Blue Oyster Cult: (Don’t Fear) The Reaper

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Blue Oyster Cult
The Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ, USA, July 5, 2019
by Mary Andrews

Blue Oyster Cult (BOC) made a rare stop at Tucson’s Rialto Theatre for a night of heavy metal axe thrills. Unlike many bands still performing for more than 50 years, the band still maintains energy and electricity that sets an example for some of today’s younger performers. The venue was bursting at the seams with long-time, veteran diehard fans.

The founding members, Buck Dharma, and Eric Bloom, still have it even though they are in their 70s. Dharma and Bloom are backed by longtime musicians, Richie Castellano on keyboards and guitar, Danny Miranda on bass, and Jules Radino on drums and percussion. Each performer was an amazing musician.

The band, Of Limbo, opened the show with their brand of metal madness for the evening. Of Limbo is originally from Australia that has transplanted to Long Beach, California. The band was formed by brothers Jake Davies on lead vocals and guitar and Luke Davies on guitar and vocals. Herbie Brady on bass and Juan Paz on drums round out the band.

They are highly influenced by bands from the 70s through the 90s. Jake had a mesmerizing stage presence from the moment the band hit the stage and brother Luke was not far behind him. The 40-minute set was predominantly original rock tunes like “Let’s Get F**ked Up” and an added Billy Idol “White Wedding” at the end of the set.

The rest of the evening was BOC all the way. The set was very minimal. There was no fancy strobe lights, no videos running in the background. Fans had little room for the distraction from tonight’s performance from their heroes. The inventive quality of their music overcame any need for gimmicks.

BOC has remained a hard rock band. Their musical style has been described as a broad spectrum, ranging from heavy metal to psychedelic rock, to progressive rock. BOC took the stage with their melodic- psychedelic rock style opening with “Transmaniacon MC,” before highlighting the vocals of Buck Dharma in their overlooked gem, “Golden Age of Leather.” Their focus entirely on the music was exactly what the fans wanted.

The biggest fan cheers came for a surprisingly early performance of their ever popular ‘Burning For You.” The performance of “E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)” displayed the technical ability of everyone in the band. Radino’s pounding drum solo during the song was awesome. The poetic lyrics showed how they pioneered the “progressive rock” genre. Bloom swapped places behind the keyboards with Castellano.

From behind the keys, Bloom offered the audience a vote for the next song, “Shooting Shark” or “Harvest Moon.” There was slightly greater applause for “Shooting Shark.” It was a night of jamming, including an incredible bass solo from Danny Miranda during “Buck’s Boogie.” The guitar shredding was especially impressive when it broke down into a jam between Dharma and Miranda. Dharma plays that headless guitar with the cheese-shaped holes like there is no tomorrow. His solo demonstrated what a fluent and underrated guitar player he is.

The set was a judicious blend of staple favorites and choice cuts that reminded us that the veteran New Yorkers have created a unique and quirky body of work. There was the obligatory performance of ” “Godzilla,” and “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” They invented the cowbell as a musical instrument.

The technical ability of Blue Oyster Cult sets them apart from the musical genre from which the band was born and their music continues to inspire the newest musicians of today’s generation. Their set list evolves with each show and that keeps fans returning for more Blue Oyster Cult. They still rock and their music is timeless.
Blue Oyster Cult setlist: