Blue Oyster Cult, Night Ranger, April Wine and Daughtry - 2013

Blue Oyster Cult was the second act for the 2013 Bay City River Roar Concert, but second to none for fans.

"Blue Oyster Cult is the best one of the night," said Christine McCarthy of Saginaw.

"They know how to rock."

Blue Oyster Cult played their 1975 hit song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" and 1977 hit "Godzilla." They took the stage with original band members Eric Bloom and Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser.

Night Ranger followed Blue Oyster Cult's high energy act with their own great rock n' roll.

Eric Bloom called the other day to talk about the Bay City River Roar 2013 concert, sitting in the same chair, said the Blue Oyster Cult lead singer, in the same room where in April 2000 he first watched Christopher Walken tell Will Farrell "Guess what? I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell!"

“We had no idea it was coming,” Bloom said of the “Saturday Night Live” skit built around the band’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” recording session. “SNL started with ‘Blue Oyster Cult: Behind the Music,’ and I thought they were going to tear us up. You never know whether they’re going to be kind or cruel.”

Farrell’s script, largely improvised live, introduced a new generation to the music that fans in the ‘70s dubbed “the thinking man’s metal.” And all can catch Bloom and bandmates Kasim Sulton, Richie Castellano, Jules Radino and founding member Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser when they join Night Ranger and April Wine on Friday, June 21, at Bay City’s Veterans Memorial Park.