BOC: Band in Boston (BOC at the Middle East)

[John A. Swartz]

Well, after getting home last night at about 2:30, and not being able to
sleep, I ended up blowing off the morning to sleep, so pardon me if this
review is a bit incoherent - and never again will I eat those chocolate
snack cakes with the cream filling anymore after having a few beers (but
that's another story...).

BOC's triumphant return to Boston was a fantastic affair - and I hope they
won't wait another 10 years before returning.  The openers (Johnny Black Trio,
The Outlets) were decent bands (note - as to the controversy Joe posted
about the equipment, I suspect that it must be standard policy that
their road crew was enforcing, and they got carried away with it - I
feel bad for the Johnny Black Trio guys - I hope it does get brought to
the band's attention so that they can perhaps keep situations like that
from happening in the future), and got the crowd pumped.  BOC hit the
stage just after midnight and played:

Burnin' For You
Cities on Flame
ETI
Harvest Moon
Buck's Boogie
Take Me Away
Flaming Telepaths
See You in Black
Astronomy
ME-262
Godzilla
Reaper
Encore: The Red and the Black

Curfew cut the setlist short by at least one or two songs (they were gearing
up to play "In Thee" and suddenly Eric said "Hey Bobby, get back here!").

The band was awesome as usual.  Allen in particular really shined last
night -
I think they had his keys and guitar mixed a little louder than normal - ah,
but what the hell - it was great to have him back, and he seemed to
really be
enjoying it.  Eric really sounded in fine form last night - very strong and
looking ultra-cool.  To anyone who has seen BOC over the past 5 years
and expressed concern over Eric's voice, I'm here to say that he is once
again in undisputably-fine form.  Danny, Bobby, and Buck were of course
superb, but I really noticed both Eric and Allen last night.

It was great meeting a number of onliners - good to see Mark again,
along with
Rockman21, Joe Coughlin, KenVT, Joe Brown and Sadie ("Sexy Sadie" - happy
birthday - loved your tattoo...).  The highlight of the evening though was
that I finally got to meet Buck in person.  It was sort of interesting - Buck
came out to sign autographs and chat, and I shook his hand and something like
"Great to meet you Buck, I'm John Swartz".  He kind of nodded and was moving
on (lots of fans around for him to greet - understandably) - but he either
didn't hear me or didn't initially make the connection.  Half a minute later,
Mark (SpectreRI) taps him on the shoulder, points me out, and says, "Buck,
this is the FAQMAN" - Buck sort of stopped, his eyes got a bit wider
than they
were, and he takes my hand and says "John!  How are you?"  It was a very cool
moment for me.

A great night - wished I got to meet the rest of the guys (would've especially
liked to have wished Danny a happy birthday - from one 35-year-old bass-player
to another - o.k., so I mostly just pretend... maybe I should say one 35-year-
old bass OWNER to another...).  Again, let's make this a regular event guys,
shall we?  :-)

John

PS:  Meltzer is a Dick...

PPS to Adrian:  I don't wearn horn-rims -- when I do wear glasses,
they're wire
--
John A. Swartz - The MITRE Corporation, Bedford MA - jswartz at mitre.org

"Fear is the path to the Dark Side.  Fear leads to Anger.   Anger leads
to Hate.
Hate leads to SUFFERING."  -- Yoda (Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace)