BOC Review, 8/2, Spokane WA

[Peter Worley]

The show was at Swackhammer's, a restaurant/club, with the band set up on
the stage in front of the old dance floor, which was covered with tables.
We (several friends and I) were sitting about halfway back, to one side,
and had a good view of the show.  90 degrees outside, but inside was OK,
in t-shirt and shorts.  The overall atmosphere was great; our waitress
(Jackie) was a hot little number with longish black hair, pretty face and
eyes, a great rack, and a nice bod.  I was hanging out in Spokane,
drinking beer with friends I grew up with, about to see my favorite band
play, and I also ran into a college buddy I hadn't seen in years.  Talk
about psyched.

The opening act, The Perones played a pretty good set - energetic, lots of
covers of classic rock tunes.  I was sure I'd seen them before, but I
don't remember where.  Anyhow, they did a great job of getting the crowd
up for the Oyster Boys.

BOC surprised me by opening with Burnin' For You instead of Stairway to
the Stars, Allen playing guitar and ripping it up - much more animated
than usual, he played a great solo.  Next, they surprised me again with an
energetic Cities on Flame, getting me (and the rest of the crowd) psyched
up even more.  Finally they introduced themselves, before playing E.T.I.
(note from friend Jay Schatz: It's awesome).  Buck's Boogie was next, and
the excitement kept building and building (note from Schatz: Best solo
since goat-von-goat [as you may have guessed, Jay was a bit messed up]).
(Also, at this point, I was asked to screw in the light bulb above our
table, which I had unscrewed 'cause it was too bright - couldn't dampen my
mood, however.)  They then slowed it down just a bit, playing O.D.'d on
Life Itself, one of my favorite BOC tunes (note from Schatz: "Buck Dharma
- best guitarist except for Jimmy Page and Howe, including performances by
Aerosmith, Rush, The Who, Scorpions, Pearl Jam, etc. etc. etc.") [oops, I
hope I don't start another Rush flame war].  Then, during The Vigil
(another fave of mine), I was asked not to take photos (of the band, that
is - they let me take as many flash photos of my friends and I as I
wanted).  No prob, the roll was almost done by then.  Another new tune
then, Live For Me - great sound, I just love that tune.  During Flaming
Telepaths, Schatz ordered a round of "Screaming Nazi's" (or rather Jay's
version, "Screaming Schatzi's" - 1/2 Jaegermeister, 1/2 Goldschlager).  So
by the time they played Lips in the Hills, I was pretty much wasted, but
it was _kick ass_.  After Godzilla and DFTR, I went over to talk to my old
buddy Pete, who I hadn't seen in 5 years or so, and marvelled at how BOC
can bring people together.  The encore wasn't too much of surprise (D&S
and Red & Black), but it was still kick ass.  The crowd was great, and the
band seemed to pick up on the crowd's energy (which they picked up from
the band).

Overall, I'd have to say it's the best BOC concert I've been to (5 total);
of course it's the drunkest I've ever been at a BOC concert, but what was
best about it was the atmosphere, the friends I was with, and the energy
the band played with.

--
Peter William Worley
inhaler at u.washington.edu