Blue Öyster Cult – An Unforgettable Night with the Mystical and Mysterious Heavy Metal Pioneers (2023)
Blue Öyster Cult
Ljubljana / Media Center / Slovenia
Monday, 28 August 2023
Not that long ago, anyone who dared suggest that legendary American hard rockers Blue Öyster Cult would be playing Ljubljana — one of only three dates on the European leg of their current tour — would have been met with a pitying, mocking pat on the shoulder by fellow Slovenian fans of the band, if not outright directed to a specialist mental health institution. But miracles do happen every now and then, and Blue Öyster Cult’s first-ever Slovenian show, at the nearly brand-new Ljubljana venue Mediacenter Cvetličarna, became reality at the tail end of August. Despite many attendees arriving more or less thoroughly drenched by the heavy rain and struggling to find the entrance, the new venue ultimately proved to be a perfectly sound choice.
A band that makes it to Europe only on rare occasions, Blue Öyster Cult have rightfully earned cult status among hard rock and heavy metal fans, and are frequently mentioned alongside Black Sabbath when the conversation turns to the key pioneers of early metal sounds. The term ‘heavy metal’ was first used in connection with them, while their often mystical, fantastical, conspiratorial, and occult lyrics — paired with some iconic guitar phrases within their biggest hits — have likewise had an enormous influence on the development of the genre. No wonder the interest in the Blue Öyster Cult show was huge, with a large number of foreign visitors making the trip despite the grim weather and terrifying downpours.
For over five decades, Blue Öyster Cult have been steered by the only two remaining members of the classic lineup, both guitarists and vocalists: guitar wizard Donald ‘Buck Dharma’ Roeser, who has been with the band since its founding in 1967 when they were still called Soft White Underbelly, and his equally charismatic bandmate Eric Bloom, who occasionally switches from lead vocalist and guitarist to keyboardist. Both are behind most of their biggest hits, and the band’s sonic identity is unimaginable without their guitar and vocal talents. Since 2004, the band has also featured excellent rhythm guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Richie Castellano and the equally impressive drummer Jules Radino, while long-standing bassist Danny Miranda — also known to Queen fans — returned to the fold in 2017 after a few years away.
Before taking the stage, the ‘agents in black’ — much like their ‘disciples’ Iron Maiden do on the current tour — played the iconic Vangelis theme from Blade Runner. On some American tour dates they also like to play the Game of Thrones theme, which suits their image and legacy considerably less. The Ljubljana setlist came as a pleasant surprise to many, being completely different from the one two nights earlier when they played in England — the first European date of the current tour. They opened with the beloved standard “The Red & the Black”, drawn from their second album “Tyranny And Mutation” (1973), instantly proving they were in excellent live form. Buck still plays the same special Steinberger electric guitar — headless and full of holes in Swiss cheese fashion — the very one he was playing at our first live encounter with Blue Öyster Cult in Munich, exactly twenty years ago. Buck affectionately calls this particular, specially modified guitar model ‘Cheeseburger’.
The first big surprise of the evening was a performance of “Dr. Music” from the often-overlooked album “Mirrors” (1979), which once lent its name to a long-defunct Slovenian music magazine devoted to hard rock and heavy metal. From the newer album “The Symbol Remains” (2020) — which successfully continued the almost unbelievable, rarely seen streak of one of the few hard rock bands without a weak studio entry — they played two tracks: “That Was Me” and “Tainted Blood”. On the latter, Castellano took the lead vocal, proving himself not just as an occasional singer and keyboardist but also as a formidable guitar virtuoso and younger competition for Buck in that department. The first high point of the evening was a performance of the unforgettable “Fire Of Unknown Origin” (1981) classic “Burnin’ For You”, one of their absolute finest songs, with Buck shining in the lead vocalist role. Blue Öyster Cult then dipped back into their so-called ‘black-and-white’ era with “ME 262”, drawn from their third album “Secret Treaties” (1974).
On the ‘newer’ side — meaning material that wasn’t written more than forty or fifty years ago — the evening also brought us the excellent but often overlooked “Harvest Moon” from “Heaven Forbid” (1998), which for many slightly younger fans represented their first ‘close encounter’ with the band, while “Hot Rails To Hell” took us back to the world of ‘tyranny and mutation’, back to 1973, when they were frequently promoted as America’s answer to Black Sabbath. Buck’s solo spot, “Buck’s Boogie”, which he has been performing for decades, made for a great change of pace and a thorough display of the diverse qualities of his guitar technique and exceptional talent.
Another pleasant surprise was “Then Came The Last Days of May” from the self-titled debut, released way back in 1972. Within this track you can clearly hear the psychedelic roots of these heavy rock pioneers. That was followed by three massive hits well known even to people with only a passing acquaintance with Blue Öyster Cult — or those who don’t even know who they are, despite having heard some of their most famous songs on the radio many times over. With the cult “E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)” we were transported back to their most revered album “Agents of Fortune” (1976) and found ourselves in the middle of a hard rock version of The X-Files. The world of giant monsters from Japanese films was conjured by a performance of the ever-entertaining “Spectres” (1977) evergreen “Godzilla”. Buck then treated himself to another brief solo spot. When that wrapped up, the evening peaked with a performance of their most famous song “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper”, popularized in no small part by its inclusion in the first Halloween horror film — a song known to countless people who have no idea who recorded it. For the encore — unlike at the England show two nights earlier — they played three songs instead of one, showing they knew how to properly reward the audience’s enthusiasm. The rather obscure “Tattoo Vampire”, also from “Agents of Fortune”, was perhaps the biggest surprise of the entire evening. After encounters with aliens, giant monsters, the Reaper, and vampires, the horror cast was joined by “Harvester of Eyes” from “Secret Treaties”. The ‘agents in black’ closed the show, as expected, with their very first hit “Cities On Flame With Rock and Roll”, a song whose lyrics about total devastation as a consequence of nuclear war are, sadly, more relevant than ever before.
Fans of eclectic heavy rock with intelligent lyrics got exactly what they came for. Blue Öyster Cult proved that their live form, even after more than five decades, is still right at the top, and it was clear throughout that they were having an absolute blast onstage. They remain one of the most exciting heavy rock bands around, whether live or in the studio. The sound was also decent for a near-brand-new venue, keeping their famous vocal harmonies clearly audible throughout. Special praise is likewise due to the organizer for managing to bring them to Ljubljana. The only minor gripe about Blue Öyster Cult’s Ljubljana show is that the setlist — with the exception of “Burnin’ For You” — contained no songs from the eighties, even though they produced a whole host of excellent material in that era too, which some fans actually rate even higher than the seventies output. That minor quibble aside, the Ljubljana visit from these heavy rock legends will stay with us as a fond memory for a long time to come.
Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik & Edita Klemen (nos. 32 & 33)
Setlist:
1. Blade Runner (taped intro)
2. The Red & The Black
3. Dr. Music
4. That Was Me
5. Burnin’ For You
6. ME 262
7. Harvest Moon
8. Hot Rails to Hell
9. Buck’s Boogie
10. Tainted Blood
11. Then Came the Last Days of May
12. E. T. I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)
13. Godzilla
14. Don’t Fear the Reaper
—encore—
15. Tattoo Vampire
16. Harvester of Eyes
17. Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll
Koncert desetletja. Če bi mi nekdo rekel, naj naštejem tri bande, ki nikoli ne bodo igrali v LJ, bi zagotovo eden bil BOC. Fenomenalen nastop. Zvok je bil odličen in jasen, pa sem bil v prvi vrsti. Očitno dvorana kot se šika za rock koncert. Svoje seveda prispeva band s svojo glasbo, ki seveda ni zvočni zid. Se pa potihem upal na Dominance And Submission, ampak vseh želja pač ne morejo izpolniti. Zelo prijetno pa sta me presenetili obe pesmi z zadnjega albuma, še zlasti Tainted Blood, ki je super sedla v set listo in je zame morda celo najboljša pesem, ki so jo stari bandi izdali na zadnjem albumu. Za razliko od denimo Senjutsu nisem komaj čakal, da nova pesem mine.
Črna pika pa spet za mestne službe. Po koncertu se je na parkirišču zgodila neprijetnost, ki je najbrž sicer bolj udarila tujce, pred katerimi je bila še dolga pot. Najprej smo stali v dolgi vrsti, vsaj kakšnih 20 minut, da smo plačali parkirnino, potem smo pa še pred rampo obtičali za kakšnih dobrih 20 minut. Nekomu se rampa ni odprla in preden je znal ali uspel priklicati helpdesk, da so mu dvignili rampo na daljavo, je tistim za njim že poteklo 15 minut od plačila in tudi naslednjemu seveda ni dvignilo rampe. Šele ko je, mislim, da tretji, poklical na pomoč, so rampo odprli za vse.
Take stvari se seveda lahko ob večjih dogodkih hitro zgodijo, zato bi bilo po mojem prav, da bi ob koncertih parkirišče pred Cvetličarno odprli. Ampak beseda “customer service” je našim birokratom seveda španska vas.
Hej hej, krasen komentar kot vedno (iz tvoje strani). Podobno dojemam tale prihod B.Ö.C. v Ljubljano, kot ti. 😀
Potem sva se gledala prve tri komade, no vsaj ti mene v hrbet, ker sem bil eden izmed štirih uradno akreditiranih fotografov. Naslednjič morava res pivo skupaj spit. Obvezno. Sicer so imeli samo svinjsko drage 0,33 l pločevinke običajnega Uniona, upam da na kakem prizorišču z več izbire piv 😀
Poklon bendu, poklon organizatorju (praviloma organizatorjev ne izpostavljam – a tokrat se mu samo klanjam do tal).
Dr. Music in Tattoo Vampire – da bom to dvoje kdaj v živo slišal … hehe. Tainted Blood noro dober komad iz zadnje plate – progresivno začinjen in Castellano v središču. Všeč mi je da so ga spustili tako v ospredje (parkrat je osupnil s huronskimi solažami), ker je izjemno izpopolnjen glasbenik in kot kaže nosi tudi izvrstne komponistične talente. Pa odlična Harvest Moon. Nor komad iz “Heaven Forbid” plate, še ena želja, ki se mi je uresničila… sicer pa super komadi iz klasičnega obdobja sedemdesetih. Sam sem, podobno kot avtor (se vidi da nosiva soroden DNK), prav tako pogrešal samo še kakšen komad iz osemdesetih več (kakšno Shooting Shark, Dancin’ in the Ruins, Astronomy, da ne govorim o kakšni Take Me Away,….) – to je edina minorna pripomba, ki je povsem ‘neobvezni klic razvajenosti privrženca skupine’ 😀
S Petrom sva se nekoč davno tega kot velika fena Uriah Heep odpravila v München. Pisal se je 11. 12. 2003. Bila je Muffathalle. Pred Uriah Heep so nastopili stoner rockerji Fireball Ministry in kot posebni gostje evropskega dela takratne UH turneje potem še Blue Öyster Cult (z Rondinellijem na bobnih in takrat še živim Alanom Lanierjem).
Set lista je bila takrat takšna:
1.Buck’s Boogie
2.E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)
3.Dance On Stilts
4.Burning For You
5.See You In Black
6.Divine Winds
7.Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll
8.Godzilla (solo bas, solo bobni)
9.Don’t Fear The Reaper
—dodatek—
10.Dominance And Submission
V bistvu sva šla tja prvenstveno zarad Heep, ampak kasneje se je izkazalo, kako je bila to ekstremno modra odločitev.
Bend sem sicer prestregel še na Rock Of Ages festivalu mislim da leta 2017, od tam je izšel tudi uradni koncertni album, ampak tale koncert v Ljubljani, ga pa zmaga na polno.
Že samo zaradi dejstva da so bili glavni na odru. Ne vrinjeni v festivalski line up, ali posebni gostje drugega headlinerja , ampak so imeli polnokrvni špil dolg skoraj uro in 40 minut se mi zdi (ali je bilo več?)
Krasen zvok, krasna forma. Bloom je še zmerej taprav ‘bad ass’ na odru 😀 Kolk top!
Navdušen in ne znam prehvalit vsega skupaj.
Kot si napisal. (Vsaj) koncert desetletja!
Kdor si tega koncerta ni privoščil tokrat v Ljubljani, pa stavi nekaj na metal in rock, je isto, kot da bi uletel v Ljubljano Black Sabbath (v line-up-u z Ozzyjem), pa da na bi šel na koncert. Enako velik greh! 😀
Glede parkirišč pa bodo tole morali drugače reševati. Brezmejna JAnkovičeva pogoltnost mora imeti nekje meje. Kar se je v zvezi s tem dogajalo po koncertu je absurd vseh absurdov. NE vem, naj plačajo par redarjev v takšnih primerih, da kasirajo po 5 evrov na avto, preden zapelješ na parkirišče, tisto zapornico pa v času koncerta odšraufajo dol. Takšnega kaosa res ne pomnim. Kot da je to (znova in znova) možno samo v Sloveniji.
Fantasticen koncert. Res je bilo super. Setlista je bila bolj ali manj pricakovana glede na zadnje koncerte, z izjemo par deep cutov – Tattoo Vampire, Dr. Music, Harvester of Eyes.
Osebno sem potihem upal na kako vecjo eksotiko, npr. Joan Crawford, ali pa vsaj I Love the Night. Mogoce tudi kak bolj pop komad kasnejsih albumov – Dancing in the Ruins, Shooting Shark, Perfect Water.
Edini resen manjko v setlisti, ki ga je tezko obrazloziti, je Astronomy. Res ne razumem, zakaj ga ne igrajo vec tako pogosto, saj je nekako jedrni del Imaginos mita in reprezentativen za zelo pomembno zgodnje obdobje banda.
Akustika je bila odlicna. Bil sem na balkonu v centru, takoj za tonsko ekpio in tam je bil zvok res fenomenalen, prav tako pa dober pogled na celotno dogajanje na odru. Na zalost ni bilo na voljo prav veliko mercha, sam bi z veseljem kupil kako vinilko ali dve, ali pa vsaj majico, ampak je bilo takoj vse razprodano!
Na parkiriscu je bil pa totalen kaos, ki ga raje ne bi komentiral…
Tudi mi smo pričakovali da se bo dalo kakšno ploščo kupit na mizi z uradnimi spominki. Ampak nič. Sem old school in ne maram naročanja po netu. Najraje zgrabim vinilko kar v trgovini. Navada še iz osemdesetih 😀
Glede majic smo imeli pa očitno srečo, da smo bili v pravem času na pravem mestu. Precejšna vrsta se je naredila v trenutku. Zlasti pa so jo ustvarili obiskovalci iz območja nekdanje skupne države. Dva, ki sta prišla iz Bosne na koncert, in sta stala poleg v vrsti za majice, sta zavijala z očmi, ko sta ugledala ceno 35,00€. Potem je en od njiju v šali dejal: “Mogoče za obe” (eksponata sta bila namreč dva na mizi, da se je videl front in back print). Je pa po koncertu ‘naš stari dobri prijatu s Hrvaške’, ki skrbi na koncertnih okoliših naše regije že vrsto let za tiste z low budget varianto, reševal situacijo s svojo B.Ö.C. (non-aprooved) verzijo majic 😀
Cena majice pa huh… dost diskutabilna. Ni 50,00€ in ni 45,00€, kot je to recimo na Kiss pa Iron Maiden koncertih. No, ni pa tudi 25,00€, kot je to bilo na Jethro Tull koncertu letos v Hali Tivoliju…. 😀