Blue Oyster Cult - A Long Day's Night
Performance 
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Blue Oyster Cult - A Long Day's Night
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This DVD brings back fond memories of one of the first and most memorable concert experiences of my youth. The year was 1982 and my best friend and I had scored some tickets to see Blue Oyster Cult, who were then at the top of their game and touring in support of their Fire Of Unknown Origin album. I was only sixteen at the time, with a brand spanking new drivers license, and I had already finagled permission from my dad to use his Subaru to make the 15 mile trek to the Augusta Civic Center for the show. The only problem was that it was in the dead of winter, and I happened to live in central Maine. My overwhelming excitement on the day of the concert quickly turned to anxiety when a menacing snowstorm attempted to ruin our evening. Just hours before the concert my father decided that it would be too dangerous for me to drive during the storm, and put a lid on our grand plan. We just happened to be attending a distant relatives wake that afternoon, and there were several sympathetic relatives whom I could bitch and moan to about my dire circumstance. All I remember is that some family member talked my dad into letting me go, with some words of wisdom like "Oh come on Leon, give the boy a chance. He is responsible." HAH! Little did they know. Miraculously, my dad relented, and we were soon heading south on I-95, indifferently passing numerous accidents and ditched cars along the way. Being the responsible, 16-year old, high school sophomores that we were, we proceeded to get completely shit-faced on the way to and during the concert, completely oblivious to the hazardous conditions around us. Hell, a little Nor'easter wasn't about to snow on our parade. Tonight was BOC, and we were gonna see Godzilla and that big upside down coat hanger symbol if its the last thing we do. Their symbol is actually the symbol for the Greek God Kronos (Saturn). I went on to draw that damned thing on every grocery bag covered text book I carried in high school. The most astounding thing, other than making it home alive that night, was the fact that the concert was never cancelled. There was over a foot of snow on the ground when we got out of the concert. The boys from BOC are all New Yorkers, so this little snowstorm probably didn't faze them a bit. Why else would these fools tour the Northeast in the middle of winter? The second most astounding thing is that the civic center was still sold out - and NOBODY stayed home! Hmmm, maybe they are a cult. A Long Day's Night was recorded on the summer solstice, 21 June 2002 at the Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois - twenty years after, and with much nicer weather than, that fateful night in Maine. BOC are now short two of their founding members, but the nucleus of Bloom, Roeser, and Lanier are still intact, and they are playing better than ever. The band performed a 19-song, career spanning set that hits heavy on their first three albums, which most fans and critics consider to be their best work. Several of their mid-period hits, such as "Don't Fear The Reaper", "Godzilla", and "Burning For You" are covered as well. Unfortunately, only one song from their new (2001) album Curse Of The Hidden Mirror is played. I would have liked to have seen how a few more of their new songs held up against the classics onstage. The one song they did perform, "Dance On Stilts", held up quite well, although it sounds dangerously close to being a Bad Company song - not that there's anything wrong with that. The set list was pretty satisfying overall, although I was disappointed not to see "Astronomy", "Black Blade", or "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars". I've always thought that BOC's music sounded much more powerful when performed live, especially the older stuff, which often suffered from a weak album production. I was barely familiar with the cult before seeing them in concert, but was blown away by their live performance. Compare the ultra-distorted, heavy-metal, live versions of "Don't Fear The Reaper", or "Cities On Flame" with their much cleaner and crisper album counterparts and you will know what I mean. The performances on this DVD are actually more faithful to the original versions than, for instance, on their 1982 album, Extraterrestrial Live, but they are still much heavier, and superior to the originals. Highlights of the concert were "Buck's Boogie", "Last Days Of May", and "Don't Fear The Reaper", thanks to Mr. Buck Dharma. I had almost forgotten just how incredible a guitarist this guy is. This DVD will definitely remind you. The guy is only about four feet tall, and looks more like that old guy sitting in the cubicle beside you at your dead-end government job, but holy mother of Peter Frampton, this guy knows his way around a fretboard. Ok, so he isn't the most innovative or flashy guitarist, but he is one fluid mother picker, with nearly flawless technique. "Last Days Of May" is a stunning, hypnotic, slow, blues jam that showcases Dharma's incredible soloing, and was my favorite performance of the night. Lanier also joins him on guitar, and lays down an impressive solo himself. Once you see him up close though, you wish he would have stayed hidden behind the keyboards, because, man, he is looking ROUGH - I'm talking Keith Richards with worse teeth rough! Speaking of rough, Bloom's voice is only a shadow of what it once was, and it was never that great to begin with. To his credit, he was almost sixty years old here, and still manages to make the old songs sound great. Buck Dharma handles the lead vocals on some songs, and his voice sounds pretty much the same as it did in 1973. The relatively new (since the mid-90's) rhythm section of Danny Miranda (bass) and Bobby Rondinelli (drums) more than capably handled the parts once played by the brothers Bouchard. They have provided some much needed stability to the band, after seeing a virtual revolving door of musicians come and go throughout the 80's and 90's. This is an excellent looking and sounding DVD. The widescreen video transfer was especially good, as it was originally captured on high definition video. The picture was usually very clear and sharp, especially on the close shots, but the wider shots were often in low light and had some graininess around the edges. The audio was very good but suffered from a few minor problems. The most noticeable problem was the overall poor mix given to the vocals. Buck Dharma's vocals were mixed too low, especially when he was singing harmony or background, and Bloom's vocals were mixed too loud most of the time. The keyboards shared the same fate, as they could barely be heard over the other instruments, which is quite a contrast to the prominence they had on the Extraterrestrial Live set. The mix also started off very bass heavy but evened out nicely after the first couple of songs. These problems only plague a relatively small portion of the concert, while the rest sounds outstanding. Both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks were provided and they sounded almost identical, with the DTS track projecting a bit more muscle. There are a few short special feature items on the DVD including a behind the scenes look during the band's setup and soundcheck, as well as some band and fan interviews. There is also an "easter egg" that is accessed by selecting the BOC symbol on the main menu and hitting the enter button on your remote. This will show Bloom telling a rather lame joke to the crowd between songs. Being only a casual fan of Blue Oyster Cult, I found myself enjoying this DVD way more than I should have. Not only is the quality of the DVD excellent, but the band certainly proves that they are not yet too old to rock and roll. I recently noticed they are scheduled to play at one of the rock clubs in my neck of the woods. Damn if I'm not going to have to go see them now. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - August 2004 |
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Running Time: 118 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - October 2002 |