Blue Coupe Setlist
You (Like Vampires)
Burnin' for You ☠
Be My Lover ✌
No More Mr. Nice Guy ✌
Cities on Flame
Angel's Well
Caught in a Dream ✌
I'm Eighteen ✌
The Red & the Black ☠
Desperado ✌
Astronomy ☠
Black Juju ✌
Godzilla ☠
Hallow's Grave
Under My Wheels ✌
(Don't Fear) The Reaper ☠
-- Encore --
School's Out ✌
✌ Alice Cooper song
☠ Blue Öyster Cult song
Read MoreTaste of Minnesota
As we've mentioned last year, the event moved over to the Carver County Fairgrounds in Waconia, Minnesota.... and I guess it is now the permanent home to A Taste of Minnesota.
…Blue Oyster Cult
40+ years on, Blue Oyster Cult still doesn’t fear the reaper. Or anything else. The band proved that on a recent two-night stand on the Lodge stage at the Minnesota State Fair.
…
This was the second year that A Taste of Minnesota is held at the Carver County Fairground in Waconia, Minnesota. Unlike last year, when the entry fee was waived if you arrived before 3pm, this year, they moved the time up to 1pm.
There was no dedicated parking area, so you had to look around for residential street parking. Since there was a no re-entry policy, make sure you bring everything (like chairs) at the point of entry. You were allowed to bring in water bottles, which was the one saving grace that Taste of Minnesota offered.
On the other side of the fairground were the Kids Area and various non-food vendors. With the hot weather, the kids in bubble/walking on water was a big attraction.
In order to purchase food or drinks, you had to buy tickets (which still had the "Harriet Island" logo printed on it). Prices were 8 tickets for $5. I really hate the ticket method, as it meant you had to first look around for the food you want and then do the calculation on how many tickets you actually need (without having some extra one or two tickets left over). Most food items were 8 to 14 tickets ($5 to $9) ... which is really expensive, especially for the tiny portions you get (even for "carnival food").
There were two music stages, with the smaller "Taste Stage" not made very obvious. Once you arrive at the fairground, you can clearly see the main stage on your left. To look for the smaller stage, you had to walk to the other side of the fairground.
The Castaways
First band on the bill, at the main stage, were local Minnesota band The Castaways. The cover band played plenty of well-known hit songs, including
Roy Orbison's "Oh Pretty Woman", Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Down On The Corner" and "Bad Moon Rising", and Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl".
What do you get when you combine Alice Cooper with Blue Öyster Cult? You get Blue Coupe (the 'blue' is the first word of BOC and the 'coupe' is last word from "Alice Cooper"), a trio consisting of BOC founding members (and brothers) guitarist Joe Bouchard and drummer Albert Bouchard, along with original Alice Couper's bassist Dennis Dunaway.
Together, the rock band played blocks of Alice Cooper and Blue Öyster Cult songs. The ageing fans clearly knew the source materials, particularly when the cowbell came out for their set closer, and most memorable song, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper".
These 'opening' bands typically do not (or cannot) encores, but the Taste of Minnesota schedule allow for full concert sets... so Blue Coupe decided to come back on stage on their 90-min set to play Alice Cooper's most popular song "School's Out" (incidentally was co-written by Dunaway).
The Taste of Minnesota event will end today, below are details of Saturday and Sunday's music schedule.
Saturday, July 4
MAIN STAGE
TASTE STAGE
12:00pm | The Castaways
11:30am | The Polka Beats
2:30pm | Blue Coupe
2:00pm | Skywind
4:30pm | Badfinger feat. Joey Molland
4:30pm | The Murphy Brothers
6:30pm | Owl feat. Chris Wyse
7:00pm | Sin City Escape
7:30pm | Fuel
9:30pm | Free Fallin’
9:00pm | P.O.D.
Sunday, July 5
MAIN STAGE
TASTE STAGE
12:00pm | Maiden Dixie
11:30am | Old Voltage
2:30pm | Chris Hawkey
2:00pm | Shot Thru the Heart
4:30pm | Jon Pardi
4:30pm | ONE
6:30pm | Phil Vassar
6:30pm | Kip Winger
Blue Coupe at a Taste of Minnesota, Carver Fairgrounds (04 July 2015)
vu (vu@weheartmusic.com)
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