Blue Öyster Cult

Venue:

Sony Hall, New York

Date: 23/09/2022

Blue Öyster Cult celebrated their 50th anniversary with 3 nights in New York, playing their first 3 albums in full (one each night) followed by a set that mixed deep cuts with their better known stuff. The final night, showcasing “Secret Treaties” sold out quickly (so quick in fact I had to sell a kidney to get a ticket from the secondary market) – the other nights selling out about a month ahead of the gigs.

The Venue – it sounds a lot grander than it actually is, located on in the basement of the Paramount Hotel. Renovated in 2013 at a reported cost of $20m, with state of the art audio but seemingly nothing left over for the seating which remain the very essence of cramped and uncomfortable (although I’m grateful that it wasn’t 3 nights of standing gigs). VIPs were seated around the edge of the hall, with the plebs cammed onto tables in the middle of the hall. Most of us ended up looking sideways at the stage, but walking around it was hard to see anywhere that didn’t have a great view.

The Band – since 2004 BÖC have had pretty settled line up, with founders Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma supported by Jules Radino on drums and Richie Castellano on guitar and keyboards. Danny Miranda joined as bass player back in 1995 but other commitments have meant BÖC have also had Castellano, Rudy Sarzo and Kasim Sulton holding down the low end although Danny returned to the fold 5 years back. For these shows, founding member Albert Bouchard reprised his role as special guest (as he had when BÖC toured playing “Agents of Fortune” in full), whilst Sulton joined nights 2 and 3 for a few songs. It’s fair to say Albert seemed to be having the time of his life, the crowd chanting his name, charged by his obvious delight and enthusiasm. Speculation that his brother Joe, the other surviving founder might show proved unfounded. According to an interview just a week before the gigs Joe indicated he’d be happy to join any “special events” but it didn’t happen. Shame.

It’s hard to think of someone who has such effortless virtuosity as Buck Dharma. He’s one of the most underrated guitarists in rock, never flashy, never prone to pointless fret wankery, the guy whose ability to mix power and melody has been the backbone of the live show for so long. It’s also clear that having multi instrumentalist Richie Castellano in the band has finally given them the strength in depth that rounds out their live sound. Not only does he have an amazing voice, he alternates between back up guitar and keyboards, jumps in to re- set Bucks floor pedals or dial out static from Eric amps in the blink of an eye. If I’d had my way, I’d give his buddy Andy Ascolese (another blindingly talented multi instrumentalist and currently part of BÖCs road crew) a full time slot on keyboards (he played on “The Alchemist” on nights 2 and 3) and let Richie loose on guitar. But it’s not my band, and as Richie points out, it’s not his either.

The Songs – the band played 75 songs over the three nights, 53 different cuts in all. One (Cagey Cretins) was given it’s live debut, and a couple hadn’t been aired since 1975. For a band where the three original members are now aged between 74 to 77, it was no mean feat to learn so many again, and then perform such long sets, back to back (the last night ran to just under 4 hours). All three nights were filmed, a live DVD and CD is in the pipeline.

Highlights – there’s something about seeing albums you played over and over, that you are so familiar with, where you didn’t press “skip” or heard songs as part of a playlist profoundly enjoyable, and it got better as the nights progressed. “Secret Treaties” is my all time favourite album, and hearing it played in sequence, in it’s full majestic thunder was one of those once in a lifetime events. Across the three nights there was also a storming version of “Lips In The Hills”, a “Bucks Boogie” that also toyed with ZZ Tops “La Grange”, note perfect harmonies on “Golden Age of Leather” and three runs at “Cities On Flames” – each one more manic than the last, with Bouchard and Radino drumming in lockstep. Albert’s guitar work may not have been too high up in the mix, but his vocals on “Sinful Love” and “Dominance & Submission” were superb. And his triangle percussion on “Don’t Fear The Reaper” performed as perfectly as it was inaudible.

Amusing Moment – night number 3, and after the 8 album tracks, BÖC play a 2nd set of 13 songs, topped off with a 4 song encore that includes the epic “Joan Crawford” and Albert’s final thunder through “Cities On Flame”. It’s about 11:30 pm, the band having taken the stage over 3 hours earlier, and now the gig is over, the celebration at an end. Except technical gremlins require two songs to be preformed again, so Eric returns to stage front to wish people good night, and tell them staying for these two re-do’s is optional.

It would have been quite funny if his announcement had been met by the sound of chairs scraping, and the crowd shuffling out to shouts of “see ya”. Bit of course, we were all delighted to stay and see “Cretins” and “Astronomy” played again, and happily provided additional chants on Castellano’s command to edit into the final cut.

In conclusion – I was very fortunate to find a way to get out to New York to attend all 3 nights. I’m really glad I did. It was once in a lifetime event and I had to pinch myself a few times to remind myself where I was and what I was seeing.

The audience:

Mostly old men in their 60’s but not entirely. I sat next to a dad from Long Island who bought his daughter and her bf who were in their late teens. Dad had never heard of the band but his daughter loved “Burning For You” and as luck would have it, they were there the only night it was played.

It made me think..

I’m not typically one for nostalgia, but enviably it had me thinking about how the bands music has marked the ebbs and flows of my own life. And how difficult it is to tell people that one of your favourite songs is called “Dominance & Submission”.

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