Line-up

Headliner
Blue Öyster Cult Last time in Salem: 14 years ago

Venue

Lane County Fairgrounds

796 West 13th Avenue, 97402, Eugene, OR, US

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Additional details

Doors open: 19:30

Concert in your area for Rock, Folk & Blues, Metal, and Indie & Alt.

Find out more about Rock and Metal.

Blue Öyster Cult biography

Blue Öyster Cult - or BOC- are an American rock band from Long Island, New York in America who formed in 1967.

Blue Öyster Cult's current members are vocalists Donald Roeser, Eric Bloom, Jules Radino on drums, Richie Castellano on the keyboards and rhythm guitar and Kasim Sulton on the bass guitar.

The band started out in 1967 with various different members, they named themselves "Soft White Underbelly". However this was eventually changed to Blue Oyster Cult in 1971.

Their self titled debut album was released in 1972 and included songs "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll", "Stairway to the Stars", and "Then Came the Last Days of May". Their debut album was highly successful and subsequently led them to tour with The Byrds, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Alice Cooper.

Blue Öyster Cult went on to release their first live album, named, "On Your Feet or on Your Knees" in 1975, which impressively went gold.

After a string of success the band hit a brick wall when members started to leave and go solo, their album reached just 83 in the charts. They picked up after finding new members and enjoyed more success.

Since the release of their memorable debut album in 1972, the band has sold over 24 million albums around the world, with 7 million being sold in America alone. As well as this Blue Öyster Cult's music videos are highly regarded, achieving heavy rotation on MTV when the station first came about.

Live reviews

Sometimes, when you’ve got a fever, the only prescription is more cowbell. Back in 2000, Blue Oyster Cult were lent a new lease of life by the now-legendary Saturday Night Live sketch that saw Will Ferrell sending up ‘(Don’t Fear) the Reaper’ with frankly ludicrous amounts of his percussive instrument of choice; it brought the band - who have never officially split since their 1967 formation - back into the public consciousness. It might have been an unwelcome event, though, for the legions of loyal fans who had remained with the Cult over the decades; either way, the band continue to tour, although they haven’t produced a new album since 2001’s Curse of the Hidden Mirror. The list of past members of Blue Oyster Cult is extensive, but the current lineup still features two of the classic members; on lead vocals, Eric Bloom, with Donald Roeser on lead guitar. They still frequently play across North America, but haven’t played in the UK since 2008. That last set of dates saw them play career-spanning sets that were heavy on soloing and reinterpretation of the classics; what they lack in energy, as they get older, they make up for with the sheer flexibility of their musicianship. Having released an extensive, seventeen-disc remastered boxset in 2012 that chronicled their career, they’ve yet to properly promote it; don’t rule out the possibility of further UK shows just yet.

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