Meat lacks beef but he can still entertain
IT'S not every day a rock legend comes to Plymouth, so when
they do, you've just gotta go see.
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The weather might have been atrocious, but several thousand
did just that for Meat Loaf at Plymouth Argyle's Home Park
stadium on Friday night. It wasn't a sell-out – far from it –
but the old showman blazed through a two-hour set of old and
new for fans of all ages.
The gig was the first of a European tour and Meat's first in
the UK since cancelling tour dates last autumn after suffering
vocal chord cysts.
It's fair to say this might have contributed to his voice
lacking some of its traditional beef, but he was ably assisted
by a tight band and the fantastic backing vocals of CC and
Patricia Russo. The latter had her own starring role in the
crowd-pleasing Paradise By The Dashboard Light, throughout
which a be-wigged Meat hammed it up outrageously, playing out
the theatrical nature of Jim Steinman's lyrics.
The set was a smorgasbord of old favourites such as Dead
Ringer – a Top 5 hit in the UK – and newer standards such as
Bad For Good, from Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Back,
and Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back and Rock and Roll
Dreams Come Through from Bat II.
The hardy crowd even got its karaoke moment with I Would Do
Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That).
Of course, the real reason we were all there was to catch
anything from Meat's 31-year-old masterpiece Bat Out of Hell –
and he didn't disappoint.
As well as Paradise... we got an epic For Crying Out Loud
and the title track itself – enough to send most home wet but
happy.
So a good night if not a great one. But we can all say, when
the icon that is Meat Loaf came to town: “I was there”. Because
at 60, and with his vocal powers on the wane, we might not see
him again.
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