Technically Dublin was probably better than Belfast (certainly the looks on the faces of both Meat Loaf and Kasim seemed to show that they loved the crowd's reaction) but from just before Meat Loaf came on stage until the end of their set, where I was standing people were pushing almost constantly. The trouble was that we stood towards the side of the stage so people who arrived late thought that they could get close that way. Security waded in twice and I saw at least two fights (scuffles) break out!

I go to a lot of gigs (not just Meat Loaf) so it's not like I'm not used to rowdy crowds but it was a hot day, people had been there for several hours and obviously had drunk a lot and were adamant that they were getting to the front. I've been almost swept off my feet by a crowd a few times before but I've never struggled to keep my balance for the whole 90 minutes of a concert and this is how it was. I was actually glad when the concert finished.

Even getting to the venue was a problem! We were told that there was no parking at the castle so the organisers had arranged buses to take people out to the village that left every 20 minutes from Parnell Square in the centre of Dublin. We caught the second bus to leave and were told that it was about 10 miles away so would take half an hour to get there. It took us an hour and 40 minutes as our bus driver got lost!

We got to the castle at about 4.00pm and there were lots of people standing in front of the stage but we sat back a bit and listened to the first act, Nigel Mooney, who played blues music. Melanie C was up next (we joined the crowd standing at the front for her) and she does get better and better the more times I hear her. Her set was longer today than it was in Belfast. It's nice to see that she has two female musicians in her band too - the keyboardist and bassist.

Status Quo were excellent again! They really got the crowd bouncing (literally!) and there was just a great atmosphere while they played. They do a great bit in one song where they play one hand on their own guitar and one on someone else's which is really effective. They also played a longer set than in Belfast.

As I said before it was after Status Quo left the stage that the trouble started for us.

Anyway as far as I could see, it was a good gig and it looked like all the band and Meat Loaf enjoyed the set. After the crowd sang in You Took The Words Meat Loaf said that it was the best he'd heard in 30 years.

Obviously I didn't take any photos as there was no way I could reach my camera as we were squashed in too deeply for that but Kasim was wearing black trousers and a loose black / white shirt. The other down point about this gig was that I noticed when they were setting up the stage that Kasim's microphone stand was left at the back of the stage (up near where Patti Russo stands) and that only Randy's mic was at the front. It made it worse for where I was standing as when Kasim was at his microphone, Patti totally blocked my view of him but objectively I just don't think it works with him there. It means that when Randy Flowers goes up to use his keyboard at the back, there is nobody standing at the front of the stage on the left and that Kasim, Patti and Randy are all up in the one corner. Also Kasim covers the stage quite a bit so often he didn't get back to his microphone in time. (Several times he shared Patti's microphone with her.) I hope this isn't a permanent change. It's bad enough that these tickets are an average of £50 a ticket compared to £30 on the CHSIB tour and that they are only playing a 90 minute set without us having to struggle to see Kasim too.

Once the concert had finished we then had to make our way to the buses avoiding people swaying and throwing up on the way! To give the organisers their due, there were loads of buses there. As we got on we ensured that it was a different driver so we would get back to Dublin quicker but this driver ALSO got lost! And he scratched the bus as he turned it around at one point! As we drove past my hotel on the way back, he stopped for me to get off rather than me having to go all the way into Dublin. As I was walking up the road a taxi pulled up and a girl in a Meat Loaf T-shirt got out and was violently sick along the side of the road which summed up the evening for me.

Other websites
The set lists and reviews thread on the Meat Loaf UK Fan Club website about this gig.

Kasim Sulton
Kasim described this concert as "It was a really nice evening outside Dublin. Weather was great and the crowd the best so far. Meat said after the show that the sing along on "Took The Words" was the best he's heard ever. I know he meant it too."

Back to Meat Loaf's Hair Of The Dog Tour