Blue Oyster Cult Live in Santa Cruz

Heavy metal pionneers Blue Öyster Cult played two sets in Santa Cruz Friday evening at the beach boardwalk. I've posted some photos and video.  I can't say I'm a huge fan of Blue Öyster Cult, but I'm kind of a live music slut these days, and since it was a free local concert, what the heck.  But apparently BOC remains hugely popular and they drew one of the largest crowds I've seen ever at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

And yes, they played their most famous song "Don't Fear the Reaper" along with plenty of cowbell from an onstage roadie as well as dozens of Gene Frenkle wannabe's in the audience.  In fact they managed to play their big hits "Godzilla," "Burning for You," plus another two dozen songs.   While hits like "Don't Fear the Reaper" have withstood the test of time for 30 years, some of the other material is definitely from an earlier heavy metal era.  If you like Black Sabbath, or other heavy metal umlaut bands, then you'll love most of what BOC does; if not, it starts to sound an awful lot like Spinal Tap when they get all mystical. 

But to be clear, Blue Öyster Cult was first with the umlaut and first in heavy metal and they influenced a generation of metal bands --some that you might not want to run into in a dark alley late at night.  And I think "Don't Fear the Reaper" is one of those classic songs that I never get tired of hearing.  It's not a tough song to learn and sounds great.  (Check out the guitar tab PDF and video on Buck Dharma's site.)

At any rate, those who were more familiar with BOC's ouevre seemed to really get into the show, or at least had enough substance to make it enjoyable.  I missed much of the first set due to traffic, but I managed to get a seat up front (thanks Josh!) for the second set and got quite a few good photos.  The video quality is not great, especially when a bouncing beach ball knocked my camera.  But still, it came out pretty decent.   

While the band's lineup has changed over the years, the two key founding members Buck Dharma and Eric Bloom are still fearing the reaper 30 years on.  Dharma may not have the long hair and 'stache that he had in the 70's, but he played awesome guitar.  And he's got a Steinberger like me, and anyone who rocks this hard for so long is good in my book.

There are upcoming Beach Boardwalk concerts  through the rest of the summer featuring John Waite, Gregg Rolie, The Gin Blossoms and The Tubes.

• Photos & Video: PicasaWeb, YouTube, More Cowbell Video
• Blue Öyster Cult: Official Site, Tour dates, Wikipedia, More Cowbell
• Buck Dharma: Official Site, Tabs, Guitar Secrets
• Amazon: Blue Oyster Cult Greatest Hits