Blue Oyster Cult, Still No Fear of The Reaper

I got a fever and the only prescription is . . . Blue Oyster Cult

Morgan Modjeski, staff Photo by david lipnowski

If you are the type of person who needs a lot of high-tech gadgets and pyrotechnics to enjoy a rock ’n’ roll concert, then Blue Oyster Cult is not the band to see. But if you enjoy amazing vocals and tight unification of instruments, then Blue Oyster Cult is all you need.

Blue Oyster Cult, a band that originated from New York, played the Burton Cummings Theatre on Oct. 28, and I can safely say that they blew everyone attending away.

The opening band was a local band from Winnipeg called Alverstone, they sounded rather whiney compared to the god-like Blue Oyster Cult. Despite some of the sob-story lyrics, most people filling the Cummings Theatre responded well to the skinny, pale, black-haired boy jumping around on stage.

The crowd who was attending was a mix of young and old, some of them well-dressed and others mangy. Many years of head-banging carried around, totally contained within their patched leather jackets and long, old hair. The smell of marijuana could easily be detected.

Blue Oyster Cult was spectacular. For a total hour and a half, the band delivered some of its biggest hits with a kick to the face. The third song they played was “Burnin’ For You,” which was executed so perfectly it made me wonder how some recording artists cannot perform their songs live.

Despite the fact that almost everyone in the band was well over 30, the music these men released from their instruments and bodies was mind-blowing. There is surely still a large amount of flesh left at the Cummings Theatre considering the fact that everyone there had their faces melted from the astounding guitar solos of Buck Dharma during the song “Then Came the Last Days of May.”

The use of the keyboards throughout the concert was very intense, I’m sure someone on drugs in the crowd probably had to leave because of the crazy sounds that screamed from the box on stage.

By the sixth song, most of the audience members on the main floor had gotten out of their seats to be closer to the amazing sounds that emanated from the stage. Of course, founding member and front man, Eric Bloom, was eating this attention up and using the intimacy of the venue to his advantage.

Visual aid was not needed for this concert, no crazed fireworks display to make up for a shitty concert — just solid rock ’n’ roll practically perfected.

The band finished up with their most recognizable song “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” For a lot of the younger members in the crowd, myself being one of them, it was a savage dream that had been recorded a long time ago and now had sprung to life on the stage in front of me not 10 metres away. The vocals and harmonies throughout the song brought out the true rock that is Blue Oyster Cult. I had a fever for cowbell and my prescription has just been filled.