Hear Blue Öyster Cult play the hits and much more in Everett

EVERETT — Blue Öyster Cult is looking forward to playing for their hardcore fans here.

A major hitmaker in the 1970s and early ’80s, the band will rock the Historic Everett Theatre on July 17.

Blue Öyster Cult has sold 25 million records worldwide, including 7 million in the United States alone. It’s best known for “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” “Godzilla” and “Burnin’ for You,” all hard rock classics.

But they’ll be playing more than the hits at the Everett gig.

“A theater show like that, you get more of the hardcore fans, so we can go deep into the catalog and play some deeper cuts,” said Eric Bloom in an interview with The Daily Herald from his home on Long Island. “Which we like doing, because we don’t have to play the more obvious songs. It’s more fun for us.”

Current members are Bloom (lead vocals and “stun” guitar, the band’s term for Bloom’s fuzztone guitar parts), Donald Roeser (lead guitar), Jules Radino (drums, percussion), Richie Castellano (keyboard, rhythm guitar) and Danny Miranda (bass). Roeser, who goes by the stage name Buck Dharma, is the sole member who has been with the band since its formation in 1967 in New York.

“They heard some tapes of me singing, they were having some political problems with their singer (Les Braunstein), so they asked him to leave and asked me to join the band,” said Bloom, who joined the band as lead singer in 1969. “I’ve been with the band 50 years.”

Now nearing their fifth touring decade — they’ve been at it since 1972 — Blue Öyster Cult is still playing sold-out shows around the globe.

The band has opened with the Byrds, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Alice Cooper, performed at Bill Graham’s Day on the Green in Oakland, California, collaborated with Patti Smith on songs such as “Baby Ice Dog” and “Career of Evil” and co-headlined with Black Sabbath on a “Black and Blue” tour.

Last year marked another milestone for the band formed at Stony Brook University. The current members, who had only ever recorded live, released the first studio recording “The Symbol Remains” in 2020, as well as six other releases — three live albums and three reissues.

Blue Öyster Cult also met Sandy Pearlman, who became the band’s manager, at Stony Brook. He was important to the band: Pearlman got them gigs and recording contracts, and he helped write the lyrics for their songs and produce their albums.

“They were jamming on Long Island, and Sandy Pearlman saw them playing together, and said ‘You guys could be a band,’” Bloom said, adding that the band’s original name was Soft White Underbelly.

The band has recorded 15 studio albums, in addition to “The Symbol Remains.” They are ”Blue Öyster Cult” (1972), “Tyranny and Mutation” (1973), “Secret Treaties” (1974), “Agents of Fortune” (1976), “Spectres” (1977), “Mirrors” (1979), “Cultösaurus Erectus” (1980), “Fire of Unknown Origin” (1981), “The Revölution by Night” (1983), “Club Ninja” (1985), “Imaginos” (1988), “Cult Classic” (1994), “Heaven Forbid” (1998) and “Curse of the Hidden Mirror” (2001).

The latest album, whose 14 tracks include songs such as “Box in my Head” and “Nightmare Epiphany,” is seen by fans as a return to form after the band had turned away from rock and toward pop.

The album is named in honor of Pearlman — although you’re forgiven if you thought it referenced the band’s hook-and-cross logo. The title comes from a Pearlman lyric on Blue Öyster Cult’s “The Revölution by Night” in the song “Shadow of California.” Pearlman died of pneumonia in 2016 after suffering a debilitating cerebral hemorrhage. He was 72.

Although Blue Öyster Cult started recording “The Symbol Remains” in a studio at Mercy College near New York City, each member had to finish it in their home studios because of the pandemic.

While Bloom is the band’s lead singer, he’s not afraid to share the spotlight. In fact, the lead vocals have been shared between members throughout Blue Öyster Cult’s career. But most of the songs — an estimated 90% — have either Bloom or Roeser on the mic. In “The Symbol Remains,” Castellano also gets to sing lead.

One of Bloom’s favorite songs on the new album is “Tainted Blood,” which he and Castellano wrote on the way to a gig. It was inspired by the sci-fi wondering: What would drive a vampire to kill himself?

“Although we do play two or three of the new songs from the new album, we do lean back on the catalog for most of the stuff we play because that’s what the fans want to hear,” Bloom said.

But then, Historic Everett Theatre draws hardcore fans. So get ready for a deep dive into the Blue Öyster Cult catalog.

Sara Bruestle: 425-339-3046; sbruestle@heraldnet.com; @sarabruestle.

If you go

Blue Öyster Cult will promote its latest album — “The Symbol Remains” — with a 7 p.m. July 17 show at Historic Everett Theatre, 2911 Colby Ave., Everett. Tickets are $60-$70. Call 425-258-6766 or go to www.yourhet.org for more information.