2828 Frets On Fire Songs
Morris Betoch
For everyone in the UK and Europe, 1978 was the year we finally got to see the BOC laser show. We'd read stories about them with envy for the past couple of years and wondered if we'd ever get to see them in action for ourselves. All I can say is: it was fantastic!
BOC played in Springfield, IL on January 7th. The opening act failed to show, and one of BOC's equipment trucks either failed to show or was robbed of their outfits, so they performed solo in jeans, new tennies, and BOC t-shirts, well over a 2-hour show.
Here's a review of this gig from the 09 Jan 1978 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:Black Oak Performs
By John S. CullinaneBlue Oyster Cult smelled up the place in a concert here last night. Fortunately or unfortunately - depending on whether your instincts as a health nut or a music lover won out the stench came from a fogging device used to shroud the musicians in pale smoke, with laser beam icing. The Cult appeared at Kiel Auditorium along with J.D. Mangrum's new band, Black Oak. The Cult, as the main act, drew an audience of about 4,500 persons, a modest-sized crowd as rock concert crowds go but an embarrassingly large one for any self-respecting cult.With performances like last night's, Blue Oyster Cult may lay claim to being one of the few heavy, heavy acts on the rock circuit today. For sheer creativity, the group easily outstrips Aerosmith, another East Coast band of the same mold. Even though the Cult's air of mystery is as cultivated as greenhouse tomatoes, no one seems tempted to snicker during the special effects and laster-mania.Perhaps the key to the performance was the playing of Donald Roeser, a guitarist who never stops improving. Roeser had an emotionless expression on his face for most of the set, obviously because all the passion had gravitated to his fingertips. His playing was exceptionally crisp and melodic. And with some wizardry provided by a seasoned sound man, Roeser made the most of his vocals, too.Much of the lead singing fell to Eric Bloom, the band's utility guitarist and keyboardist. He sounded best with harmonies floating about. As usual, he wore sunglasses, something he does more often than even Waylon Jennings. Each song had a twist to it, even those approaching traditional American rock. On one called "Golden Age of Leather," they all sang like jaded choirboys before the thump of the drums took over. Black Oak's music was more down to earth, although singer J.D. "Jim Dandy" Mangrum left his feet often. He even did the splits once and lived to sing about it. Actually, his singing was more like the sophisticated growl that made his old group, Black Oak Arkansas, so popular. The new Black Oak is certainly an improvement over the old Black Oak Arkansas from the standpoint of musicianship. Only occasionally do the three lead guitarists step on each others toes. Mangrum himself has surrendered a tad of his former vocal exuberance for increased control. His voice sounded good nestled amongst backup harmonies, something that rarely happened in the old band. Black Oak offered good new material and also made some thin material go a long way. Oldies like "Not Fade Away" and "Jim Dandy To The Rescue" captured the crowd's fancy the most.hClr();gigLine("780111",1);var pList=new Array("780111a",11,1,550,293,113,3,"11 Jan 1978 Ticket","Ken VanTassell","www.flamingtelepaths.com/","","flamingtelepaths.com");wNuThumbs(pList,"m",3);gigLine("780112",1);var pList=new Array("780112a",11,1,361,300,72,1,"12 Jan 1978 Ticket","Carlthulhu","","","","780112a",11,4,512,614,50,1,"12 Jan 1978 Ad","Carlthulhu","","","","780112a",21,19,880,476,111,1,"12 Jan 1978 Review","Heiko Klages","","Variety [18 January 1978]","");wNuThumbs(pList,"m",2);RalphThis gig is down as an opening night at Nassau Coliseum on boc.com.
Further proof has since arrived in the form of a review of this gig kindly sent by Heiko Klages above, not to mention the fact the gig has appeared as a Lampinski download off Dime together with the stub and gig poster!!...Thus, I think we can say with a reasonable degree of certainty that 12 January 1978 was Providence!!hClr();gigLine("780113",1);var pList=new Array("780113a",11,1,550,389,85,1,"13 Jan 1978 Ticket","Bob Simpson","","","","780113a",11,4,454,620,44,1,"13 Jan 1978 Ad","Philaexper","","","");wNuThumbs(pList,"m",2);offStatter("780113","b",1);RalphHere's a preview for this gig which appeared in the 11 Jan 1978 edition of the Daily News:'Cult' in Nassau
By Stan Mieses"There was a time," recalled Blue Oyster Cult lead singer, Eric Bloom, the other day at his home in Great Neck, "when we'd be sitting around the house at about 6 in the evening, and our agent would call us and say, 'Listen, can you do a gig in Baltimore at 8.30?' Or I'd hear: "There's only room for a trio. Can three of you do it?" All five members of the Cult will be doing it Friday at the Nassau Coliseum, and the following night in New Haven, where they end their current U.S. tour. But this time, the hard-rock quintet will be accompanied by a 25-man crew lugging three tractor-trailers full of equipment, including a 230-lamp light show (a Broadway show might use 100), and two Greyhound-sized buses for the crew, which includes not just musicians but two full-time pyrotechnicians and a federally licensed laserist, who operates four high-power laboratory lasers for the group's stage show. These days, the term 'cult' can only refer to the group, because most of its dates are sellouts. While the group still may not be a household name, it certainly has been one of the steadiest rock bands in America. The B.O.C. began with controversy and critical acclaim six years ago, and now makes big AM hits and albums that "go gold." Its big backers now are fans, not critics. As far as its record company is concerned, the 'Cult' is blue chip.And here's the preview appearing on the day of the gig from Newsday:The Cult Keeps Climbing
By Wayne Robins "And now, ladies and gentlemen, direct from their engagement at Las Vegas' famed Aladdin Hotel, the Blue Oyster Cult!" Shades of Shecky Greene! Not really. The Blue Oyster Cult, the best-selling (and perhaps best-sounding) hard rock band ever to come out of Long Island, plays in familiar surroundings tonight at Nassau Coliseum. The performance in Las Vegas really happened, however, during a segment of the band's most recent American tour. In Vegas, the band filled the 8000-seat theater that's part of the Aladdin Hotel complex. "They put our name up on the marquee," keyboard player and guitarist Alan Lanier said with pride. "I got a kick driving down the Strip. At Caesar's Palace, it said 'Frank Sinatra.' A few blocks away, in letters almost as large, it said Blue Oyster Cult.'" The Las Vegas show was different from most Blue Oyster Cult concerts in other respects as well. "There were a lot of kids running through the casino to get to the theater," Lanier said. "Everything in Las Vegas is designed to make you pass through a casino before you get to wherever you're going." The message wasn't lost on Lanier. The band took two days off in Las Vegas and, like most visitors to that town, Lanier spent most of his time at the tables. He lost at blackjack but won most of his money back at the craps table, he said. After five years, the career of the band that began in Stony Brook under the name Soft White Underbelly seems like less of a gamble that it ever was. The group had its most successful album last year with "Agents of Fortune," which also contained the Cult's first hit single, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." The recently released follow-up album, "Spectres," doesn't have quite the impact that "Agents of Fortune had. But it reinforces the band's diversity after years of being typecast as part of the nihilistic heavy-metal mainstream. On the new album, the band down-plays the paramilitary image that made it somewhat controversial a few years ago. One reference to that era, a song called "Golden Age of Leather," opens with a capella harmonizing by the Newark Boys Chorus. The band's hard-edged attack remains intact on "RU Ready 2 Rock," which is perhaps the only rock anthem to deal explicitly with resurrection: "I only live to be born again," Eric Bloom sings. There is also a literary allusion to the group's former storm-trooper image with Lanier's "Searchin' for Celine"; an appreciation of the Japanese monster movie hero, "Godzilla"; and another possible hit single called "Goin' Through the Motions," which sounds like the Blue Oyster Cult imitating the Raspberries imitating the Monkees. "We wanted to release 'Godzilla' as a single in Japan," Lanier said. "But we can't do that until a Japanese band records the song and releases it first." The band also had to pay to use the name since Toho Films Ltd., which has made more a dozen of the "Godzilla" movies in Japan, had sold recording rights to the name to Wonderland Records. "Godzilla's a monstrous hero in Japan," Lanier said, seconds before becoming flushed with shame at his heavy-handed pun. "There's even a statue of him in Ginza Square. He's probably the prime archetype of their attitude towards nuclear technology." What most interests Lanier about "Godzilla," however, is the monster's evolution from villain to hero. "In the first film, he was evil," Lanier said. Then he was the one who came to the rescue in all subsequent releases." Among them was something called "Godzilla Vs. the Smog Monster," which was virtually a public service movie condemning air pollution. From the effect of "Godzilla" movies on Japanese culture, Lanier's thoughts turned to another part of the world. Ths band will be touring Europe beginning in May, but a long-held desire to play in what used to be called the Iron Curtain countries will remain unsatisfied. "We've tried," Lanier said. "We tried the People's Republic of China. We sent a package of records and requests to tour. They sent back a very polite letter saying that the Blue Oyster Cult wasn't quite what they were ready for." Lanier veered off into a favorite fantasy. "If the best few dozen rock and roll bands would tour China or Russia, it would have earth-shaking repercussions," he said. "It would really change things culturally, the way it did here. Imagine years of steady touring: the Rolling Stones, the Who, us, even Kiss, to initiate those countries into anarchic emotion - what a kick! I guess there's good reason for this prohibition. For their own purposes, they're absolutely right not to allow rock and roll into their countries. They think it's a threat. And it is." There are still plenty of tickets for tonight's show, which begins at 8. Also appearing at the Coliseum is the rather witless hard rock band Rush.Rush - "witless"...? Perhaps a tad harsh, Wayne...?Clement GalluccioOne of my favourite live shows was Blue Oyster Cult and Rush on Friday the 13th at Nassau Coliseum, January 78, during an ice storm, no less. It was one of the most enjoyable and memorable shows I had ever seen then or since, with hand-held lasers breaking into hundreds of beams when hitting mirror-balls, and flash boxes exploding when struck with a laser beam, things you just don't see anymore (hand-held lasers were outlawed soon after that show). Rather than identify a specific song or moment, let's just say the band was at their artistic peak in front of their hometown audience in a celebratory mood.