Meat Loaf thrilled 5000 fans last Saturday, with theatrical performances of his larger-than-life hits, but also with a helping of irony, the American celebrated highlight songs from his career.
A legend both to his fans and from countless press interviews, Meat Loaf showed he was still alive and kicking at the Amphitheatre last Saturday. The man who calls himself Meat Loaf ran, rocked and sweated on stage for over two hours and thrilled more than 5000 fans.
It started out a rainy evening. A few minutes after support band "Pearl", with Meat Loaf's daughter Pearl Aday and Anthrax-guitarrist Scott Ian, took the stage with solid rock, it started to rain and hundreds of umbrellas were opened. But after only a few moments it stopped and the musicians rocked under the rainbow across the canal. The perfect setting for Marvin Lee Aday aka Meat Loaf, who released one of the biggest selling debut-albums of all time in 1977, Bat out of Hell.
He's famous and held in awe for his excessive-stage shows. Soon after he enters the stage he tosses the stylish hat away. The high class actor then throws his full power into every song and lives it with his whole body.
Of course, Meat Loaf has got older and his vocal chords have of late clearly showed the signs of extensive use: He even had to go off stage at a show in Newcastle last year and cancelled following gigs.But at the Amphitheater Meat Loaf seems to be at totally different level to some of the concerts in the last few years. And when he's not wildly running across the stage, you notice that the 60-year old has a lot of fun when performing this gig.
The staging of this larger than life, epic rock-classic show, mainly from the three "Bat out of Hell" albums follows strict rules, but provides many opportunities for light-hearted humour and irony. He showers the front-rows with a bottle of beer, and for "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" he and his duet-partner Patti Russo enter the stage as younger incarnations of themselves, until they tear their costumes apart and and fight with each other like an old married couple towards the end of the song.
"I'd do anything for love", "Bat out of Hell" and "Rock and Roll dreams come through", build the great finale after more than two hours, before he gives his audience an important message to take on their way home: "I truly love you, and don't you ever stop rocking!"
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Meat Loaf for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Let's help him get there!
