I absolutely adore this song so looked it up live. Guitarist with a Les Paul goes up to a keyboard to play a synth pad WHILE harmonizing with said synth pad at the same time! That just killed me lmao, how many guitarists would do that now??
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What live bands had to do in 1981....
- Thread starter Cadillac_Mike
- Start date
Cool! They certainly did things for real back then.
My inspiration to play music was Exit...Stage Left. When I got that album for my birthday I didn't know squat about Rush. After listening to the album for a while I thought it was a six man band and that the singer was a woman. When I read the liner notes and realized that huge live sound was being done by only three guys I was like 'GTFOH!!?!!' Later on I was able to watch the ESL video on early MTV. Seeing Geddy on bass, singing lead, playing keys and bass pedals inspired me to take up bass. Later on I would also play keys and MIDI pedals, but I could never sing. I sort of miss the challenge of playing bass, keys and pedals now, but I sure don't miss having to move all that stuff around anymore!
My inspiration to play music was Exit...Stage Left. When I got that album for my birthday I didn't know squat about Rush. After listening to the album for a while I thought it was a six man band and that the singer was a woman. When I read the liner notes and realized that huge live sound was being done by only three guys I was like 'GTFOH!!?!!' Later on I was able to watch the ESL video on early MTV. Seeing Geddy on bass, singing lead, playing keys and bass pedals inspired me to take up bass. Later on I would also play keys and MIDI pedals, but I could never sing. I sort of miss the challenge of playing bass, keys and pedals now, but I sure don't miss having to move all that stuff around anymore!
I always liked Paul Raymond of UFO. Playing keys with a guitar slung behind his back, and then whoosh, he's playing rhythm guitar.
That's awesome man! In my dad's cover band I sometimes did double-triple duty of bass-keys-vocals. On "Born to Be Wild" specifically I'd actually switch to the organ on my synth mid song during the chorus lol...
That was the late great Allen Lanier, who mostly played keys but doubled on guitar and was pretty great at both. What he wasn’t great at was singing, but he helped thicken out the three guys who could sing with a vocoder. Only time I ever saw him near a mic and I saw them 4 times with him.
So much talent in one band! I don’t throw around the word virtuoso often, but I’d call Buck Dharma a virtuoso on guitar. Alllen Lanier is pretty impressive next to him, both literally and figuratively.
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I mean...sure...but this is BÖC we are talking about...there aren't many bands that would/could do what they were able to pull off (and still are)
SIDE NOTE: I just saw them this summer and Richie Castellano was doing exactly this
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It's a vocoder - looks like a Roland VP330 or a close relation. He's singing into it to modulate the synth pad with the sound of a human voice. As @JimmyM said it's a good way to fake up backing vocals if you've not got the strongest backing vox, or to plump up harmonies if you do have a couple of decent singers and want something to add a little bit of extra shine.
And stuff like that isn't dead. Metal band August Burns Red (they've been around for 20 years or so)... their bassist Dustin Davidson is also a sick guitarist and sometimes he and lead guitarist JB Brubaker would swap instruments mid-show to play certain songs. It's like, wow, that band has some monster musicians that can not only just swap instruments during a live set but absolutely slay on each others' instruments too.
Dustin Davidson is such a talented guy. Rips on bass and guitar, can also play drums, and even do solid scream vocals. The guys in that band all seem really humble and down-to-earth too.
Definitely a band I would love to see live for both their energy and musicianship.
Dustin Davidson is such a talented guy. Rips on bass and guitar, can also play drums, and even do solid scream vocals. The guys in that band all seem really humble and down-to-earth too.
Definitely a band I would love to see live for both their energy and musicianship.
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Back in 70's on Long Island BOC would play Gigs billed under another name at local clubs; was always a great treat when I found myself at one of them
Also saw them a few times at Theaters on LI and NYC; First time I heard 'Cities on Flame' got LP next Day
Band I started playing with in'75 we did Stairway to the Stars
Also saw them a few times at Theaters on LI and NYC; First time I heard 'Cities on Flame' got LP next Day
Band I started playing with in'75 we did Stairway to the Stars
Reminds me of the King Crimson concert I saw circa 1985 where, for the tune "Dig Me" Tony Levin played bass, Chapman Stick, and keyboards...and the rapid-fire switching from one instrument to the other was equal parts comical and spellbindingly awesome! Like, play three notes on the bass, then quickly whip it around to hang on his back white tapping out some Stick notes as he walks over to the synthesizer, plays a two-handed arpeggio on the keyboard while shuffling his shoulders to get the bass to rotate back around his torso so it's in front again for the next passage... Almost as funny as Dick Van Dyke's one-man band act in "Mary Poppins"!
[edit: I saw the recent BEAT tour a couple months ago, and I was disappointed to see that when they played "Dig Me" Tony had drastically simplified the instrument-switching routine!
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Hahaha - that was my experience when I first heard Rush… a kid at school sold me a bunch of cassettes, and There were a couple from Rush. I thought, “ MAN this singer is terrible! She’s so shrill, I don’t care for her… but heeeeyyyy… their bass player absolutely kills!!!” Hahaha
Similarly Radiohead, who have the same ratio of guitarists to bassists (ie far too many), prompting keyboards / singing / solo projects / side projects / film scores etc...
- Aug 21, 2003
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I’m a 
and love the older setups like that. No triggers or backing tracks. Just covering where you can and when you can.
and love the older setups like that. No triggers or backing tracks. Just covering where you can and when you can.I saw BOC a couple of times in the early 70's in Chicago. I admit that often at the Aragon in those days my perception was...ahem...distorted, and that may be carrying over to my memory 50 years on. But seems like I remember that at some point everybody, or nearly everybody, on stage was playing guitar (at the same time)...
Did that happen?
Did that happen?
It's such a uniquely structured song which I think is why it works so well. They give you zero indication it's a love song at all even into the "burnout today" pre-chorus. That's so strong and signature it probably would've still been a semi-hit if they left it but they launch into this scorching melodic rock chorus out of nowhere!
That would have been Soft White Underbelly.
Yup. For my generation, it was watching Edge jump between keys and guitar on New Years Day, Under a Blood Red Sky version in rotation on MTV.
Only saw Blue Oyster Cult once. That was at a Day on the Green at the Oakland Coliseum in 1980 The were 3rd billed out of 6 bands and they just kicked ass. Truly inspiring. They had to be because they followed Cheap Trick and AC/DC (with Bon) on the bill.
Poor Journey was next after them and that's when I went to get my beers. They were kind of a let down after BOC.
Poor Journey was next after them and that's when I went to get my beers. They were kind of a let down after BOC.
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