Flashback to Atlantic City

[Damian]

Kind of a non-issue Dio posting, but it had a bit of relevance to me so I'm sharing it here. I found myself in Atlantic City on Friday Night and learned at the last minute that Blue Oyster Cult was playing at the Hilton. I wanted to check them out, partially because BOC was the second-ever concert I attended way back on the Fire of Unknown Origin tour (with Dokken and Zebra opening!), but also because I wanted to see if Rudy Sarzo was back playing bass for them.

The Dio connection stems from the coincidence that the last time Blue Oyster Cult played Atlantic City was on August 29, 2009, the same night as Ronnie's final performance ever with Heaven and Hell. I literally bumped into Rudy backstage at that show and introduced myself. BOC had just finished their set and he came over to visit with Ronnie and hang out. He was also going to be touring with Dio that Fall, which of course did not happen. He must have sprinted there because it was a little after 9PM and I couldn't figure out how he could have played a full set with BOC and still be backstage at the Showboat in plenty of time to see Heaven and Hell. Adding to the coincidence was that I had just finished reading his "Off the Rails" book about his days with Ozzy. I had a million questions to ask him but just made small talk, and besides, I was there on assignment to document Heaven and Hell. He was very nice, polite, and soft-spoken. That Cuban-accent thing is there, but its slight.

Anyway, I walked into the 600-seat Grand Theater (not a sell-out and tickets were a whole $20. Jeez, BOC has fallen. I think I paid $20 to see them back in 1983, too!) while they were playing "Burnin' for You" and sure enough, theres Rudy playing his bass with his left hand on top of the fret board, like its the 80's all over again. Besides the fact that the guy has not put on a pound or cut his hair shorter for like 30 years, he made Buck Dharma and Eric Bloom look like grandpappys up there. I found myself kind of wondering why Rudy was still doing these gigs, he has such a great name and reputation and is in top form, no offense to Blue Oyster Cult, I love those guys, but this was a $10,000 gate at best, and no merchandise stand as far as I could see. 6 member band, union fees, crew fees, etc., I can't see Rudy pulling down more then maybe $800 for this night.

But then, at a point in the setlist to give the elder statesmen a break, Rudy got his own extended bass-solo, after an introduction in which Eric Bloom goes through a list of his former bands with the band playing 32 bars of representative songs. It kind of went down like this, Bloom says something like, "you know this guy, on bass, Rudy Sarzo! You might remember him from a band called Quiet Riot!" (the band plays a bit of Cum on Feel the Noize). "He was also in....Whitesnake!" ( they play some of Here I Go Again). "He was also in a band with Ozzy Osbourne" (A truly horrendous attempt of I Don't Know ensues, if you didn't have a true memorization of Ozzy's songs you would not have known what they were even playing. Instead of the progressive scale increase notes at the beginning of the song, they played the same note, Rudy's distinctive bass part was the only identifier for me.)

Don't get me wrong, its not like BOC had to play Rudy's entire resume, but honestly it would have been a really nice gesture to put Ronnie James Dio out there as a part of Rudy's past. I was half-waiting with a loud long scream at the ready for a short Holy Diver rendition or something like that, but it never came. I get it, they can't list everyone, and the popularity of Dio to that crowd was probably small compared to the name-recognition that Quiet Riot with their number one album, Whitesnake, and Ozzy brought to the table. Understandable, just a little sad. And they could have taken five minutes to learn the first 20 seconds of I Don't Know, also. But whatever.

But then Rudy went into a drum-assisted 7-minute solo with him leaping around the stage, grinning broadly, going off having the time of his life. I thought, maybe this is what its all about for him these days. He's been a serviceable spoke in someone else's wheel for so many years, but with BOC, he really gets to let it go, owns it like nobody else up there. If so, then good for him. This guy could have easily been plugged into a band like Velvet Revolver or Queens of the Stone Age and made nice money on the road, and while Blue Oyster Cult still has great name-recognition, and a spot in my heart always, the mismatch up there was pretty evident. If he wants to be the big fish in a small pond for once, good for him. Otherwise, I don't get it.

I also wondered if Rudy was thinking about Ronnie at all. That fateful night was only ten months ago, maybe he remembered seeing his old friend and band mate take the stage for the last time on a similarly hot summer night in Atlantic City. I was tempted to try to get backstage and try to record a quick one-on-one with him using my iphone, but I had my woman with me, and this was a night for fun, not journalism. Besides, I didn't feel like getting shut down by BOC's crew or getting embarrassed by someone coming out and saying "Rudy doesn't remember you, get lost!". I mean I only met and spoke with him once, and it was ten months ago.

Anyway, thats what Rudy is up to these days.

[Paulie 88]

Thx for the update Damian, I too was wondering if he was w BOC at the moment. Funny that they mentioned Quiet Riot but played a Slade cover! You'd think they would have done "Metal Health" instead... And it's sad to hear that Dio wasn't mentioned, but Dio's big songs weren't with him in the band, perhaps? Then again, Rudy's time with Ozzy was limited to the Sabbath covers album (Rudy is pictured on Diary but he didn't play on it). Perhaps Rudy's with BOC enjoying playing material he enjoys? Or with people he likes? Whatever, I'm glad he's out there working and able to reach fans that want to see and hear him.

All the best,
PAULIE

[Diommi]

perhaps Dio wasn't mentioned as they might have referring to bands that Sarzo had recorded albums with only.

[Paulie 88]

perhaps Dio wasn't mentioned as they might have referring to bands that Sarzo had recorded albums with only.

I was thinking that too, but I don't know if Rudy's on that last-recorded track from the tour box, I did not buy it.

Best,
PAULIE

[IRON-MaN]

Great read Damian , thanks for sharing ....

[DiosSword]

Sounds almost like BOC has become "The Rudy Sarzo Band," and that's not a knock on Rudy. He is a true rock warrior and rock-solid bass player, not to mention part of the elite fraternity of musicians who played alongside Randy Rhoads.

I saw BOC back in '88 and '89, Imaginos era - club dates at the same club, a year apart. They were really good, and even took requests for obscure stuff like "Buck's Boogie" and "Ain't Got You," but they also played a boring 20-minute long "Roadhouse Blues."

The lineup for those shows was, as best as I remember:

Eric Bloom - vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar harmonies
Buck Dharma - lead guitar, vocals
Allen Lanier (so sickly looking he made Keith Richards look healthy) - keyboards, occasional guitar, and cigarette constantly drooping out his lower lip
Jon Rogers - bass

I don't remember the drummer's name...

I got to talk with Jon Rogers at some length (nice guy) and got a "how ya doin" from Eric Bloom, as well as an autographed photo from him.

[sarsippius67]

Thanks for the story Damian, a good buddy of mine was at the BOC show as well. I share your disappointment that Ronnie wasn't mentioned among Rudy's credits, but then again I probably think every live concert performed by anyone for the rest of 2010 should include a nod to Ronnie