BOC: SLC concert review

[Brad Dahl]

The first time I saw BOC was in 1975 at the Long Beach Sports Arena.  Kansas
and Ted Nugent were the warm up acts.  From that moment on I was a fan for
life.  Now, 21 years later I see them in a club with probably just over 200
other fans (the show was poorly advertised, I'd never even heard of this
club until the night before the show).  I had great seats, center stage
about 20 feet away (about 7 meters for you non-US fans).  I was afraid that
the small crowd would affect the boys performance, but no way.  These guys
came to rock, and rock they did.  The PA sucked and for most of the show the
vocals were weak and muddled, but the incredible musicianship made up for it.

The set wasn't much different from last years tour (I was hoping that they'd
changed it up more than they had) and went as follows:

1.      Stairway to the Stars
2.      Dr. Music
3.      OD'd on Life Itself
4.      ETI
5.      Harvest Moon
6.      Before the Kiss
7.      I'd Like to See You in Black
8.      Buck's Boogie
9.      Teen Archer
10.     Cities on Flame
11.     Last Days of May
12.     In Thee (including an "acoustic" blues intro)
13.     Lips in the Hills
14.     Burnin' for You
15.     Godzilla (with bass and drum solos)
16.     Don't Fear the Reaper

Encore:

17.     Dominance and Submission
18.     The Red and the Black

Eric made his annual comments about a new album coming out.  He said "maybe
next February or March", then said the next song will be on it and they
played Harvest Moon.  I don't recall them playing this song in the past.  It
was a pretty good tune sung by Buck and featured Allen Lanier playing the
main lead guitar section.  It's nice they're letting him play more lead.
The song also had an extended jamming section where Buck really tore it up
on lead.  They also played I'd Like to See You in Black which they played on
the last tour.  It's a very rockin' tune with Eric singing the lead.  He
said it also would be on the new album.

Lips in the Hills was great.  It's the first time I've seen them play it
live.  I was admitted to the hospital on the day of the Cultasaurus show in
LA, so I never got to see them perform any songs from that album.

In Thee was also a new addition to the show.  It was a semi-unplugged
version that featured Allen on acoustic guitar.  They started it with a
blues jam that had Allen playing lead on the acoustic.  It was an OK version
of the song, although I think it could've used some percussion.

This was the first time I'd seen the new drummer and bass player. The
drummer (John O'Reilly) was very good. His playing fit the songs very well.
The bass player (Danny Maranda) was also good, but his playing was kind of
lost in the songs.  His sound was very muted and didn't stand out at all.
He reminded me a bit of Uncle Fester with hair.

Eric's singing was great (what you could hear) and he showed that playing
the guitar for over 20 years can really pay off!  He had a great tone. (I
really do miss him hitting the cymbals at the end of Cities on Flame
though).  He looked pretty good for an old guy.  It's amazing how much he
and Eddie Van Halen look alike now they've cut their hair (I miss the big 'fro).

Buck was unbelievable.  It was one of the best shows I'd ever seen him play.
He hit everything and was non-stop amazing.  He also was looking very good.

Now Allen is another story.  He looked old enough to be in the Rolling
Stones!  His playing was great.  He is truly an exceptional keyboard player
and his guitar work would easily make him the lead guitarist in most bands
you'd hear on the radio nowadays.

The guys rocked hard and displayed incredible musicianmanship.  Usually when
you see bands at this point in their career it's like trying to go back and
not get there.  These guys are still playing like there's a future.  This is
no washed up band playing their greatist hits.  I really hope the new album
becomes a reality.  In a world where bands do an album and tour every 4-5
years, it's refreshing to see these guys touring every year and tearing the
place up when they do it.

If they come near your town, DON'T MISS IT!  This is a living piece of Rock
n Roll history.  There is no other band like them.

Brad Dahl