Two things struck me when I first walked into this hall - firstly, it looked like a school auditorium as it was a smallish hall with wooden paneling and secondly that the front curtain was missing again. The audience was the smallest of the tour (we were back in the former East Germany) but certainly made up for it in volume! The stage too was probably only half the width of the other stages so the set was slightly different as they didn't have room for the raised part.
The curtain fell on cue tonight but Meat Loaf didn't seem 100% to me. He certainly gave 100% but he looked ashen by the end of the concert and had to use his inhaler once. He sings a deep operatic during Paradise but it wasn't as deep and he didn't hold the note for as long as usual. I was told later that the band had arrived at the hall late so had not had time for dinner so I hope that was all the problem was.
It was hot in there again (although not as hot as at Munich) and Kasim came in without a coat for the first time this tour). He wore his black trousers and a black short sleeved shirt that stayed buttoned up. He seemed to either have a problem with his guitar or with the sound generally as he went off stage a couple of times during No Matter What which proved what I said right from the first concert in Aberdeen that they MAY play the instruments on that track but they certainly don't sing it (I said all along that those background vocals are identical to the ones on the album and there is no way that that band could produce that sound) as I could distinguish Kasim's voice singing when he was away from the microphone!
It was another short Paradise (thank goodness!) with no talking and once again the bat didn't appear.
After waiting three long years to see Meat Loaf again I have to say that the concert was well worth the wait. From the opening bars of Home By Now to the dying embers of Roll Over Beethoven it was a truly magnificent performance (okay the sound wasn’t quite right in Life Is A Lemon until the musical director went off stage to fix it but that was the only complaint I have all night)!
This line-up of The Neverland Express lack the panache of the previous encumbrants (Ray in particular is so bland to the point of invisibility) but it seems to make Meat Loaf work even harder to make up for the inexperience of the newer band members. How does he psyche himself up for these performances?
The highlight for me HAS to be Bat Out of Hell with the bat dominating the stage and his (it should be her) eyes lighting up in time with the music!
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