Review by Andrew W - Keyboardist & Music Director - FromParadiseToHell:
My second show of three I selected on the 'Hair of the Dog' tour. Another sell-out venue too!

Support came from Hurricane Party who was on stage for around 35 minutes and an excellent warm up for the evening to come.

Songs performed tonight were: Whore, Life Is A Lemon, Black Betty (RamJam cover), Deadringer For Love, Out Of The Frying Pan (And Into The Fire), New Bat III song - Only When I Feel, All Revved Up, Two Out Of Three Aint Bad, Anything For Love, Paradise, Bat and an encore of Mercury Blues.

On stage at around 9pm the difference in the relaxed appearance of the ever excellent Neverland Express (Paul Crook (Lead Gtr), Randy Flowers (Rhythm Gtr), Kasim Sulton (Bass Gtr), John Miceli (Drums), Patti Russo (Vocals), CC (Vocals) and Mark Alexander (Keys)) was very evident tonight in stark contrast to their last show I saw in Bonn on June 6. Any musician will tell you that there is nothing quite like gigging to make the performance slick and tight, so true of yesterday evening's performance.

I felt in Bonn, that the decision to perform a set of shortened versions was a bad decision. These songs were written with love, care and passion by Jim Steinman and any fan will appreciate hearing Meat Loaf give each of them the justice they rightfully deserve. At Chatsworth I was pleased to find that, with the exception of Anything for Love, each song in the set was lavished with the flamboyant style we have come to expect from an NLE live adaption in recent years.

But, I said this before and I say it again, Anything For Love was, in my opinion, unacceptably shortened to such a degree (even less in detail and content than the awful commercial radio version) that if the song had been a House of Cards, it would have calapsed on the spot. Ofcourse, Meat and his music director, Kasim are entitled to do with the tracks as they see fit, but some songs must not be interfered with and Anything For Love is it. Paradise and Bat get the full performance treatment, after all!

The Bat III new boy, Only when I Feel, really failed to impact on the audience, yet again. From the moment Meat Loaf took the stage, the entire auditorium rose to their feet, sang, cheered and clapped. However, during the Bat III number I watched half the audience sit down. In Bonn, the crowd fell silent, unaffected by the song. I can't help but feel that, due to this being a seated venue, the sit-down was an 'unaffected' reaction too.

Two Out of Three Aint Bad went down a storm and everything was forgotten. I felt every voice sing and pour over each of the song's lyrics! This song epitomises, for me, the way Meat Loaf commands his audience when all his cylinders are firing! 'If you want to sing along - go right ahead - we won't stop you!' and boy did they! A huge, rich, spatial solo mid-track and everyone swayed, almost hypnotised by Paul Crook's haunting, echoing guitar solo - shear magic! Live Music the way it's meant to be.

I felt Paradise and then monster hit, Bat Out Of Hell, lacked a little of Meat's usual energy. As the end of the European leg of the tour draws near, his tiredness was a little evident. But the performance was, nevertheless, a good one!

How would I sum up my impressions of the show. I am concerned. I feel Meat could make more capital by interacting with the audience more - afterall everyone loves it when they feel that Meat is almost talking to them, one to one, and I think Meat may be suffering from some form of throat/voice trouble, it's hard to say, but when I compare the performance with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to the two shows I have seen this season, I cannot help but notice the deterioration in his singing presence. I hope that this is attributable to some vocal illness and nothing more permanent, but it remains to be seen. Steinman once described Meat Loaf's vocal presence as like taking Pavarotti and putting him through a Marshall Amp turned up to Eleven! At 60 it is testimony to the staying power of this behemoth of rock that he continues to perform and wow the audiences. His usual flamboyant style is not as it was though.

Only When I Feel still leaves me (to pinch the title of a Led Zeppelin song!) Dazed and Confused. It lacks the magic and imagination Steinman brought to Bat Out Of Hell I & II songs. This is not helped by the fact that I have never heard the studio version of the track and I also can't help but say that it is not helped by Meat's way of singing it. To me, it sounds as if the opening key is wrong - too low for his vocal range.

I heard some of the show reaction from audience members at the Pimms Bar after the show and it is sad that I am hearing comments such as 'he's lost it' and 'I don't think i'll come to another show - it's not as good as it was when he was last in the UK'. So I find myself wondering where the Meat Loaf showboat goes in the future. Let's hope that the great man lives up to his parting words - Never Ever Stop Rocking!

On a parting note - well done Kasim Sulton. Enter a new Bass Guitar solo in Mercury Blues...Kasim style! Excellent!

A few random musings by SueW about the concert:

It's Kasim Sulton!!

The last few photos are all from the instrumental part of Two Outta Three Ain't Bad:

Comments about this gig posted on messageboards and mailing lists include:

Other websites
Kasim Sulton has updated his journal about this gig. There are photos of the house and one of Kasim here.

Kasim Sulton receives a mention in paragraph 12 of this detailed review by a fan (it's in the paragraph that starts "He has introduced the band earlier"). Kasim is described as "a talented and solid rock of a partner".

Kasim receives a brief mention (with his name spelt incorrectly) in this review of the concert on the BBC Derby website. If you click the "Pictures:Meat Loaf" link in the right hand column there is a series of 29 photos of the concert - #7 is of Kasim.

Kasim also receives a mention in the first of these fan reviews on BritEvents.com.

Kasim Sulton
Kasim described this concert as "This show was great and once again, the audience was well into it. The US is going to have to go a long way in matching the enthusiasm we've been receiving when we take the stage."

Back to Meat Loaf's Hair Of The Dog Tour