Blue Oyster Cult (with support from The Temperance Movement - Anson Rooms Bristol, 28/02/18

The (tongue in cheek) Satan worshipping, biker leather wearing stoner imagery Blue Oyster Cult conjure is firmly juxtaposed by their artful way of creating the thinking-man’s heavy metal. This is reflected in the crowd at Bristol’s Anson Rooms tonight with plenty of Motorhead t-shirt wearing fans discussing last night’s wonderful meal at the local organic restaurant. Oh, so Bristol.

The Temperance Movement open things up for this sold out show, proving the variety of hits they’ve had since their debut album Pride in 2012 to their most recent diverse A Deeper Cut. Only Friend sees lead singer Phil Campbell holding the crowds’ attention like a reverend at church, Caught in the Middleabsolutely brings the funk and Take it Back brings the party. The guys seemingly have more energy than ever in this 45-minute slot, with Phil’s gravelly soulful vocal filling the air and his Jagger-esque flailing and arm-waving with pure abandon is mesmerising to watch. He is possessed by the music and dancing like no-one is watching. But they are, and it looks like everyone wants this set to last longer.

After a short break, everyone starts to stand a little straighter as the walk-on music for BOC starts. A bit of a slump during the first couple of songs, before things get going with Burnin’ For You. It’s hard to tell if this crowd are enjoying themselves at this stage, as it’s more like witnessing a doped-up chill out session at Lemmy’s, but when the band pulls out more obvious hits like Godzilla and (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, it does prompt some rogue jump-up-and-down-ers or the odd devil horn. That’s not to say they do not love watching the band, it’s sold out after all, it’s just…hard to tell.

BOC mix sixties harmonies and guitar arpeggios with new-wave power pop and an evil image, a lot of which they pioneered, proof in having their videos on heavy rotation on MTV in the eighties. And they probably do it the best, although their legacy has remained quiet. This isn’t the most rawwwwk ‘n’ roll evening Bristol’s ever seen, but it’s BOC’s style and they’re sticking to it so stylishly, and who is anyone to argue?