No Cowbells Were Harmed in the Making of this Concert.

The last time I saw Blue Oyster Cult it was Friday the 13th some years back, and fittingly there was a full moon to herald the occasion. It was a cramped club in Niagara Falls called the North Star I believe, and BOC started to unearth the ire in even the most diehard fans by deciding to wait until midnight to come on stage.

Last night, on the other hand was a different story. The moon was only half this time, but BOC rocked harder in an outdoor free show that had a strict 10pm end time.

After opening act 10 Years After left the stage, it was a short time before Eric, Buck, Alan and the boys strode on to a thunderous driving techno beat that seemed more at home in a sporting event. It did it's job and pumped up the crowd before the Oyster boys jumped right into the hard driving The Red And The Black and followed that quickly by the little heard gem OD'd On Life Itself. It was a short set all things considered, only about an hour and a half, but you could see why their motto is: On Tour Forever, as they really exuded enthusiasm you wouldn't expect from guys who have been touring pretty much since 1972 or so.

Despite having put out some fine music in recent years, they never traveled further than 1983's Shooting Shark from the Revolution By Night album. I was really hoping for them to rip into The Old Gods Return from 2002's Secret Of The Hidden Mirror or maybe See You In Black from 1997's Heaven Forbid. Still I can't complain about the song selection. It is tough to fit it all into a 90 minute show. It was nice to hear This Ain't The Summer of Love and Harvester of Eyes as well as Astronomy (though they did sound like they stumbled through that one a bit) They played Burning for You, of course, and finished with Godzilla and Don't Fear The Reaper which sent the crowd in a tizzy. I have to admit these were the songs that got me into Blue Oyster Cult in my youth. Yes I was the dork in the Godzilla T-Shirt last night! Sprinkled in the mix they even threw in The Golden Age Of Leather (as a sing along with the audience no less) as well as the most monstrous sounding Cities On Flame (With Rock 'n Roll) I have ever heard. Pair that up with a blistering rendition of Buck's Boogie and your mind starts to wondering why these guys are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There are lesser bands than this haunting the shores of Cleveland let me tell you.

Despite a few sound problems (mostly with the vocal mikes not turned up enough in a few spots) this was the best BOC I have seen yet. Even the obligatory Bass and Drum solos at the end of the show were entertaining. (Was that a hint of Les Claypool's Tommy The Cat riff I heard mixed in there?)

In many ways this was the perfect show since it left you wanting more. And you could tell that the band wanted to play more too, but a strict 10pm curfew time was enforced by the promoters. Too bad. They deserved to come out and play one more for an encore. I was close enough to the stage to see the looks on their faces that the band wanted to. I yelled out "F*#& The Curfew!" but was drowned out by the din of the clearly entertained crowd.