50th Anniversary Live - Second Night (live album) by Blue Öyster Cult

From spigelwii 10/31/2024 13:44

The second show of Blue Öyster Cult's 50th Anniversary Extravaganza doesn't come across as well on tape as the first night did, which is a shame; of all the three shows that I was in attendance for, this one was by far the most memorable. Featuring bustouts of songs that hadn't been played in years or decades like Diz-Busters, Teen Archer, Mistress of the Salmon Salt, and Tenderloin, more "minor" live deep cuts like Perfect Water and Lips in the Hills, and the triumphant return of one-time Rundgren-turned-BÖC bassist Kasim Sulton, this show was absolutely STACKED with hardcore fanservice. Not to be missed: The note-perfect readings of Tyranny and Mutation songs Baby Ice Dog and Wings Wetted Down, which to my knowledge have NEVER been played live, not to mention the fact that the band also ran through half of 1976's Agents of Fortune, taking full advantage of Kasim Sulton's presence for the additional vocals required for the aforementioned Tenderloin, and Albert Bouchard's vocal, um, "talents" for The Revenge of Vera Gemini.

So what is exactly the problem? Well, the tight musicianship on the first night is simply not on display quite as often tonight. Ironically, the extraordinarily rare material comes off a lot better than the tried-and-true classics on this night. The languid readings of the first three tracks of Tyranny & Mutation thankfully serve as an effective warmup for the band to give the final five songs properly excellent renditions, but after that, the repeats of the first night feature a Blue Öyster Cult that sound unusually exhausted by the effort and are more than happy to pitch throwaway Burnin' for Yous and Godzillas into the ether.

Check out the rarities from this show; they all sound great. The tired retreads from the first night has me wondering why the band didn't decide to just do one mega-release box set of the best stuff from the run sans repeats, but whatever. It's their 50th Anniversary Extravaganza, and we're all gladly along for the ride.