By George Petersen

I CAUGHT THE BLUE OYSTER CULT SHOW THE OTHER NIGHT and it was awesome. Sure it helped that the band was playing at Slim’s, a small 440-capacity club in San Francisco. Founded by bluesman Boz Scaggs in 1988, Slim’s is small, with good sightlines and a nice Meyer rig. I’ve always appreciated BOC as a great band, but what really drew me into the show was a chance to hear Mix’s sound reinforcement editor Steve La Cerra mixing the band–a gig he’s had for more than a decade. Like most tours these days, BOC runs lean and mean, with a minimal crew, so these days, La Cerra’s also doing double duty as both FOH mixer and tour manager. He’s pretty busy, but at least it keeps him out of trouble.

The other amazing thing about seeing BOC was the realization that this is their 35th year on the road, having started back in 1972. They’ve had a few personnel changes along the way–quite understandable after more than a third of a century of rock ‘n’ roll–but original members Eric Bloom (lead vox/keys/guitar) and Buck Dharma (vox/lead guitar) put on an amazing show, helped in no small part by guitarist/keyboardist Richie Castellano, bassist Danny Miranda, and drummer Jules Radino. Part of the key to longevity is the ability to adapt, so when fellow original member Allen Lanier (keys and guitar) couldn’t make this tour, regular bassist Castellano moved to guitar/keys and BOC temporarily brought back Miranda who played with the band from 1995 to 2004.

Hey, you gotta be flexible and the show’s gotta go on. Speaking of that, for a 35-year-old band, they guys still R-O-C-K and put on a sweltering 90-minutes of nonstop action. Everybody in the band was good, but I was particularly knocked out by Buck, who in a time of way-too-many me-too soundalikes, really pours out inventive and quite soulful guitar progressions that sounded fresh–never dated at all–yet distinctly in his own recognizeable style.

One thing that amazed me about this particular show was the age range in the audience. I somehow expected a mostly-older hippie crowd, but grey hairs were in the minority at this one. BOC really appeals to a wide range of listeners–maybe also even picking up a few metal fans along the way who were intro’d to BOC from Metallica’s cover of “Astronomy.” But this show was straight-ahead power, and thankfully was devoid of the usual lighting gimmicks that some misguided soul always thinks adds to the performance.

There was some opening band that night, but given the option of hanging backstage with La Cerra and the band or staying in front and risking certain ear fatigue, I opted for the latter. This was also a opportunity to see the machinations of a FOH mixer/tour manager in action, as after the line check, he checked e-mails, negiotiated the night’s set list with Eric and Buck and then printed set lists from his laptop. This of course was also on a day that started early for La Cerra, who flew in to the West Coast from New York that morning to pick up this leg of the tour, after enduring a 2-hour flight delay enroute, making for a few white knuckles as he wondered if he’d make the gig on time at all. But fortunately for the fans packed into the sold-out venue, La Cerra came through it all with his body and ears unscathed and laid down an incredible mix, somehow translating all the onstage energy into a consistent brew that kept the band’s punch, without making anyone’s ears bleed—not necessarily easy in this boxy, rectangular room.

It was one heckuva show for a 35-year-old band (even older if you also count their earlier years as Soft White Underbelly) and somehow I wouldn’t bet against these guys still rocking out in 2042 for the 70th reunion tour. See you there!

When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Check ‘em out at www.jenpet.com.

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