2001. I wasn't even sure about the date for the longest time, but recently uncovered a newspaper story I had clipped promoting the show. It was a free outdoor show in Lake Charles, LA.
It was part of the local "Contraband Days" festival and took place outside the Lake Charles Civic Center. Since the show was on the lakefront, I remember thinking it was the rare occasion where the set-up for "Godzilla" could almost be believed.
I wish I could tell you what the setlist was, but I honestly still didn't know much about BOC at the time. I wrote a review on a message board after I got home, but it was lost in a database crash a number of years ago. So I don't entirely trust 12 year old memories, but I can state with absolute certainty these songs were played:
I am less certain about these, but THINK they also played "Flaming Telepaths" and "Astronomy". Looking over the shows they were playing at the time, "ETI", "Dance on Stilts", and "Harvester of Eyes" were probably played, but my lack of knowledge then and the passage of time makes that guesswork.
I am pretty sure a local Lake Charles band opened for them, but because it was a free festival show, my group didn't arrive until after they were finished.
To my recollection, BOC played for 90 minutes - not a bad deal for free. I also am stunned to see that they had played Las Vegas the night before - that's a lot of miles to log to play a free show!
I left after Blue Oyster Cult's set as it was 106 F in the shade that day. Survivor was also on the bill.
BOC was very late for their set; I don't know if if was because of equipment issues or if it was because there were only about 50 people in attendence for their set.
By the time they came on their alloted time was about up and they only performed 3 songs:
Anyone got any idea of the actual band running order for this show - for example: who headlined? - and where Survivor might have fitted in to this lineup?
In Order Of Appearance:
Presumably the running order for this show was the same as the two that sandwich it - and that Joe Stark probably also opened this show... anybody know for sure?
I found a listing for this gig in the Mon 28 May 2001 edition of the "Lansing State Journal":
There's one more show in the opening weekend of DTE in Clarkston. Loverboy and Blue Oyster Cult perform at 7:30 p.m. today, with tickets - $26.50 and $16.50 - at (248) 377-0100.
This listing, from the Mon 28 May 2001 edition of the "Detroit Free Press" confirms the full band line-up:
Loverboy, Blue Oyster Cult and Surfin' Pluto, rock, 7:30 p.m. DTE Energy Music Theatre, exit 89 off I-75, Clarkston. $16.50, $26.50. 248-377-0100.
I was reading an online interview with a member of the one of the support acts, Believer, and he said his best memory of being in the band was "playing in front of 13,000 people while opening for Blue Oyster Cult at a festival in Humboldt," so that gives an indication of the crowd size for this gig...
The running order was Slaughter, Uriah Heep, Blue Oyster Cult, Jethro Tull, Ted Nugent.
The show from 8/3/01 turned out to be a special one for the wife and I. We arrived in Sheboygan around 2:30/3:00 pm and were driving around looking for the park BOC was gonna play at. It was about 90 degrees out, very hot and humid.
We were driving along when I spotted Bobby Rondinelli walking down the street. I yelled out my window "Hey Bobby" and pulled over, and walked across the street. I had not met him before, of course. I asked where he was going, he said a music store down the block.
I said "we'll give you a ride, it's kind of hot out" He looked me up and down and said "sure" so we gave him a ride to this store. We went inside with him. He was looking for any kind of old drum/drum heads? or somrthing or another, which the store did not have. We got back in my car with the wife in the back seat and drove around. He asked us if we would like to go to the sound check we said sure. I could not believe this was happening.
[By the way, I introduced myself as Mark, but he could call me Sport]. We drove to the concert site and Buck and Danny were already there, checking their gear. I have pictures of Buck in shorts sound checking his guitar. Bobby was banging away at the drums while we were standing just off to the side. I asked Bobby if he wanted a brat, he said yes and I went and got him one at the brat tent.
After sound check we took Bobby to the hotel and he suggested we might find a room where the band was staying. They had one! left. We got the room and he said to us "if you want you can give me a ride back to the gig, just be in the lobby at such and such a time. Cool. It must have been 6:30 or so, we come down to the lobby and he and Danny are waiting for us! Holy shit!.
We climb into my Neon, Bobby in front and Danny in back with wife and head to the gig. We talk about other bands and mention we had just seen Roxy Music in Chicago. Danny said he like them. Anyway, we were in this long line of cars trying to get in the gig. It felt like a scene out of Spinal Tap.
I said I can go down the opposite side. Danny/or Bobby said go for it, and I did. We got in the backstage parking area and got out and were able to keep car there. Bobby disappeared and returned with two VIP laminates for us, so we could come and go as we pleased!
We got to watch band from front of stage and backstage. I sat on a gear trunk about 15 feet from where Bobby was playing. It was unreal the whole experience. I had a cardboard sign with me, with Dominance and Submission on it that Eric held up to the crowd and said "HOW 'BOUT SOME DOMINANCE.
After show they all left in cars and back to hotel. We did not see any of them until at breakfest the next a.m. Bobby and Danny and a couple of road crew guys sat in a booth opposite us.
Later Buck came down and sat at a table by himself with a book and had breakfest. As we were leaving I introduced myself as Mark and the wife Lynette, "great show,see ya at Navy Pier". I was in awe of him and fumbled for words even though we had met him over the past couple of years.
At the Navy Pier show he came out after the show where 20 or so people were waiting and he invited 10 or 15 of us back stage with him. My friend Z also came back. People took turns chatting with him. He was very cool, as we left the area Bobby comes walking down the hall and seemed surprised to see us and we told him thanks again. What a thrill for me and my wife. That's it. From then on we saw Bobby at numerous shows and he always had time to talk to us even though he seemed busy at the time.
I went to this show, it was at the ogden fair which I was surprised when I got there. Ton of people outside on rides and stuff, but the BOC concert was at some trashy indoor meeting hall or something.
The sound was horrible with bad acoustics, we all chanted "turn it up". The sound had a really bad echo sound. I just remember it was probably the worst sounding boc show ive been to :-(
Eric even made a comment about where the place was at, he said "let out the cows, where's the bulls, did we miss the bull riding tonight" as the place looked like a rodeo just finished the night before. LOL
Also - BOC was the only act playing that night!!
Sprecher is a great milwaukee beer, not simply a mass marketed "schwag" brew but a fine company with a whole line of tasty morsels including amber, black bavarian, and octoberfest among others. friday's show (8/31/01-my brother's birthday) in glendale, wi was at an outdoor festival called sprecherfest at old heidelberg park. this park is TINY and centered around an open ended pavillion with tons of tables and a decent wooden stage. the sound system was pretty decent, powerful and clean, but we could've used louder side fills or extensions like the tubes pulled out last month for those of us up front.
bad boy opened. they are a legendary milwaukee band that used to rule the clubs in the 80s. they reunite several times a year to do special events like sprecherfest and summerfest. their front man was wailin' away on a beautiful white gibson sg and the other guitarist, zeno - who always brings the party, was red spandexed and fairly spastic. i thought it was a pretty solid set full of many originals but it was the covers that got people interested, especially a stones-ish "miss you" that got zeno all excited as he did his jagger routine alongside that killer bass line. their last tune (prior to encore) was a rockin' original that resulted in both guitarists squirming around the stage like a pair of teenage angus youngs! encore was a very out of tune "(i can't get no) satisfaction", i think they trashed tuning while on the ground ... the party had started and the sound system was tweaked. a nice warmup act that i commend for creating the energy that seemed appreciated.
fans swarmed toward the stage at the last note of satisfaction as if the flood gates had opened involuntarily. we filled up the open area in front of the stage very quickly and patiently waited through a pretty quick changeover. many smiling faces got re-acquainted or met for the first time. behind me was reaper and his family-they have a gorgeous 4 year old that was proudly displayed on dad's shoulders with a boc hat, ear plugs in and a huge smile on. suddenly a "B.O.C." chant begins and starts to swell in volume. blade runner music not present yet... chant swells louder and in full force. b.r. melds into sound system and gets cranked. the chant grows into almost total unison and practically drowns out the p.a. as our boys stroll on stage with glowing looks of readiness.
eric tries to settle everyone in as if a quarterback at the scrimmage line, making sure all are in position and set to rock. the "B.O.C." chant is relentless by now and the crowd is super loud as buck hits the opening riff to stairway to the stars with great opening energy. unfortunately, a low end feedback starts to grow on the stage until it sounds like godzilla himself during buck's solo. it looked as if eric wanted to stop the tune and fix thangs as he starts motioning with hands to stop but only gets attention of half the band. buck is near the edge of the stage gettin' down and cannot see eric behind him. magically, almost, the feedback stops and band continues on as if it hadn't happened... VERY professional and impressive. i've had this occur on stage as well and it's a tough thing to ignore and can be extremely painful on the ears. a sigh of relief seems to flow across the stage as stairway ends.
slight pause as QB bloom steadies the vessel and then gives an affirmative nod to buck who responds with those killer opening chords to teen archer. what a rockin song! allen gets a nice keys solo that leads so sweetly into buck's monsterous solo that rips a few heads off. danny is jumpin' all over the stage and has just discovered reaper's little cutie up on shoulders, he smiles and waves to her as she lights up. buck's ending vocal note gets a huge response as he hangs onto it eternally and we scream in awe. dharmaman then kicks right into e.t.i. as eric strolls back up to his microphone and gets fairly animated. during his solo, buck steps up to the ledge right in front of me and puts his foot up with a big smile. tune ends and buck looks up to the sky to affirm "their" presence.
the bloomman struts over to the keys and brings up the new album as they head into pocket, very tight and full of life with great backing vocals! as it ends eric puts up a peace sign (a "V") to the rest of the band, the symbol for the vigil. buck really hits the solos hard on this one and comes to the edge of the stage to smile at reaper's daughter, she seems touched and i'm sure it made her feel special. i actually catch him laughing to himself as he's a half-step high on a fill. once again, bd looks up to skies several times in reference to "them". about this time a fan holds up a sign reading unknown tongue that eb spots and says, "we'll think about it." eric passes a message on through allen who strolls to the buck zone as buck and bobby start burnin' for you... wow, 3 buck vocals in a row! eb is surprised as well - looked like his message went unheard - wonder what song he had suggested?
yet another hand signal from eric points to a dirge-like cities on flame that lets buck show off his whammy bar-raping in the middle section. danny boogies over to the ledge in front of us and plants a foot during a true rock star pose. crowd screams the call-and-response "rock and roll" at the top of lungs. then we get the back-to-back harvests, harvest moon - there was a gorgeous full moon overhead that i had to stroll out to see during that one - and harvester of eyes, which totally captured every ear in the house.
then the old gods returned in full force aligning the crowd with the moon in a dark but powerful melody of madness to sweep glendale back into hell. during the middle section the boys all got in a line ala '75 that pleased much of the crowd. being a brewery festival almost demands that the golden age of leather gets played. most of the crowd raised glasses during intro and sang along... very cool. the middle section was soooooo high energy that it just sucked me into a cult abyss of groove. i was rockin' hard to danny's bass line at this point, oblivious to the rest of the world, when i suddenly felt a presence and looked up to see buck staring at me mid-solo. as i busted outta this magic plane bd looks me square in the eyes and says, "wow!". pretty damn cool.
the most dynamic moment of the eve came next as the last days of may swelled orgasmically throughout he entire park. the 4 axewielders all got down on the ground (shades of angus again) and twisted about. guitar tech jack burst into laughter. this song has really been a highlight all summer with the mid-section allowing for lots of improv. they even hit a reggae groove during it at this show.
here comes that big beast again, it's godzilla. danny yells at the audience to wake up during his bass solo... i think many of us were mesmerized into an almost zombie-like state during LDOM. crowd awakens just in time for bobby's amazing drum explosion that ended in a gong bashing. danny enters the stage again playing the "purple haze" bassline to some chagrine prior to returning to song.
nothin' like that moment when buck gets to take stage by self prior to reaper, this time it's sweet and melodic with traces of delay that head us into that killer opening riff. the rave up at the end seems even more extended than usual and buck teases another jimi lick from "all along the watchtower" as solo rises beyond proportion.
the frenzy is unbelievable as the B.O.C. chant rises up again. 3 signs compete for encore: unknown tongue on stage left and both the red and the black and dominance and submission on stage right. eric reaches out and grabs the d and s sign, holding it up for all to see. danny gets so animated during this that it's almost funny and the crowd screams uncontrollably at the end for call-and-response submissions.
hand shaking, lots of smiles and waves, and genuine looks of happiness seem to override both band and audience as yet another amazing show goes down in history... thanks guys!
Sprecher Fest in Glendale. Set list correct. From 7/19/01 to 8/31/01 we saw BOC five times in a span of 45 days. I had brought some 11 x 14 pics of the band with me in hopes of gettin back stage again for them to sign which they did.
I even got Allen, Buck, Danny and EB to sign a band photo I took at the WATERTOWN gig from 3 weeks ago. I gave some of the pics to Buck who took them to his rental car and put them in the trunk. Again, very cool!
I was at that show, but have little setlist information beyond a couple of facts...
Opening act in Ludington was a local group from Grand Rapids, Michigan, about an hour away by automobile. Unfortunately, I have no idea who they were. Google was not much help in finding them, either.
Some of the songs they played (in no particular order):
That's all I can remember. I know there were more. I can also tell you with certainty that they did not play Astronomy. I guess i could mention a lot of songs that were not played. it's just that each time i see them, i hope to hear Astronomy.
Many thanks for putting together the Hot Rails From Hull. it is a great service.
Ludington Michigan Fairgrounds - Labor Day Weekend 2001:
Blue Oyster Cult
Jimmy Stagger Band
Centerline
The Jealous Monks
I was in a local band at the time in 2001, that got the opportunity to open for Blue Oyster Cult. Our band was called Centerline. Centerline and the Jealous Monks were picked because we were the 2 most popular rock bands in the Ludington/Mason County area at the time. The Jimmy Stagger band was picked, I think, because they were the most popular band in the Grand Rapids Michigan area.
K-Rock FM sponsored and promoted the event. K-rock had asked us to open and at first we asked to be paid and they said no, they we should consider it an honor that we were asked in the first place and if we didn't play for free, they would ask another band in our place.
Blue Oyster Cult were rock gods to us and we figured we might not get the chance again, even though we had opened up for bands before. We bit the bullet and said yes. The Jealous Monks also had to play for free. We found out later, the day of the concert, that The Jimmy Stagger Band was paid a $1000 for their appearance. Oh well...
Anyway, the day of the concert , our band arrived with our gear and watched the Jealous Monks play first. We set up our stuff and played and we seemed to go over good, even though there was not a lot of people there.
When K-Rock had set this up, they had 4 strikes against them:
I wanna guess there were about 100 people that showed up. Possibly less. The attendance was sure a far cry from when I had seen them as a teenager at LC Walker Arena in Muskegon in March of 1978.
Anyway, after were done playing, I had spotted Danny Miranda standing by himself and I thought I would make conversation with him. He asked me where the catering tent was, what was Ludington like, etc... I told him I was in a band and just got done opening up. He said we sounded pretty good.
I asked where Eric, Allen and Buck were and he said they would be arriving shortly. I did notice in other articles mentioned on here that Bobby and Danny were often separated from Eric, Allen and Buck. I wonder why that was ?
I talked to Bobby Rondinelli briefly, bringing up his old band Rainbow. He seemed preoccupied, so it was a very brief conversation. Anyway, Eric, Allen and Buck showed up together in a very fancy van and was able to get Allen and Buck's signature on my Stalk Forrest cd. I asked Allen if he was aware of this cd and he said "Oh Yes !" Never talked to Eric for some reason.
When they played, I thought they sounded great. I remember before they started, the other guitar player in my band, complimented Buck on his guitar rig and his foot pedal system. Buck told him to hang around after the show and he would show him up close and explain all that it did. That was cool. Then, a few minutes later, Buck came up to him and said "Sorry, now I can't. I was told the radio station lined up a bunch of meet and greets and other stuff and I'm not gonna have time."
All in all, it was cool that we got to open for for our rock heroes. The light show wasn't the same as it was in 1978, but they could still deliver the goods, when it came to the music.
Don't remember the sets, but they played all the hits and some choice album cuts.
I was at the show at The Eastern Idaho State Fair in 2001. I do not quite remember the setlist but it was very similar to the show on Sept. 22nd. Members of the Cult know the secret, BOC always sounds better live than in the studio. They blew us away the night and it was chilly!
The memory of that show that has always stuck in my mind because it was days before Sept 11.
I was at the BOC show at Fort Smith on September 22,2001. It was my first show and I drove over 200 miles to see them.
It was also their first show since 9/11 and they opened up with America the Beautiful. They performed all of their signature songs, as well as a couple that I wasn't expecting, such as The Vigil, The Golden Age of Leather, and Pocket off of their just released "Curse of the Hidden Mirror" cd. The show lasted around 1/1.5 hours or so and there were extended solos by Buck, Danny, and a great drum spot by Bobby Rondinelli.
Upon arriving, I found one of the promoters and asked him if I could go backstage after the show since I had driven so far and he surprisingly gave me a pass. So, after the show, I got to go backstage and meet all of the guys and get their autographs on the "Curse of the Hidden Mirror" cd as well as have my picture made with the entire group. I have seen them 4 times since then and each time they manage to impress.
BTW: There was n support - it was just BOC...
2001/09/22: RH Harper Stadium - Setlist:
Me the the GF at the time traveled down to this show thru the Adirondack Mts - about a 4hr drive from home. This was a solid show with a lot of energy compared to the so-so last 2 BOC shows I saw in 2000.
Old Gods really rocked and it's one of my faves since I'm a big Lovecraft fan. The band made a smart move working with John Shirley. He's a super writer and a true original.
The club was (and is) a good place to see a band. Very intimate and the stage is close to the fans--someone even passed a live-shot poster of the band from the 70s that Allen took and signed mid-song at one point.
We stayed over not far from the venue and went back the next nite to see Robin Trower! What a couple daze of rock n roll.
Gig was moved from South Padre Island to Harlingen, a few miles inland, because a tugboat had knocked down the Queen Isabelle Causeway Bridge the month before, and that had been the only route onto the Island...
Maybe they should have put the bands on the tugboat and played the gig a few yards off-shore...?
This show was one of my favorites! It was the first concert I saw after 9/11 and it seemed like everyone was ready to do some partying after a very somber 5 weeks.
When my friends informed me that they were playing on a Saturday night in Hartford, I bought a ticket right away! I was very happy to be seeing them as I actually was out west just before 9/11 and was by coincidence very close to the Idaho State Fair show.
I didn't end up going as it was the last night of 12 days on the road and was flying out the next morning. I always regretted that I didn't just go. Well, I got another show to look forward to when I returned home.
It was decided that my friends and I would stay at the motel that we stayed in seeing the Grateful Dead shows in Hartford in 1986 and 1987.
In the 80's, The Koala Inn was a great dive motel. Well, it was a lot worse in 2001 than we remember it being back in the 80's.
Oh well, we decided to get a cab and not drive and went directly to the show. The set list was nice and really, every song they played was enjoyable if not mind blowing! ETI, Harvester, Last Days, and the encore of ME262 were especially tasty!
Just a nice night of incredible music. I didn't see one unhappy person when the boys left the stage.
So after we leave the show, we realize that we need call a cab. So at 1:45AM we hung out on the corner in front of the Webster and began our wait. We pretty much saw the entire venue empty and all the concert goers depart.
We then saw the band come out and we exchanged pleasantries with then before wishing them a good night! They then proceeded to get into their vehicles and drove away. We all looked at each other. We really felt alone then! That part of Hartford at that hour of the night is pretty intimidating!
Thankfully the cab finally showed up (2:35 AM), and took us back to the motel. Another great BOC experience!
For the 26 Oct 2001 show there were two bands before BOC, the first was After Forever, they're a local Black Sabbath cover band.
The second was Mickey Finn (the singer for Jetboy, NOT the drummer for T. Rex.)
Was at this show, very close to the stage. My wife, a friend and I yelled for "Take Me Away" so loudly that the band agreed to play this rare gem.
It is one of the highlights of my lengthy career of going to rock shows. Here are some other confirmed songs (not in right order) that they played that evening. The show was fantastic!!!
We got to meet the guys after the show and I have my "Some Enchanted Evening" CD signed by Eric, Buck, and Allen which is a treasured valuable proudly displayed in my curio cabinet.
I also have pictures somewhere on a floppy disk that I must try to find. Anyway it was a magical evening and I wanted to share some of this info with other fans!
Saw the show, in the middle of nowhere. The temp was 30 and there was maybe 100 people there.
Bobby didnt know it was outside and didnt have a coat. Eric said to leave the lights on so they could get some heat... they had heaters at each end of the stage... buck was in a leather jacket with a blue scarf with a tan hat - he had his guitar under his jacket...
Have a great pic, signed, but dont have a scanner - sorry...
I was at this show in San Antonio. Every time I go to a concert I copy down the set that was played. Here's the set in the order it was played.
Between the Foghat and BOC set there was a Harley Davidson Motorcycle give away sponsored by the local radio station so this is why it was such a short set. Everybody who had won a key had a chance to start the bike so it took a while.
"Wichita... Please welcome from New York, the amazing Blue Oyster Cult!" With these words Buck Dharma and company took the Cotillion Ballroom hostage for 2 hours of hard rockin' madness. The band opened with the classic "Stairway To The Stars" as Eric Bloom lectured the audience on the thrills and arrogance of stardom that are the lyrics to the twisted tale. Before going on stage Dharma commented to Classic Rock Revisited Jeb Wright that he loved to play in this historic midwestern monument. The venue itself is a testament to times when rock concerts mattered to people. The decor has not changed -- tuxedo powder blue paint complete with a walkway around the entire area, filled with people quaffing beers, smoking cigarettes and perusing band merchandise!
BOC pulled a few tricks out of their hat by performing several songs not seen on the set list the past few years including "The Vigil" from their album Mirrors. Allan Lanier and Dharma played the slow harmonious drone that opens the song before Buck broke into the songs crunching main riff. "Joan Crawford Has Risen From The Grave" was also dusted off for the evening's performance. The classical piano opening was like taking a time capsule back to 1981 and yes, there was a funny burning smell in the air!
The highlight of the evening was the extended version of "The Last Days Of May." The song is a true story of a drug deal gone bad. The star of the evening was Dharma as he opened up his guitar arsenal and massacred the ears of all in attendance. From the bluesy swagger to the crescendo of all five band members pounding out the song to the soft subtle ending this was Blue Oyster Cult at there finest. Tonight's version of "Last Days" puts to shame the original cut on the bands first album and rivals the awesome live performance captured on vinyl on 1975's On Your Feet Or On Your Knees.
Of course the night saw all of the classics including "Burnin' For You," "Godzilla" (complete with the 'zillagod' lyric at the end) and "Don't Fear The Reaper." The group also blasted fan favorites "Cities On Flame," "Buck's Boogie and Harvester Of Eyes" much to the crowds delight. BOC performed two songs, "Dance On Stilts" and "Pocket" from their new CD Curse Of The Hidden Mirror proving that veterans of rock's psychic wars can still make new music as good as anything they have done before. In the end, Blue Oyster Cult will be in a town near you before long as they are the band that is on the road forever. The group is still cranking it up and cranking it out sounding as good as ever. Eric Bloom's vocals and dramatic mannerisms are still delivering the goods as the audience is thrown between Dominance & Submission.
Here's video footage of this show:
29 November 2001
The Lyric Night Club
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada
These songs were played... there might be order errors, and there might be some missing... but I KNOW these ones were played :)
30 November 2001
Warehouse - it was actually at "Kool Haus"
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
I KNOW these ones were done, but I also know there are probably some missing!