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

From spigelwii 01/01/2025 12:48

Here we are: The final night of Blue Öyster Cult's incredible 50th anniversary run. Secret Treaties is my favorite BÖC record, and as of this writing, my favorite album of all time. It should be no surprise then, given the extremely present fan service and quality of the last two nights' concerts, that this one would be my favorite (and most anticipated) show of the run. They did not disappoint.

To address the Secret Treaties portion of the show in a secondary fashion in favor of the deep cut tracks present in the second set would be doing a tremendous disservice to the virtuosity present in readings of songs that haven't really been in rotation in years (Dominance and Submission, Harvester of Eyes), decades (Flaming Telepaths, Astronomy), since the 70's (Subhuman), or EVER (Cagey Cretins). Even the most seasoned fans of the band could easily be fooled into thinking these tunes aren't played nightly. Simply put, Secret Treaties got THE TREATMENT. The only thing a reasonable person could possibly criticize are the strained vocals of Eric Bloom on a couple of the songs and the fact that, yes, they are played a tick slower than we're used to. The main guys are in their eighth decade of life, it's cool; the band is playing TIGHT, not fast and loose. Your milage may vary, I suppose, but I *really* don't care. I was never not going to love every god damn second of this.

Now: The second set. Eschewing the multitude of first night repeats present in the second night of the run, the band ran through a number of songs that got their only reading of the residency, and gave the impression that the band was truly leaving it all out there. They didn't have to conserve their energy, there was nothing left to prove. (Hilariously, the band was off to Oklahoma City the very next night to play some sort of county fair thing.)

Standout versions of comforting standbys Shooting Shark, Buck's Boogie, and Black Blade blended seamlessly with new material from The Symbol Remains (including an absolutely INCINDIARY version of The Alchemist) and huge bustouts Sinful Love, Joan Crawford, and I Love the Night. The band welcomed back Kasim Sulton for another take on Tenderloin which went much better than it did on night two. And how about another run of original drummer Albert Bouchard leading the band through Cities on Flame?

So...what's the catch? These are septuagenarians playing old music, right? There is no catch. This is as good as it ever was, sometimes in different ways, but unlike so much absolute NONSENSE from the "classic rock" era that doesn't hold up under modern scrutiny, Blue Öyster Cult's music is timeless. Who could say no to fifty more years of this?