Constitution Hall
The evening started badly as I queued at Will Call and then queued again to get into the venue only to be told that my seat no longer existed! Eventually they decided that my front row seat did still exist but several people were disappointed as they had removed some seats to allow for the steps up to the stage. As it wasn't sold out they were accommodated elsewhere. I was lucky as my seat was on the left hand side of the stage, in plectrum reach of Kasim - he is SO accurate when he throws those!
Meat's voice sounded much better tonight. He was really on form tonight and reacted with the audience so well! After the usual introductions, instructions, opening three songs and finding the front row couple that arrived late (who were sitting next to me!), the first song was Not A Dry Eye in the House! They had to use the "Meat Loaf Cheat-a-Song Songbook" and Kasim had to count Meat in but it sounded really good!
The next song was Original Sin. Meat talked for quite a while before they sang this so that the band could hear as much as possible of the song first through their earpieces. I was very impressed that Kasim didn't use his songbook but must have just remembered it from when they sang it in 1996!
Next they performed Left in the Dark which is a song that I've liked ever since I first heard it but I didn't know that Barbara Streisand had recorded it. I think that they've sung it once before on this tour but it was great to hear again.
When someone asked about When the Rubber Meets the Road, I almost thought that I'd reverted back to the 1996 Born to Rock tour as these were all Welcome to the Neighbourhood tracks! It was just so nice to hear unusual songs requested tonight! This guy thought that Rubber was a song stating that condoms were obsolete so Meat told him it was about car tyres and then a few times in the song instead of "When the rubber meets the road" he sang "When the tyres need to be checked"! Twice in the song, Meat didn't know when to come in so Kasim sang for him which sounded just wonderful!
After somebody mentioned Objects in the Rear View Mirror may Appear Closer Than they Are, Meat decided to stick with safer tracks so they sang Two Outta Three and then You Took the Words. The girl lying on top of the piano told Meat her fantasy that she used to have which involved a threesome with her, Meat and Hulk Hogan which he found hilarious! At one point she asked Tom for the words to the "On a Hot Summer Night" intro of You Took the Words and they still got it wrong between them! Meat then managed to ask "Would you give your wolf to the ....!"
Meat spotted someone in the audience who was dressed up as Eddie from the Rocky Horror Picture Show so he got him up on stage to sing Hot Patotie with him and he was really good! At one point Meat jivved with him too!
It was getting late by this time but Meat decided to sing I'd Lie for You and Rock and Roll Dreams and I'm so glad that he did as the audience really get going in that! It was good to see Kasim, Damon and Meat laughing about something at the front of the stage at the end of that track too!
The Paradise couple were good tonight and seemed to be snogging rather than kissing after Meat explained to "the straddler" how the song goes!
Unfortunately there was no encore but as the show lasted almost three and a half hours, I wasn't too surprised.
All in all, it was just a brilliant concert! When Meat gets it right with an audience (as he certainly did tonight) he is just an excellent performer.
And as for his great bass player / Musical Director who sounded so good tonight .....!