Set List

Wasted Youth / Do It
Life Is A Lemon
Mercury Blues
Tear Me Down
Took The Words
Testify
All Revved Up
Anything For Love
Couldn't Have Said It Better
Out Of The Frying Pan
2 Out Of 3 Ain't Bad
Paradise By The Dashboard Light
Bat Out Of Hell
Living In America - Encore  

After having just seen a brilliant concert at the Mohegan Sun 3 days earlier, I felt that if the one at The Borgata was even half as good it would be amazing ....... well let's just say it was truly the icing on the cake    

Thanks to the perseverance of my friends Doreen & Gina, and a very friendly security guard, what started as a seating nightmare soon became a true blessing.  Even though they were on the left hand side of the stage, I was thrilled when I was able to get us 3 front row seats.  The thrill was gone when we sat down, because not only were we right to the speaker and confetti machine (for the finale), but our view of was blocked by a large black curtain drawn across the end of the stage.   But the ironic thing was that the seats in the first 3 rows of the center section next to us were completely empty (perhaps being held for high rollers who didn’t take advantage of them) so, after a lot of confusion, security let us move over to some of the best seats in the house   Our friendly securiy guard even came over and said he could get us better seats if we didn’t care about sitting in the front row, but by this time we were all very happy where we were.   

I was in my glory because when I was at the Mohegan Sun, Meat spent a lot time on the left hand side of the stage.  But wouldn’t you know it – at the Borgata he spent most of the time in the center and the right side.  Oh well.  Not that I’m complaining – we were so close to the stage I could still see everything that was going on, and had a great view of Randy.  Where does Meat keep finding these young great looking guys in his band?   

I have to say that the acoustics at The Borgata were the best I've ever heard ... in fact, the sound quality was so crisp and clear that even being that close to the speakers it was truly better than listening to a CD in surround sound !!  

Apparently they were running about 15 minutes late, so Kasim didn’t do his opening set.  But soon it was dark and the second they started the Wasted Youth Speech and Meat came on strong with both DO IT and Lemon, he knew he had the audience in the palm of his hands.  

As always, his stamina and level of energy were astounding .... Meat and the entire NLE were thriving on the energy in the crowd and enjoying every minute of it !! The entire show was a brilliant mix of old and new classics ... with the most spectacular renditions of Anything For Love, and Bat that I have ever heard or seen (the notes that he hit that evening were nothing less than miraculous).   People who weren't familiar with the new material were singing along to Tear Me Down, Mercury Blues and Testify .... but once again the strongest reception was for Couldn't Have Said It Better.  As soon as Meat announced the release date for the CD and introduced it as the lead single, he got a roaring reception from the crowd.  It’s truly impossible for me to describe how amazing it is to see Meat and Patti sing this live.  People clearly loved the song ... and I truly wish it got the recognition that it deserves.     

As brilliant as Testify and CHSIB sounded, there were so many other highlights that night.  Seeing Meat standing on the stage only a couple of feet directly in front of me as he held on to some wires and sang Took The Words and then watching him heckle the poor guy in the audience for not singing along, watching him do a little dance across the stage (guess you’d call it the Meat Loaf shuffle?) and then later laughing at himself when he said another new dance step needed work     

After a spectacular Out Of The Frying Pan -- which is something I'm so grateful I finally got to see -- Meat was originally going to skip 2 Out of 3. But thankfully at the last minute he said he changed his mind and decided to do the song because he knew it was one of our favorites. I love the long introduction to the song, just listening to Randy and Paul playing the guitars while watching Meat sitting in the background clearly taking a brief moment to catch his breath. And hearing over 3,500 people singing along with Meat in unison is nothing short of amazing.  

Security was tight that night, and throughout most of the show people remained seated while they cheered and sang along. But as soon as they played the introduction to Paradise, it was as if the flood gates were opened and there was a massive rush to the front of the stage! Let's just say I'll never forget that frightened look on that friendly young security guard's face   I ended up standing right up there with the rest of them, in front of Randy and Kasim pounding my hands on the stage.  At one point Paul literally came flying over from the other side of the stage, and it was a good thing I jumped back or he would have accidentally stepped on me !  The crowd went nuts.... singing along to both Meat and Patti, and enjoying the hysterical theatrics unfolding right in front of us!  I swear that song just keeps getting better and better  

Being that close when he sang Bat was nothing short of astonishing ... as I said before, the notes he hit that night were nothing less than miraculous.  Finally, another plus to this part of the tour was the addition of Living In America as the encore. They didn't bring up people from the audience this time, but Meat and the band were enjoying a good old fashioned jam session!! Of course I never thought I'd see the day when Meat would squat down and do the good old Chuck Berry duck walk with the guitar across the stage    

Meat and the band were having a ball and taking everybody else along for the ride!  I truly hope I get to see Meat again someday , but if not, the memories from The Borgata will be enough to last me a lifetime.  He just keeps getting better and better !!  

Thanks again Meat for a night I'll never forget