Legendary rock band Blue Oyster Cult will bring its signature sound to Lima on Saturday.
Photo courtesy of blueoystercult.com
LIMA — It would be hard to plan a concert more suited for the Halloween season than one featuring the band famous for “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”.
Blue Oyster Cult singer Eric Bloom said that even though the band also known for “Godzilla” is not defined by its relation to the October holiday, its show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26 at Veterans Memorial Civic Center, 7 Town Square, should be a great opportunity.
“Sometimes when we’re playing at an old movie theater, that’s a neat place to do a Halloween show, but we’re looking forward to being there and playing all the obvious suspects in our catalog,” he said. ” And we do have a lot of songs that are appropriate for the creepy holiday.”
The band has been around since 1971 so the ability to continue doing what it loves is not lost on Bloom.
“We have a long reputation for doing a good live show and we have many albums over the years, some live, some studio,” he said. “People who come to the show always seem to have a good time and I will try to write a set list that fits the season. The Midwest always has the best kind of fans for our music.”
Bloom praised the rest of the band’s catalog, including songs like “Cities Aflame with Rock and Roll” and “Burnin’ For You,” and its appeal to the horror, science fiction and fantasy genres.
“Our first album came out in ’72, so if you’re 25 years old that would be a good place to start to go back and listen to the early stuff,” he said. “The first three albums, which hardcore fans seem to love, are called the black and white albums and each one did better sales than the last. Of course, we also did a live album and then ‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,’ which is our biggest hit.”
For Bloom, the tour life is not new territory for him.
“This has been my entire adult life,” he said. “It’s nothing different than what I’ve ever done and I’ve been very lucky to make music my entire life. I’ve been very lucky to continue doing it and I can only recommend that people try to do what they like and make a go of it.”
Hardcore fans might recognize a few songs in the show from the band’s latest album “The Symbol Remains.”
“If anybody missed that record, it was voted by a lot of rock critics and magazines as Best Rock Album of 2020,” Bloom said. “Anyone can stream it and listen to it. It’s our first new album in 20 years and it gives a good sampling of what the current band sounds like.”
Fans will have a good opportunity to see the band.
“We cannot predict how much longer we’re going to be doing this,” Bloom said. “As long as we’re vertical, we’re going to keep working. We’re booking shows into 2025 and that’s all we can guarantee, but we want to keep working. We’ll see what the future holds.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit bit.ly/48abt7W.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
