Blue Öyster Cult at the Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center -- November 18.
Saturday, November 18, 8 p.m.
Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center, 7077 Elmore Avenue, Davenport IA
One of very few hard-rock and heavy-metal bands to earn both mainstream critical acclaim and major commercial success, Blue Öyster Cult headlines a November 18 concert at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center, the groups hits "(Don't Fear) the Reaper," "Godzilla," and "Burnin' for You" among the biggest from more than five decades of professional acclaim.
Listed in VH1's countdown of the greatest hard-rock bands of all time, Blue Öyster Cult (often simply referred to as BÖC') was formed in Long Island, New York, in 1967 as Soft White Underbelly (a name the group would occasionally use in the 1970s and 1980s to play small club gigs around the United States and United Kingdom). The musicians generally performed in a communal house at Long Island's Stony Brook University when rock critic Sandy Pearlman overheard a jam session consisting of fellow classmate Donald Roeser and his friends. Pearlman offered to become the band's manager and creative partner, and Blue Öyster Cult's original lineup consisted of guitarist Roeser, drummer Albert Bouchard, keyboardist Allen Lanier, singers Jeff Kagel and Les Braunstein and bassist Andrew Winters. The band's name came from Winston Churchill's description of Italy as "the soft underbelly of the Axis."
Upon the release of BÖC's self-titled debut album in 1972, the band was praised for its catchy-yet-heavy music and lyrics that could be provocative, terrifying, funny, or ambiguous, often all in the same song. BÖC's canon includes three undeniable classic songs sure to waft through the cosmos long after the sun has burned out: the truly haunting "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" from 1976's Agents of Fortune, the pummeling "Godzilla" from 1977's Spectres, and the hypnotically melodic "Burnin' for You" from1981's Fire of Unknown Origin. Other notable BÖC songs include "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll," "Then Came the Last Days of May," "I Love the Night," "In Thee," 'Veteran of the Psychic Wars," "Dominance & Submission," "Astronomy," "Black Blade," and "Shooting Shark."
Currently, the intense creative vision of BÖC's original core duo of vocalist/lead guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser and vocalist/rhythm guitarist Eric Bloom are complemented by Richie Castellano on guitar and keyboards, and the longtime rhythm section of bass guitarist Danny Miranda and drummer Jules Radino. To date, Blue Öyster Cult has released 15 studio albums, the most recent one being 2020's The Symbol Remains. In 2012, the group's albums released by Columbia were re-released in a box set of 16 CDs and one DVD, and the band has sold more than 24 million records worldwide, including 7 million records in the United States alone. Over the years, the band's musicians have acknowledged the influence of artists such as Alice Cooper, Grateful Dead, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, and Black Sabbath, and have in turn influences such acts as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Alice in Chains, and Twisted Sister.
Blue Öyster Cult brings their national tour to Davenport's Event Center on November 18, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $35-65, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)328-8000 and visiting RhythmCityCasino.com.
