After being introduced by a local station DJ, Meat spoke, as he did at the taping of the original StoryTellers show, the one scripted line of the evening which was "Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to StoryTellers." Meat started by saying that he wanted to do his own favourite song No Matter What which he sang to a backing track, sitting on a stool in front of the "angry forest" backdrop that he'd used in Europe.
From that they went straight into Life Is A Lemon complete with the "tribal drumming" at the beginning, the curtain dropped and the band appeared (virtually no change from Europe so far). As it was a smaller set than in Europe, Kasim and Damon walked on from the sides of the stage. They included Kasim's two "And I Want"s but ommtted the Meat versus Damon guitar battle part of the song.
From Lemon, Pearl told us a story which took us into Lawyers, Guns and Money, after which they brought in the stools for (from left to right) Pearl, Patti, Kasim, Meat and Damon (a la the European acoustic set). Tom came down to sit at the piano for a couple of songs before it broke but Ray and John stayed up on the shelf and seemed to be but excluded from the show IMO.
This was when Meat really earnt his money as he worked the audience like a true entertainer - no matter what the question or story, he had a witty retort or comment. It was obvious that the plan was to perform Paradise and Bat at the end as he side-stepped requests to do those but he was open to all other tracks!
Someone requested Surf's Up so Kasim dashed off stage and Meat explained that they had a songbook of 80 Meat tracks and that when someone suggested an unusual track, they had to play it from the songbook and that at that moment the band were listening to the track through their earpieces which was what Kasim was arranging. When they played it, the band sounded fine but Meat, despite reading the words, Had to be counted in by Kasim!
After Surf's Up someone requested For Crying Out Loud and Meat sang (for the first time since 1978) the first verse as well as the ending that he'd sung in Europe which was so emotive! It was a real highlight for me!
Without listing the whole set list again, they performed the usual DeadRinger, Anything For Love, etc. songs but notable points of the show were having a choir of competition winners on stage for You Took the Words, Meat throwing a football to and from the audience, the Paradise re-enactment on the desk and several members of Patti's family arriving late! Of course, Meat explained, yet again, what "that" is in Anything For Love!
Meat introduced Kasim (wearing a purple shirt and black trousers with a new haircut) as playing bass, being Musical Director, being a good friend and producing the StoryTellers album!
Kasim appeared very relaxed through the show but he couldn't seem to sit still for long as he often played standing up and once went to the top shelf to talk to John! It was obvious that he was the Musical Director as the others looked at him to start and end songs.
All in all, it was a good first show but, fingers crossed, people ask for more unusual Meat Loaf tracks at other concerts on the tour!
The concert was at 8:00p.m. For the meet and greet I had to be at the Palace Theatre at 5:45. So my friend Carol and I planned to leave early so we could be there early. Got to the theatre about 5:30. Met another couple there from Virginia that had driven up for the concert. She had also been picked for the meet and greet. We talked and compared our stories and info about each other as we waited. Finally a little after 6:00p.m. we were taken to the stage doorto meet Meat. I was so nervous that my hands were shaking. We were taken into the theatre with other people who were there from a local radio station and a girl who had won a contest. Meat came into the room and my heart stopped! I grabbed my friends arm for support. He talked with the other groups first and had his picture taken with them . Then it was our turn. Meat came over to us asked our names, shook our hands posed for a picture with us.Stood there for a few minutes and talked to us and then he was on his way to get ready for the show.
The concert was done in a very different way. There was alot ofaudience participation. I will never forget the night as long as I live. The show was fantastic. Meat never left the stage for 3 hours. He was in his element, he talked to the audience and we were totally under his control and least I was. I am going to see him again in 2 weeks in Poughkeepsie and I can'twait!
The band was also excellent. Pattie and Pearl were there and looking beautiful. Kasim was up to his usual high performance and right there for Meat. Wish I had been picked for "Took the Words" Kasim went to the group on stage and directed them.
All in all it was the best night of my life words cannot tell you how I feel unless you have been there. The friend I took with me knows Meat's music but is not as big fan and she was very impressed with the show also.