Review by Jennifer Salyer
I arrived late for the show, and the lobby was packed and overflowing with people and booze and more people. I heard music but figured it was the opening act. I quickly bought a tour book, although it was a bit expensive (at least for me), and after making another pit stop, finally went inside. I wasn't too keen on the opening act (Jonny Lives) but I have to give them the benefit of the doubt, as I only heard the last couple of minutes of their set. Maybe they're much better if you get the chance to hear a full song.

I had the pleasure of running into some fans that I hadn't seen in a bit but due to the size of the audience, it wasn't too easy to move about and have a 'quiet' conversation. Well, soon enough, Randy wandered onstage and started the guitar song intro followed by Mark, Kasim, Paul and John playing guitars and drums respectively. Then that segways into Whore, which is the song that Meat's daughter Pearl has been opening her shows out in Los Angeles with. Actually, the way the song is done actually reminds me of the way Pearl sings it (and the way Patti and CC dress is a little reminiscent of Pearl's style too!). I do like the song though, and Meat and the band do a great version of it. For anyone who hasn't seen photos from this part of the show, Patti and CC each stand on either side of Meat Loaf at the front of the stage.

Then we go right into Lemon, and Patti and CC go to the sides of the stage to start this song. Patti does some very exaggerated expressions for this number, but she's always good at getting the crowd riled up. I am not sure if CC was doing anything similar, as my seat was on Randy's, Patti's and Kasim's side of the stage. Kasim is all over the place, about as much as Paul for this show. It was really nice to see him move about and interact with, not just Randy and Paul, but he even goes on the risers, at times during the show, and interacts with Patti, Mark and John.

Meat Loaf sounded pretty good for this show, and usually I prefer the band moreso then the leader. I do like watching Meat Loaf of course (I mean no matter how his voice is doing or how he feels, he still puts 110% into every single performance), but to me the band are just as wonderful and great to watch as well. He didn't banter too much with the crowd except for a brief but poignant thank you to New York City for the support over the years. Although he didn't interact with the crowd too much, he still was quick with the improv and interactions with the band. Some fans have made complaints about the shortened songs, or that a particular song doesn't sound like the original, but I actually liked them myself. I use Madonna as an example of this: She once said in an interview, that of course she has to pull out the standards her fans like to hear, but she absolutely would hate it if she had to perform them the same way all the time and refuses to do so. So she puts a whole new twist and theme to them. Like one special I saw on HBO had her performing Holiday with a Caribbean feel and beat to it. A later tour had her performing the same song with a military style and marching band sound. I know Meat Loaf and the band don't perform dance routines during the songs, but they have changed the melodies, openings, and especially on this tour, arrangements to songs at times, and to me, I think it gives the number a somewhat fresh approach.

Kasim, like I mentioned earlier, is all over the stage during this show. He's checking levels at the side at times, he's striking a pose with Paul and even sharing a mike at one point with Patti. He doesn't do a little jig like Steve Buslowe used to do, but I think he's getting into the music a lot more then he used to. And as always, he still tries to make the audience members that he notices feel good. Especially the little kids -- there was one boy from Germany who had several picks thrown at him this night, I think he did finally get one after the third or fourth try :) ! He even put the boy's sunglasses on his head for part of a song too, and made everyone smile with that gesture.

Patti always is mesmerizing to watch and I can't get over that every time I see her performing, she's improved in some way. Be it she's improved in voice, confidence, or improv., she's always outshining her last performance, and I think that's pretty astounding since she, to me, was pretty wonderful a performer to begin with and has the most amazing voice!

John is like the hidden prize in the bottom of a Cracker Jack box. You can't quite see him at times during the show, but when you do, he's amazing to watch, funny faces and all. He bangs the heck out of the drums and never manages to miss a beat! He's one of the best drummers I've ever seen!

Mark is yet another hidden gem in the prize box. He doesn't get to come off of his riser at all except for the opening musical song, but he's still pounding away at those keys and bringing out some of the sweetest sounding notes. I can never get over how he's always managing to keep an eye on Meat Loaf and 99.999% of the time anticipate when he needs to lengthen an intro or middle, etc.

Randy is one of the most amazing guitarists. He's in the 'utility' spot, but Meat Loaf really lets him shine with lots of long guitar solos and time up front. He rightfully deserves every minute of it! However, I think he's spending too much time standing next to Kasim when they're both doing backing vocals - I noticed on several occasions when they both go to sing certain notes, they shut their eyes and usually at the same exact time (OK so that was TMI, too much info, probably, but I thought it was a little funny!)!

Paul has to be one of the best lead guitarists Meat has ever had. I put him right up there with Pat Thrall, maybe even higher, as Paul's guitar stylings are more intricate and metal. Heck, he's nicknamed Metal Loaf and rightfully so! I think Paul's playing gives the whole show a more harder rock feel. Paul apparently got married the night before this show (congratulations!).

CC, what can I say about her? I had only briefly seen a few bits of the MSO Dvd, so I knew she was a good singer, but I wasn't sure still what to expect seeing her live with everyone. She definitely fits right in and has made her own niche with the show. She gets some time down front, although briefly, to showcase her fun and wild side, and her vocals are second to none. She really also gets into the songs and grooves right along to every note. I just don't understand how an audience could just sit still while watching CC, as well as Patti, grooving along to the tunes -- their style is simply contagious!

Back to the show a bit here: The sound wasn't exactly the best to me for this show. I was in the third row, but basically right by the speakers, so I figure that was part of the reason for the distortion, but the problem for me was at times the vocals were hard to hear over the music. Usually, during past tours, only Meat Loaf would be hard to hear over everything else sometimes, but for this show it was at times everyone. This was pretty much the only problem I had, but it still was an awesome show!

The crowd however, was rather Vanilla and sat on their butts until Took The Words was brought out in the set. Don't get me wrong, when Meat first came out, they stood. But sat right back down. When Life is a Lemon started, some people stood then as well. But then sat back down. Took the Words FINALLY had people up for the whole song and dancing, but once that song was over and Only When I Feel started, wouldn't you know it they sat down again! All Revved Up and Paradise kept them up, and just when I thought we'd be standing for the rest of the show, down they went again due to the mellow sounds of Two Out of Three coming up next. Finally though, my hopes were answered and for the last three songs no one sat down! I do have to admit, the majority of the American audiences seem to prefer a casual sit down concert. I on the other hand, long for the types of audiences I was a part of when I've seen Meat Loaf and the band performing in Europe and the UK - not one mellow audience member for the whole show! Hey, this tour is a very rockin' set and its hard to keep seated, so dancing in your seats is just, well, really uncomfortable!

Don't get me wrong, this audience had their wild moments, in fact one woman at the beginning of the show flashed her boobs to the stage (Kasim's jaw dropped in 'shock' to the ground and everyone else was laughing. It was kind of funny!) and another woman during Paradise got onstage, but they just sat more then I'd prefer. Speaking of the woman who rushed the stage, Kasim immediately sprang into 'bodyguard' mode and was set to drag her offstage, but Meat stopped him, and asked her what she wanted, she either whispered in his ear something and/or gave him a kiss on the cheek and then off she went with Kasim making sure she was definitely going to leave. I don't know where actual security was, but they weren't easy to find.

This show is definitely one not to miss and is a nonstop wild ride. Only briefly are there a few calm lulls until bam!, you're heading down the rapids again and before you know it the ride is over and has come to a complete stop. Don't miss out, the Hair of the Dog tour is worth the price of admission!

Photo taken from Chatsworth House, England but this is the outfit that Kasim was wearing tonight

Right click here to download a really great 11 second videoclip of Kasim Sulton and Paul Crook that was taken by Eva Siebert.

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