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| Marquee at Tanner Park |
This show was 'The Homecoming'. Blue Oyster Cult is from Long Island and tonight they performed on Long Island. One of Long Island's beautiful parks, Tanner Park In Copiague, sits right on the water of The Great South Bay. The park is huge and has every amenity you could wish for including a beach with a lifeguard and a restaurant with a bar. You could really make a day of it.
Concerts are held at Tanner Park, for free, all summer long mostly tribute bands. Once or twice a year they will host a show with a big name with what's left of the original members and tonight was that night. I arrived early in the day to check out the entire park. There was a wooden pier to take a nice, relaxing walk out on.
As I was strolling along the beach I overheard a group of people talking "Did you hear who the opening band is going to be?" "No, who?" "Really!!! Where did you hear that?" "Are you sure about that?" Their energy was electric. There was a buzz in the air. This audience was going to be special. It was made up of their biggest, most loyal fans. These were the people that went to see B.O.C. time and time again in all those now long-ago defunct Long Island bars,...the good ol' days.
I made my way over to the grassy/ stage area at 1:30 p.m. and a few fans were already there. They set up their little campsite so they could be right up front. More people started arriving early so they could stake out their territory. B.O.C. took the stage at 4:30 p.m. to do a soundcheck, it was incredible, extended, 7-songs. Sometimes bands skip their soundcheck completely so for those of us lucky enough to be there it was a real treat.
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| The Good Rats |
Before they played their fourth song they said "Let's make some noise!!!" And launched into 'Does It Make You Feel Good?' Thousands of people started dancing, right there on the green. It was wonderful. The band was brilliant. 'Taking It To Detroit' was next. They were very enjoyable to watch and listen to. If they come to your town, definitely go check them out.
The host of the evening was the fantastic DJ, Ralph Tortora, from the awesome radio station 103.1 MAX FM. What an incredible job he did. He first took to the stage in the beginning of the festivities to welcome everyone to Tanner Park and introduce The Good Rats. He had stupendous interaction with the crowd. Intermission time, he appears on stage again. Now he has got to step it up and keep these thousands of people entertained for at least a half hour as the first band's set is broken down and the headliner's set is assembled.
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| What a great guy! |
Everyone got an opportunity to win. To make it easier, he let the contestant choose which band that they would like a trivia question about. And then, even if they got the question wrong, he would still give them the tickets! How cool was that? Could you imagine going to a free concert and winning tickets to another concert? "Oh, what a lucky man he was."
While he asked the questions, he also got their names and where they were from and one couple was from Florida! They drove all the way there just to see The Good Rats! They high schooled on Long Island and have been The Good Rats fans since then. So even though The Good Rats were officially unannounced, it had to be listed on some website because hundreds of people knew in advance.
My favorite trivia question of the evening was the one about Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin was originally signed to the record label Atlantic. They started their own label Swan Song. What was the first album they released on their own label? My guess was 'Presence', WRONG!!! The answer was 'Physical Graffiti'.
Sun sets. Almost a full moon, full enough to have a nice orange glow surrounding it. The brightness from the moon, reflecting off the bay, and the soft, cool breeze rolling in made for an absolute perfect evening.
Blue Oyster Cult takes the stage, which just made the night even more perfect. THESE DUDES ROCKED!!! The two-original members Buck Dharma and Eric Bloom are in their seventies or will be before the year is up and they did not look or act it. They have not lost a lick in the past five decades that they have been rocking.
The band started in 1967, The Summer of Love, and they are one of the few bands, from then, still going strong. Eric radiated rock star, he was dressed in all black: shoes, pants, leather jacket, glasses, and hat. He looked like he was in his forties at most. His fingers moved faster on the guitar than most of the people out there half his age. Buck looked great too. He was holding his own as well whether he was jamming on the guitar or while he was singing, absolutely spot on.
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| Custom made pants, for Buck Dharma, given to him that day, after soundcheck, grey denim, black zig-zag stripes. |
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| Custom made pants, for Eric Bloom, given to him that day, after soundcheck, white denim with BOC logo in blue. |
B.O.C. has gone through some transitions over the years, as has almost all bands. The newer members have been with them for decades and they are every bit a part of the band as well. They are all outstanding, talented musicians in their own right. The entire show was amazing. The setlist was on fire with a great mix.
They opened with 'The Red & The Black' which got the crowd going. Speaking of the crowd, it was not just a bunch of boomers trying to hold onto the past, there was some of that, myself included, but there were people present from every age group. Kids and teenagers with their parents, twenty and thirty-somethings, adults to middle-agers, seniors, everybody was represented.
They played 'Burning For You' third and it seemed like every-single person knew the song. It was superb. Jules Radino on drums set the pace and kept the beat going very nicely all night long. They performed a handful of remarkable songs in a row, including their monster ballad 'Then Came The Last Days Of May'. After 'Tattoo Vampire' Buck launched into a commanding guitar solo.
'Godzilla' was next, surprisingly, thought this would be one of the encores. During 'Godzilla' Richie Costellano, who impressively carried out dual duties, keyboard and rhythm guitar, just owned it. He's a natural on the guitar. Their biggest hit, (Don't Fear) The Reaper was next. The crowd went crazy, it was a throw back to more innocent times.
When (Don't Fear) The Reaper was finished the band left the stage. They did return for a three-song encore, but you know what happened. Once they played their biggest hits the audience started leaving, myself included. People want to beat the traffic. (They never do. They wind up sitting in their car.) I love B.O.C. but I had already been there for 10 hours. I had a 2-mile walk back to the Copiague train station, then a 75-minute ride back to the city. I was done.
As I walked through Tanner Park, I could hear the encore very clearly. The first number up was 'Joan Crawford'. I loved it when they yelled out "Christina!" 'Hot Rails to Hell' was the second tune, Richie Costellano supplied the vocals, superb job. Reminiscence of the train I was about to get on. The last song of the evening was 'Cities On Flame With Rock and Roll', which was very appropriate as every city they have ever rocked out in, they lit on fire and left in flames with their own brand of Rock & Roll.
