Another member of the 50 year club, Blue Öyster Cult took the stage for the first time in two months last night at Chevy Court at the Great New York State Fair.
The band has a local connection in co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and songwriter Eric Bloom, Hobart College Class of 1967. Still rocking four months short of his 80th birthday, Eric talked with us at the WEOS/WHWS studios before the show, recalling his first band, the Lost and Found, which played frat parties at HWS. He was hired by Long Island band Soft White Underbelly as tour manager, before becoming a member just as the group was morphing into BOC.
With the exception of the opening Dr. Music from 1979’s Mirrors and Burnin’ for You, from the 1981 release Fire of Unknown Origin, the set list was drawn from BOC’s earlier work, featuring Cult classics (see what I did there?) like Golden Age of Leather, E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) and deep cut Then Came the Last Days of May. The regular set concluded with Godzilla and (Don’t Fear) the Reaper, followed by encore Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll, which gave lead guitarist Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser a chance to drop some jaws with his soloing. Playing his custom headless white Steinbeger Cheeseburger, named for the swiss cheese-like cutouts in the body, and appropriate in the shadow of the Dairy Building at the Fair, Dharma, at 76 years old, can bend the strings with the best of them. I’ve had the privilege this year of seeing Toto’s Steve Lukather, Journey’s Neal Schon and Kansas’ Richard Williams. I’m not sure Buck isn’t the best of the lot. The band’s harmony vocals were terrific and a real treat.
Bloom can still hit the high notes and provide guitar and keyboard fills. His go-to guitar is a 1968 Gibson SG model, featuring an inlaid band logo, direct to amp, with no pedals or effects. His writing collaboration with science fiction author Michael Moorcock led to gems like Black Blade, the Great Sun Jester and Veteran of the Psychic Wars.
Multi-instrumentalist Richie Castellano is a key member of the band, playing a bright yellow Ernie Ball Music Man Albert Lee model guitar, keyboards and handling some lead vocal duties. He joined the group as front of the house sound engineer, then bassist. Castellano holds a master’s degree in music and hosts the Band Geek podcast.
Danny Miranda’s thundering bass is deep, loud and out front, but it’s not muddy and doesn’t overwhelm the mix, as can sometimes be the case. He returned after leaving BOC 20 years ago. Miranda toured with Queen and Paul Rodgers and played with Meat Loaf.
Drummer Jules Radino, a BOC member for the past 20 years, pounded the skins so hard at one point he knocked over a cymbal, leading to a mad roadie dash to set it back up again. He plays, records and gives drum clinics in the New York City area.
It was a well received show and very representative of the band’s overall catalog. It was my second BOC show, the first coming in 1978 in Boston five months before beginning my broadcast career. BOC just released Ghost Stories, a studio album drawn from tracks from the 1978-83 era that never made it onto albums. The tracks were cleaned up using modern technology, including AI and features the band’s original lineup, with Joe and Albert Bouchard and the late Allen Lanier. If BOC had released another album in the Mirrors/Cultosaurus/Fire of Unkown Origin/The Revolution by Night period, this would have been it. Also just released is the second half of their 50th anniversary live album 50th Anniversary Live.
