Blue Öyster Cult at the MN State Fair, Leinie Lodge Bandshell stage (8/25/13) live review

Buck Dharma

The longtime group, still boasting original members, vocalist/guitarist Eric Bloom and lead guitarist Donald ‘Buck Dharma’ Roeser, started in Long Island, NY in 1967 as Soft White Underbelly, with vocalist Bloom joining two years later. The current lineup is ably rounded out by Jules Radino on drums, Richie Castellano on keyboards/guitar/vocals, and the talented, well-seasoned Kasim Sulton on bass guitar/ vocals, and is continuing its 40th anniversary tour, which began last year.

Set list photo

The band entered for their 80 min. set, to the rumbling ‘Game of Thrones’ theme as intro music, and segued into their opener, ‘The Red & the Black’, which set the mood for the evening. Following was ‘The Golden Age of Leather’, from 1977’s “Spectres” and a testament to their growing biker fan base. One of their biggest hits was played early, ‘Burnin’ for You’ from 1981’s classic ‘Fire of Unknown Origin’, with Bloom still in good voice and Dharma shredding it centerstage on guitar.

The band changed the setlist slightly on the second night, keeping the performance fresh and playing a variety of non-hits, to please the faithful and to stretch their musical chops. ‘Black Blade’ featured an intro that mentioned the influence of Michael Moorcock’s sword-wielding hero, Elric, and ‘Last Days of May’ led into an extended Dharma guitar solo that allowed him to freeform. Castellano proved a versatile utility man, deftly moving between guitar solos and keyboard riffs, having stepped into the shoes of original member Alan Lanier, who hadn’t toured since 2006, and who passed away just two weeks ago.

Eric Bloom

‘Godzilla’ was prefaced by Bloom’s pitchman-like intro about ‘dinosaurs walking the earth, all wiped out by meteor…except one…!’ prompting the crowd to chant the song’s title, before the band revved it up. The song featured not only a Radino drum solo, but also a career-spanning bass solo from Sulton, featuring riffs from his previous incarnations as bass player for Joan Jett, Utopia, and Meat Loaf.

Their biggest hit culminated the set, ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’, which the band no doubt has a love/hate relationship with, being their best-known song and subject of a classic SNL skit. Several in the crowd predictably brought their own cowbells and were striking them in rhythm as Bloom himself even played along on ‘air cowbell’.

The set had ended just before the 10pm curfew, but Bloom then called an ‘audible’, off the setlist, and the band returned for a finale of ‘Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll’ – an apt ending song (given the extreme heat outside) from their 1972 self-titled album. Thankfully, no cowbell needed.