As original drummer, one of four lead vocalists and creative tour de force of legendary American rockers, Blue Öyster Cult, Albert Bouchard’s place in rock history is assured. In BÖC he had hit singles, platinum albums and toured the globe playing sold out shows wherever they went, particularly through that golden decade before he left in 1981.
Since then he has made his mark with the Brain Surgeons, as a solo artist and currently with punk royalty, The Dictators so news of a solo tour of the UK was greeted with much anticipation.
Armed with just a guitar and a keyboard and himself alone up on stage, Bouchard returned to the city where BÖC recorded part of the mighty Some Enchanted Evening opus.
With a show split into three distinct parts, this was a major treat for BÖC fans as the first section kicked off with a romp through his grand opus, Imaginos, co-created with BÖC guru Sandy Pearlman.
Stripped of its ornate gothic horror fineries the likes of specially arranged versions of “I Am The One You Warned Me Of”, “In The Presence Of Another World” and the mesmerising “The Siege And Investiture of Baron Von Frankenstein’s Castle at Weisseria”, quite possibly the finest song title of them all, still shimmered in their dramatic finery even when broken down to their most basic form.
Interspersed by authoritative narration by Bouchard to link the story to the songs, the crowd lapped it up. Of course, the Metallica approved “Astronomy” was greeted like a long lost friend as “Magna of Illusion” and “Les Invisible” wrapped up the Imaginos story, that has been almost 50 years in the making.
In the second part Bouchard delivered a feast of BÖC deep cuts from “Death Valley Nights”, “Shadow Of California” and a wonderful “Fireworks” not forgetting “Vast Dark Night” from his Surrealist solo album and “Really Good” from the brand new album by The Dictators.
There were a few slip ups along the way with forgotten lyrics or bum notes but so what, this was a live show and was all taken in his stride with a twinkle in his eye and a wry smile helped along the way by the fans reminding him of the words. This created such a special, intimate vibe akin to sitting around a camp fire with a bunch of your mates.
Bouchard’s amiable stage presence also brought his stories to life in the third and final part during the Q&A session which revealed that Bryan Adams gave him a $50 bill for a $7.00 taxi ride during his time as a cab driver after Live Aid.
It’s always a tough task keeping a one man show interesting but Bouchard did that over a two and a quarter hour set that delivered great songs, great chat and a whole lot of fun.
Be the first to comment