Having attended a Meatloaf concert in the past, I was aware of what to expect but neither of my friends had any idea what was in store.

Kasim opened the show with a solo set and as always he sounded superb. He opened with Don't Hold me Back, which is still one of my favorites! He had some assistance from the band on Before She was Gone which was really awesome but the set was only 3 songs and just TOO short. It was still cool to see him perform in a larger venue and he was received well by the crowd. He was followed by Patti who also got a share of the spot light before Meat took the stage.

Now Meat doesn't just take the stage.....he owns it. After captivating the audience with some of his usual antics, the show opened with Life is a Lemon. The band rocked through many hits including All Revved Up and I would do Anything for Love. They even sang Alan Jackson's Buy Me a Mercury....imagine that? Surprisingly enough Paradise By the Dashboard Light was somewhere near mid-show and NOT at the end. Mind you, the theatrics are as elaborate as the early days of the Tubes, but Meat does deliver an emmy award winning performance.

Meanwhile Kasim's bass playing SHINES in this setting as it just seems like these songs were written for him. I can't imagine anyone playing bass for these songs but KAS! Of course we know what to expect from Kasim on vocals and with two strong female singers, the whole show really delivers. PLUS Kasim is the man behind the balls (ouch does that sound too crass) and holds the show together allowing Meat to rant and rave like a wild man. Meat has an energy level that is amazing and literally doesn't stop until the last note is sung and the house lights are on.

Following all the "rocking", the band comes back to perform a FUN acoustic type set. The scene is informal. You get to hear Two out of Three, as well as several other FUN songs...NON-MEAT stuff.... such as Mony Mony and Honkey Tonk Woman, WHICH features Kas on lead vocals. Following this fun set, the band continues to rock through songs such as Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth and of course the infamous Bat Out of Hell. Since I know every word to every song from Bat Out of Hell LP and spent MANY days in my apartment plugging my ears with my roommate sitting in the middle of the floor, headphones on, singing every word to every Bat song until we all wanted to kill her....I had a great time. However, I can't imagine anyone not having FUN at a Meatloaf concert. Which leads me to ask......what does Meatloaf and BNL have in common? Well.....You can take ANYONE to either concert and they could not know a single song and still be totally amused. One word of warning, Meatloaf comes with a PG rating for potty mouth.

So if you haven't seen a Meatloaf concert....DO IT. It is more than entertaining and a barrel of fun. You won't be disappointed and it is really a night full of fun.

Cleveland, Ohio, November 30, 2002 approximately 25 years after it all began.

First we must explain why we were there because we live in northern Illinois and why would two people travel to Cleveland to see a concert, especially when there will be plenty of opportunity to see a show a lot closer to home.

The reason is simple, we traveled all those many miles to meet the greatest people that understand our love for music. After communicating on the Net with so many that share our interest, we just had to do a face to face.

We made it to Cleveland on Friday without a mishap, no weather to speak of. I did some shopping on Saturday while Terry found a library to do research in. A snowstorm kicked in around noon and I headed back to the room to wait for a phone call from our favorite Meat Loaf fan, David from Mirror of the Soul.

About 1:30 the phone rings and it's Dave wanting to know what room we were in. Turns out he was right next door, picture two strangers standing in a hotel hallway talking on cell phones face to face and both hanging up at exactly the same time. LOL. We sat down for a chat and that lasted three hours without either of us ever at a loss for words! Wow! Talk about karma...

Next up was the "Meeting of the Minds" at the Winking Lizard in downtown Cleveland. That was an experience we will never forget. We had Todd fans, Kasim fans, Meat fans and just music fans all conversing freely and enjoying each others company. So to Doreen, Jeff, Chuck, John, Sue, and Dave it was great to meet you and share with you. (Still don't know who played Paradise on the juke box but it rocked!)

Photo of Jules and David at The Blinking Lizard

After a short but bitterly cold walk to the Music Hall, it was time for the ML and Friends concert. Seeing a Meat Loaf show with Dave is quite the experience, not only is he aware of every little nuance, but he shows his appreciation very loudly!!! But that's a good thing, cause so do we!

Kasim took the stage a few minutes before 8:00 and launched into Don't Hold Me Back. He grabbed the crowds attention very quickly, even though there was still a lot of settling in going on. Course as soon as Kas hit the stage Dave was yelling at the top of his lungs!

Kas then explained who he was and talked about Quid Pro Quo his new solo CD. If you haven't heard it yet, get it! Anyway, Kasim then did Before She Was Gone, with John and Mark joining in on drums and keyboards. This is really something to see, it really moves you.

Kasim closed his set with one of our favorites, Sacrifice. Sitting between Terry and Dave, I heard it from the left, right and from Kas. Was wonderful as usual. We are still waiting for We the People, cause we can't wait to see Kasim do that at a Meat show.

Patti was up next and she rocks with the entire band. We just loved the way she played to the crowd. First song, Tie Your Mother Down. Patti does a great job with this one. Next up Madeline, now this song is an original Patti song and it gets you right between the eyes. We just love it. Just Not Enough was the last of Patti's set and she again took control and showed her stuff!!!

Meat was up next and there was very little time between Patti and his arrival. How awesome is that? Usually you wait what seems like forever. Great vibes. When Meat takes the stages, you know! What a presence. He not only "OWNS" the stage in a matter of seconds, he "OWNS" you. Meat doesn't say a word, just glares at you, and you are his. Total control. How cool is that?

Anyway, Meat starts with Life is a Lemon, and has the crowd, the band, and the people on the street in a frenzy. What a spectical. That is the perfect song to open with.

Mercury Blues was next, and we love Meat's version. He really got into the theatrics with this, pretended to try and keep up with John and Damon on guitar and ended up flipping them both off.

Lawyers, Guns and Money, was probably the best rendition we've seen. Meat was on his knees wailing about his bad luck and really showed off his range by going very low and then high. What a performance!

Tear Me Down, All Revved Up (with Meat doing the phone thing), Anything For Love and Rock n Roll Dreams all preceded Paradise. Patti and Meat really made Paradise special. They did a cute back to back rubbing of their butts. Then they ended with a "Reggae" rendition of it was long ago and far away.

The chat and stump the band was next, and Meat was in rare form. He started out by explaining how he got his name by positioning the microphone in a very interesting place on his lap. Then he proceeded to exclaim he ties it around his waist! Meat then ended that bit with declaring himself a "Sick Puppy!".

The announcement of the release of his new CD "Couldn't Have Said It Better" with Meat mentioning an April release.

The band was introduced next, with Amanda (Meat's daughter) joining the band to do Two Out Of Three. Congratulations to Amanda for taking second place in a kickboxing competition.

Things got pretty loose and very amusing during the stump the band portion, we were treated to Tatooed Lady (a folk song Meat did accapella), Mony Mony, Honky Tonk Women, Guilty, Respect, and I Got You Babe before the band launched into You Took the Words (On a Cold Winter's night in Cleveland, Ohio).

Bat Out Of Hell finished the show as usual, and was a perfect ending to an amazing performance from the entire band. But guess what? We were treated to an encore!!! We got to see Johnny B. Goode for the first time and that really made the entire evening special.

Our weekend adventure wasn't quite completed yet, we still had to attend the Kasim show at Borders the next day. After finding the store, we were blown away by Kasim's 45 minute set all done without any sound system. Just Kasim and his guitar. What a way to end an exciting weekend.

To everyone we met, it was great to meet you and thanks to Meat, Kasim and the band for bringing us together.

Back to Kasim Sulton's Meat Loaf Winter 2002 / 2003 Tour