BOC: Lynchburg, VA, May 23rd, 1998 (long)

[Paul Mather]

Let me start this by saying that I may be one of a select few who have
been privy to witnessing a 90's BOC set that *didn't* include _The
Reaper_.  (And they said it couldn't be done.:)  I don't think this was
intentional, though.

Blue Oyster Cult at LIVESTOCK '98, Cattle Annie's, Lynchburg, VA was a
great show, even though it sucked big time.

The BOC part was great.  Really.  They played so tight it was scary!
The part that really sucked big time was the fact that the "organisers"
cut the power on them, forcing them to play a truncated set.  Add into
that, for good measure, some early sound problems (like no vocals in the
mix, and Buck's guitar mixed too low), and you have a gig that, on
paper, blew chunks.  Still, I thought it was great.

Let me preface this by saying this was my first BOC gig.  I'm British,
and so, like many of our European and Australian friends, never really
expected to get to see BOC live in my lifetime, due to their highly
sporadic touring schedule.  So, when I heard they were playing "near"
me, 100 miles away in Lynchburg, I got really pumped at the prospect of
seeing them, at last.  On the way down, I refined the mood by listening
to _Heaven Forbid_ and _Secret Treaties_ in the car.  (I was surprised,
actually, by how much _Heaven Forbid_ has grown on me.)

After some confusion finding the shuttle parking, I got to Cattle
Annie's a couple of minutes before they started miking up.  There was
quite a sizeable crowd for the venue, which took place in the car park
out front.  (I'm terrible at estimating these things, but I'd say
several hundred people at least; the "festival area" was full, at any
rate.)  They had a two-stage setup, so that one band could be playing
whilst the other was setting up.  I made my way right to front and
centre of where BOC were setting up, and waited patiently.  There was a
small handful of people with BOC shirts on.  I wore my NetHawks t-shirt,
though didn't spot anyone else wearing one.  BOC were slated to go on at
9:15pm, but I'd say they didn't get started until maybe 9:40pm or so.

When they did finally get started, it was a highly inauspicious start,
technically, since there were no vocals in the mix!  The crowd didn't
seem to mind too much, as they filled in for them, with everyone singing
along with gusto.  The "complete" setlist that night was:

BURNING FOR YOU
CITIES ON FLAME
E.T.I.
HARVEST MOON
BUCK'S BOOGIE
LIVE FOR ME
FLAMING TELEPATHS
SEE YOU IN BLACK
GODZILLA

(No encore.)

The vocals were pretty much absent from the mix through the first three
songs, but getting better all the time.  Eric mentioned "getting some
technical difficulties sorted out" between songs, and seemed to be
puzzled since the vocal mics were loud and clear when he was using them
between numbers.  There were also problems with Buck's guitar being
audible enough in the mix, but that situation, too, improved fairly
quickly as time went on.

By "Harvest Moon" the vocals had been sorted out (inasmuch as they were
about as intelligible as on album:).  Eric introduced "Harvest Moon" as
from their new album, which got a big crowd reaction, adding that with
the song they "seem to have a little hit on our hands."  Both the old
and the new songs went over very well.

"Buck's Boogie" really ripped, and everyone on stage seemed to be really
getting into it.  Allen, in particular, was very animated, which made it
hard for me to believe all these allegations of him appearing to have
one foot in the grave. :-)  He looked quite healthy to me, and was even
smiling most of the time.  (Sign of the apocalypse?;)  Allen played
mostly guitar through the set (notable exceptions being "Buck's Boogie"
and "Flaming Telepaths"), with Eric occasionally bashing away on the
keys.  (And I do mean bashing.)

Part-way through, Eric mentioned to the crowd that the folks running this
thing said they could only play so long, but that they were just going
to keep playing for as long as they could.  (Big crowd reaction.)

"Flaming Telepaths" got a huge cheer from the crowd, and went over
really well (especially the strobe part during "the joke's on you..."
part).  They followed this up with "See You In Black," which was even
heavier than on the album, if that is possible.  Eric turned in a great
vocal performance, too.

There was some on-stage discussion between band members after "See You
In Black."  From the looks of it, it didn't bode well.  Eric then began,
"some of you may have heard there's a new movie out right now," and the
crowd went wild, knowing what was coming.  He then made mention of the
fact that a certain song was absent from it, which he couldn't
understand, since everyone knew there was only one big green guy from
Tokyo; I couldn't really catch what he was saying since someone near me
kept yelling "Hot Rails To Hell" at inhuman volume levels.  Anyway, the
crowd really went ape when the band kicked into "Godzilla."

As per usual, "Godzilla" featured both a bass and drum solo.  However,
unlike normal, someone cut the stage lights at the start of Bobby's drum
solo.  Ever the professionals, though, the band returned to the stage at
its end and finished off the song.  Eric had a little torch, which he
waved about, and shone on himself.  I guess they never expected the plug
to be pulled.  Eric told the audience that they couldn't play without
power, and that if we wanted more music, someone had better get whoever
was running this thing to turn the power back on.  He looked rather
frustrated.  The band came down, waved to the crowd, and left the stage.

I don't think the crowd took the power thing seriously, maybe assuming
it was just a link to an encore, but it wasn't.  Folks started shouting
"BOC", and then there was lots of shouting of "REAPER!" (proving that,
yes, people would miss it were it removed from the setlist:).  I could
see there was a little commotion backstage, with people waving their
arms about.  When, eventually, roadies came out and started unplugging
and putting away the mics, people realised BOC weren't coming back on,
and the crowd started to get a little riled.  There was lots of chanting
of "BULLSHIT", with some sporadic "LIVESTOCK SUCKS!", and a couple of
(plastic) beer cups were seen flying towards the stage.  The roadies
were clearly pissed at the situation, telling those of us at the front
that this was out of their control, and that the band couldn't play
without power; that it was the "organisers" to blame.

As more mics and equipment was put away, folks in the crowd realised
that was it, and the audience started to dissipate.  I asked a security
guy at the front why the power was pulled, and he said there was a local
ordinance which made it illegal to play loud music outdoors after 11pm.
(Maybe Jerry Falwell doesn't like to be kept up at nights?;)  I pointed
out to him that it wasn't even 11pm yet (it was about 10:40pm or so),
and he just shrugged.  I was going to mention something about piss-ups
and breweries, but decided not, since he seemed to be as much out of the
loop as the rest of us.  A little stunned by the abrupt, and somewhat
arbitrary finish, I wandered around a little.  I saw some fans getting
autographs and talking to Bobby Rondinelli near the stage; he looked
rather pissed by the incident.

And so it was that I bid my farewells for the evening to Cattle Annie's,
and jumped a shuttle bus back to the parking, and began the nocturnal
drive home---accompanied by BOC on the car stereo.

I guess Discordia was working overtime on her high holy day, what with
all the technical and sound problems, and that power cut.  However,
despite all that, I really enjoyed myself.  BOC put on a great show, and
I wouldn't hesitate to go see them again.  Catch them if they play near
you.  I doubt your gig could have worse problems than this one. ;-)

I'm heading back there this evening to see Govt. Mule headline the
second day of LIVESTOCK '98.  I just hope to hell they don't pull the
same stunt as they did with BOC!

BTW, LIVESTOCK is put on by WROV 96.3FM.  They have a WWW site, with a
"favorite bands / comments" form through which you can submit feedback.
Their WWW site is at http://www.96-3rov.com/.  If folks felt like saying
what they thought about the idea of pulling the power on BOC, seems like
that might be a good place to do it.  (The WWW form submits the data to
wrov963 at bellatlantic.net, so folks could e-mail there instead, I
suppose.)

Oh, one last question: when did Buck shave off his 'tache??  (Just
kidding!)

Cheers,

Paul.

obCD: Blue Oyster Cult, _Heaven Forbid_

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time"
        --- James Marshall Hendrix