Concert Review: Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, California

Aloha!

It is always cool to see bands that you have been listening to for years for the first time, and last Saturday (March 14, 2015) I was able to kill two birds with one stone when I caught Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, California.

The Saban Theatre is a really cool place to see a show. This Art-Deco 1900-seat venue opened in 1930 as the Fox Wilshire Theatre as one of 20th Century Fox’s premiere theatres. In 1981 the theatre was converted to a stage venue, and it was renamed about 5 years ago after a generous donation from the Saban family.

First up for the 9:00PM start was Uriah Heep, who have been rocking since they formed in London in 1969. Though their line-up has changed a bit since then, the original guitarist Mick Box is still hanging in there. He was joined by frontman Bernie Shaw, Phil Lanzon on keys, Russell Gilbroom on drums and Davey Rimmer on bass. They are touring in support of the 24th album, Outsider, and they played 13 songs in a 50-minute set for the fairly enthusiastic crowd.

Heep brought their A-game on Saturday and all of the pieces came together. Shaw has an incredible animal magnetism, and he can still wail with the best of them as he approaches the dreaded age of 60. Gilbroom’s drums were thunderous, and Rimmer joined him for a rock solid backline. Box is a good guitarist, but his solos became a bit tedious as the evening went on, as he seemed to play the same solo in every song. They finished on a strong note with “Lady in Black”, and took it a step further with their encore of “Gypsy” and “Easy Livin’.” They really got the mail delivered and I would see them again in a heartbeat. By the way, I got to meet up with the band after the show, and they are down to earth guys who do not mind mixing it up with their fans.

After this there was a way too chaotic stage change that took about ½ hour, and Blue Oyster Cult took the stage.

Blue Oyster Cult has also been around forever, having cranked out their first album in 1972. The New York-based band still has one original member, Donald “Buck Dharma” Rosier, and the rest of the band includes long-time singer Eric Bloom, Kasim Sulton on bass, Richie Castellano on keys and guitar and Jules Radino behind the drum kit.

And it was a rough night for BOC. The sound was off, and it was apparent from the git-go that Radino was having trouble with his monitors. When the drummer cannot hear what is going on, that is big trouble, but fortunately he is a good drummer and settled into his own groove and the band caught up with him after a few songs. Also, Rosier was having trouble with his pedalboard that led to a tech coming onstage to fix it in the middle of a song. They need to get a better plan for doing a quick stage change after the opening band clears out.

Anyway, their 12-song set was entertaining enough, and they included the expected hits, including “Burning for You,” “Godzilla, and “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” Suprisingly, they did not save the latter for the encore, going with “Hot Rails to Hell” and “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll” instead. This is not how I would have done it, but it worked out pretty well.

The Cult’s show was a bit on the lazy side (actually, they phoned it in), with the standout performers being Kasim Sulton and Richie Castellano. These two have talent galore and good stage presence, and they should start shopping themselves around as they can do a lot better than this. I will not be seeing Blue Oyster Cult again – once was enough for me.

Any, if Uriah Heep comes to town make sure you try to see their show, it will be worth every penny!

Mahalo!

Rush Clockwork Angels Tour Gibson Amphitheater Review – November 19, 2012

Greetings!

I saw Rush in concert for the first time in the early 1980s at The Fabulous Forum for their Signals tour, and faithfully attended their concerts until around 1995 when I lost interest in their new material. Well, last week I had the opportunity to pick up a prime ticket so I took a chance and headed to their show this past Monday night at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California.

Gibson Amphitheater is a great place to see a show, as it has good lines of sight and relatively good acoustics for a loud rock show. Despite its name this is an enclosed venue, as a roof was installed back in the early 1980s when it was still called the Universal Amphitheater. Compared to the local sports arenas it is not huge, holding about 6,000 people, and parking is always a breeze there too, which makes for a painless concert experience.

This event was billed as “An Evening With Rush” in support of their most recent studio album, Clockwork Angels. No warm up band is mentioned on the tickets because Rush does the whole show, which includes two sets and an encore. Not bad for a bunch of old guys.

Rush concerts were always interesting when I was a kid because they were such a polarizing band, and people either loved them or hated them, so their shows were exclusively populated by fans. Nothing had changed in the last 30 years, as there was nothing but diehard fans around on Monday night. The kind of fans that knew the lyrics to all the songs and sang along (not that you could hear them singing, this is still one of the loudest bands on the planet).

These fans got what they paid for, with a 2 ½ + hour show that included many of their hits. The first set kicked off with “Subdivisions” and the bass on the synthesizers and kick drum was cranked. From my seat on the edge of the 2nd row (stage right) my jacket was actually moving from all the air the subs were pushing out. It was evident from the first song that this power prog rock trio has not lost a step. The last four decades of touring has honed their live show to a razor edge, and they did not miss a cue all night.

This hour-long set continued on with nine more songs, including “The Big Money”, “Force Ten”, and “The Analog Kid.” Throughout these songs, I was amazed to watch Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee closely replicate what they had done in the studio through the use of synthesizers that were trigged by their feet while they were still playing the guitar and bass. Neil Peart gave up the first of two thunderous drum solos near the end of this set, and he proved that he is still one of the best drummers in the business (probably #2, right behind Danny Carey from Tool).

After the intermission, I was stunned to find eight string players on the stage, and that they were directed by David Campbell, who also happens to be Beck Hanson’s dad. This set was frontloaded with a lot of material from the Clockwork Angels album, which I have not heard before. These are good songs, and I was pleased to find that the band had moved beyond the cliché heavy lyrics that made me drift away from them back in the 1990s. The strings added a lot to the show, and along with the beautiful visuals on the video screens made for a memorable experience.

The second set finished up with pure gold for any true Rush fan. After “Manhattan Project” there was another drum solo, followed up by “Red Sector A”, a kick-ass rendition of “YYZ” and their old opening song, “The Spirit of Radio.”

The encore started off with “Tom Sawyer,” which has to be their biggest hit, and they finished the show with parts I, II and VII of their 1976 tragic rock opera, 2112: “Overture”, “The Temples of Synrinx” and the “Grand Finale.”

Overall it was a great show, and any Rush fan would have been happy with the evening. Though they do not show any signs of slowing down, I recommend that you get out and see one of their shows sometime soon before they decide to give up on the grueling life on the road. I rank their live shows among the best I have seen, and I think you will agree.

Mahalo!