Blue Oyster Cult has been rocking for over 40 years and on Friday, April 5, they will bring the 40+ years of rock to the Medina Entertainment Center. In the 70s, Blue Öyster Cult was the thinking man’s heavy metal group. Put together on a college campus by a couple of rock critics, it maintained a close relationship with a series of literary figures (often in the fields of science fiction and horror), including Eric Von Lustbader, Patti Smith, Michael Moorcock, and Stephen King, while turning out some of the more listenable metal music of the early and mid-’70s. The band that became Blue Öyster Cult was organized in 1967 at Stony Brook College on Long Island by students (and later rock critics) Sandy Pearlman and Richard Meltzer as Soft White Underbelly and consisted of Andy Winters (bass), Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser (guitar), John Wiesenthal — quickly replaced by Allen Lanier — (keyboards), and Albert Bouchard (drums), with Pearlman managing and Pearlman and Meltzer writing songs. Initially without a lead singer, they added Les Bronstein on vocals. This quintet signed to Elektra Records and recorded an album that was never released. They then dropped Bronstein and replaced him with their road manager, Eric Bloom, as the band’s name was changed to Oaxaca. A second Elektra album also went unreleased, though a single was issued under the name the Stalk-Forrest Group.
Cut loose by Elektra, they changed their name again, to Blue Öyster Cult, and signed to Columbia Records in late 1971, by which time Winters had been replaced by Albert Bouchard’s brother Joe. Blue Öyster Cult, their debut album, was released in January 1972 and made the lower reaches of the charts. Columbia sent a promotional EP, Live Bootleg, to radio stations in October, and followed with BÖC’s second album, Tyranny & Mutation, in February 1973. Their third album, Secret Treaties, was released in April 1974 and became their first to break into the Top 100 bestsellers. (It eventually went gold.) BÖC released a live double album, On Your Feet or on Your Knees, in February 1975.
In May 1976 came their fourth studio album, Agents of Fortune, including the Top 40 (Top Ten on some charts) hit single “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” (featured in the classic John Carpenter horror film Halloween), which became their first gold and then platinum album. (On Your Feet went gold shortly after.) BÖC’s sixth overall album, Spectres, was released in October 1977 and went gold in January 1978. In September 1978 came a second live album, Some Enchanted Evening, which eventually would become BÖC’s second million-seller, followed by the studio album Mirrors in June 1979. A year later, BÖC released its ninth album, Cultosaurus Erectus, with the gold Fire of Unknown Origin, containing the Top 40 hit “Burnin’ for You,” following in June 1981.
The band has undergone several changes in bandmates over the years and currently consists of: Lead Vocalist/Rhythm Guitar Eric Bloom, Leas Guitarist Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, Keyboardist/Rythm Guitar Richie Castellano, Drummer Jules Radino and Bassist Danny Miranda.
Also appearing with Blue Oyster Cult is The Tubes. The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band. Their eponymous 1975 debut album included the single “White Punks on Dope,” while their 1983 single “She’s a Beauty” was a top-10 U.S. hit and its music video was frequently played in the early days of MTV. The band also performed in the 1980 film Xanadu, singing the rock portion of the cross-genre song “Dancin'” opposite a big band.
The Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm.
Tickets are available HERE.
Tour Dates:
29 March 2019 The Canyon Santa Clarita, Santa Clarita, CA
30 March 2019 Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma, WA
05 April 2019 Medina Entertainment Center, Medina, MN
11 April 2019 Academy of Music Theatre, Northampton, MA
12 April 2019 The Cabot Performing Arts Center, Beverly, MA
13 April 2019 The Newton Theatre, Newton, NJ
07 June 2019 College Street Music Hall, New Haven, CT
08 June 2019 The Space Theater, Westbury, NY
16 August 2019 with Quiet Riot, Loverboy, and 8 others Delta Bessborough Gardens, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
17 August 2019 with Quiet Riot, Loverboy, and 7 others Delta Bessborough Gardens, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
18 August 2019 with Quiet Riot, Loverboy, and 7 others Delta Bessborough Gardens, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
22 August 2019 Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, MA
