[Matrix15]

Don't know if anyone is seeing him while he's touring the UK but I thought I'd bring it up. I'll give a review of the gig I went to for discussion anyway.

So I saw Meat at Sheffield Motor Point Arena on the 11th of December. First concert of his I've been too and after hearing poor reviews of his 2007 tour my expectations were mixed. I just wanted his voice to hold and a half decent set and to have a good night out.

We arrived and people were handing out free copies of the new CD - Hang Cool Teddy Bear. It's a very heavy album based on the death of a soldier called Patrick as Meat Loaf explained in the concert. You could tell Meats very proud of this album and wanted many people as possible to hear what he'd done on it.

Anyway at Half past 7 Meat's daughter, Pearl Aday played half an hour of songs with two blokes on guitar. Shes got a great set of pipes on her and her set packed some nice catchy but unknown tunes. Not quite as grand as her dad though.

Me and my friend were sat on the fourth row which cost £60 each and the view was fantastic. Meat came out at half 8 to thunderous applause and started singing Hot Patootie - fun song but I don't know it as well as the older folk in the audience. The video screen at the back showed Meat during his Rocky Horror years and was pretty funny. After that he went straight into If It Ain't Broke (Break It) of BOOH 3. Now I liked that he played something of that album but it could really have been a song like Blind as a Bat or something better.

To keep the tempo going Bat out of Hell came third, complete with huge inflatable bat. Meats voice showed that it has recovered from the medical problems of 3 years ago. He roared through the song and the audience loved it, me and my friend moved right to the front for the rest of the concert and sang and waved along.

Meat then introduced 3 new songs in a row - a bit of a gamble but two of the new songs sounded good because of the cathcy hooks - Peace on Earth and Los Angeloser. Cartoony words for Los Angeloser came on the screen which also helped for people who were unfamiliar with the song.

At this point I'd also note that the band were note perfect and Patti Russo is a fantastic female vocalist. The chemistry with Meat was great and they all seemed to really enjoy themselves. Most of the songs had extended intros using guitar or piano to showcase the bands talents, an idea I really liked.

Halfway through the set and Meat had only really played one big song. So next came hits, lots of them. You took the words tight outta my mouth, rock and roll dreams, Anything for love, 2 outta 3 ain't bad and paradise by the dashboard light were all performed with brilliant over the top gusto, or heart wrenching drama where appropriate.

In some ways meat is an actor and the songs are his script, you get a performance that is loud, bright, cheesy and emotive. All things that I can really get on with when they're done as well as Meat did them. 2 out of 3 was perfect, a story introduced the song, beautiful piano intro and an emotive meat wringing everything he could out of it. Excellent performance.

The on stage banter and activities in Paradise were unbeliveable and so funny. a great sense of humour and a "big suprise" in the form of a phallic cannon that shot beers across the stadium After this the set went a bit stale, Boneyard from the new album is ok and All Revved Up was fun for older fans. The encore was Dead Ringer For Love, a good song but short a short encore and I'd like to have seen more of Bat 2 and 3 to be honest.

Meat went off at ten to 11. But the final suprise was being able to dive and grab a drumstick thrown by a technician, which gave me a pretty cool memento.

Overall, Meats voice was much better than expected but in the long and complex verses it can become hard to decipher, still, for a 63 year old bloke he can do a hell of a scream. Meats personality, the band and onstage hilarity made the night. The set was mixed but the new material held up to scrutiny. I'd definitely suggest seeing him once, even just for the old stuff because he might not be touring much longer. But the old dog can still pack a punch when he wants.

Overall rating: 7/10

Cool Stuff:
- Meats voice was good
- The band were fantastically music
- Overall atmosphere couldn't be better
- Meats personality and the stage gave huge entertainment factor

Niggles:
- Lack of Bat 2 and 3 stuff played
- Same set every night
- The band could be used better by mixing the sets and keeping them on their toes. It was frustrating to have them play the same stuff over and over.
- Encore was short


Set list was as follows:
* 1. Hot Patootie - Bless My Soul
* 2. If It Ain't Broke (Break It)
* 3. Bat Out Of Hell
* 4. Peace On Earth
* 5. Living On The Outside
* 6. Los Angeloser
* 7. You Took The Words Right Outta My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)
* 8. Song Of Madness
* 9. Rock & Roll Dreams Come Through
* 10. I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)
* 11. Two Outta Three Ain't Bad
* 12. Paradise By The Dashboard Light
* 13. Boneyard
* 14. All Revved Up With No Place To Go
* 15. Dead Ringer For Love

[Captain Walrus]

I've moved this to Other Bands, cos I think it makes more sense there...

Anyways, I saw him last Tuesday at Wembley Arena. I pretty much agree with your review: he put on a good show, but it did feel a bit rehearsed. His vocals were for the main part still good considering he's 63 years old, but I did feel there were some times where he was let down by vocal limitations (e.g. Bat Out Of Hell, while a solid performance of a fantastic song, was played veeeery slowly so that he could cope with it).

I liked the 3 song suite of new songs, worked well, and I was pleasantly surprised that Los Angeloser was so much fun live, thanks largely to the animation on the screens. But, although I like the song on the album, Song Of Madness didn't work so well live IMO, too dirge-y. Something else from the album might have worked better, or even something else from Bat 3.

Although it was played to slow, Bat Out Of Hell was great, and I Would Do Anything For Love and Paradise By The Dashboard Light were bloody fantastic. Patti Russo is a hell of a singer and a perfect foil to Meat Loaf.

I enjoyed the Boneyard / All Revved Up outro ... the guitarists played the solo to Freebird too, did they do that at your gig?

I'm glad I got to see him live, but I'm not sure I'd feel the need to again. The main thing is though, the tickets were a birthday present for my girlfriend, and she proclaimed it the greatest gig she's ever seen, so that was a plus!

Incidentally, did Meat say something about being the "45 year old Jon Bon Jovi" at your gig?