Don’t Fear the Reaper (Or the Rain): Blue Oyster Cult Rocks The Gaslight Social

The clouds were full and the sky was dark on Thursday, but neither rain nor sleet could stop Blue Oyster Cult from rocking the Gaslight Social stage and reminding audiences that they are so much more than "more cowbell."

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Blue Oyster Cult formed in the late '60s when Eric Bloom (vocals, stun guitar), Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roeser (lead guitar, vocals) Allen Lanier (keyboard, guitar), and brothers Joe Bouchard (bass, vocals) and Albert Bouchard (drums, vocals) came together and produced one of the greatest discography's of all time.

For almost 50 years, Blue Oyster Cult has remained one of rock music's most formidable bands, combing stunning vocals with incredible guitar riffs and musical blends that sounds like a symphony for your senses. Their guitar solos alone were enough to rocket the band to superstardom, but adding in the tremendous vocals, bass, keyboard, and drums has led Blue Oyster Cult to absolute cult-like status among rock fans.

Of course, we can't mention Blue Oyster Cult without also mentioning their most famous song, 'Don't Fear the Reaper.' That song has become an anthem for music lovers worldwide. The lyrics are beautifully written, the music is haunting, and the cowbell is, well, we could always use more cowbell.

Blue Oyster Cult played that song and many others for a raucous Casper crowd at The Gaslight Social on Thursday night, and the entire evening was an experience to remember.

Since it’s opening in 2017, The Gaslight Social has been a hub of 20-30 somethings looking for a good time. While Gaslight has always claimed to be ‘open to all-ages,’ even going so far as to promote ‘Family Days’ on Sundays, the ‘typical’ Gaslight crowd has generally been full of Millennials. One needed to look no further than the arcade to see who Gaslight typically catered to.

But this wouldn’t do.

Perhaps wanting to remind everybody that Gaslight was, indeed, for everybody, the owners decided to book Blue Oyster Cult, a band which catered to an older, more refined audience.

And it was an event to remember. t was an experience. There were lights, cameras and a ton of action. It was magic, really. But the most magical thing about this night was not the band.

Panning the crowd, one would have expected to see the usual mix of Gaslight regulars- people between the ages of 21-30, with their heads buried in their cell phones. But this wasn’t the case. This show, this concert, this experience; it wasn’t for them and they knew it. It was for the people who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s.

It was for the people who didn’t want to record this concert; they wanted to remember it. It was for the people who had to hide their KISS records in Donny Osmond covers. It was for the people who swore to themselves that they were never going to be like their parents. Those people are who made up the majority of the crowd at The Gaslight on Thursday and, for one blissful evening, they weren’t grownups with bills to pay and families to raise.  They were kids again and the only thing they had to care about was the music, man.

The band could have been twenty years younger as well, because they didn't miss a beat. Or a solo. With the Wyoming wind in their hair, Blue Oyster Cult kicked out their legs, held up their fists, and put on a show that those in attendance will never forget. They rocked. They rolled. They raised a defiant fist that turned into a middle finger and they looked death square in the face and said 'You don't scare us.'

It's not death if you refuse it and fans in attendance on that night stood side-by-side, refusing death, defying Father Time, and outright mocking Mother Nature. And they showed that they will never, ever, fear the reaper.

Photos of Blue Oyster Cult at The Gaslight Social can be seen below: