Review by SueW:
As Mike has written quite a detailed review (below) I’ll keep this one short but my main observation was that this was a "proper" arena concert for me. I received some criticism for saying that I expected more of the first concert of the US leg of the tour in Pala as I thought it was too similar to the 7 concerts they played last year but tonight’s concert seemed to be a real event to me with a great stage presentation.

The MEN Arena is England’s largest indoor arena but has a very disconcerting entrance as you have to descend at least 50 steep steps to access the floor area. Thankfully I had a good seat in the fourth row (on Kasim’s side) so I had a perfect view. We were told before the concert started that they wanted the front 5 rows to stand and we were allowed to go to the barrier. Rather than risk being crowded there I opted to stay back at my seat as I could see perfectly there.

I think my main criticism of this tour will be that Kasim really isn’t lit very well on stage. On other Meat Loaf tours he’s been lit far better because there’s rarely a spot on this tour that he’s spotlighted when he’s away from his microphone. Both Randy Flowers and Paul Crook have a lot of time in the spotlight but not Kasim. Even when he’s at the microphone he’s often lit in colours so he has an green Incredible Hulk hue or purple light to him!

Tonight’s concert started with the band coming out to play an abbreviated version of All Revved Up with the emphasis on Dave Luther’s sax solo. Aspen Miller and CC then take the stage for a few vocals on the song.

There are three screens above and behind the stage (as well as the usual large screens either side of the stage) which tell us that it is 1977. This explains the unusual clothes and shades that all the band are wearing – Mark Alexander especially! Kasim was wearing black trousers and an orange smock top.

The opening chords of Paradise By The Dashboard Lights starts and this is when Meat Loaf takes the stage (to loads of applause). Unfortunately there was a bad start to the beginning of the song as Meat Loaf started singing in totally the wrong part of the music! There were about 17,000 people in the venue and probably 99% of them could have started the song perfectly but not Meat Loaf which made me laugh! Kasim then sang the second line with him to get him on track and he was fine after that.

After Paradise By The Dashboard Light the stage went dark as they played a video of Jim Steinman doing the Red Rose Speech while the band got changed and it was then that we had the highlight of the concert as Kasim stood on the side of the stage and removed his smocktop in order to put his black shirt on for the remainder of that set! There were women swooning all round where I was standing!

While smelling salts were being administered (!), they sang You Took The Words Right Outta My Mouth (with only a short break for the audience to clap but not sing) before they sang Out Of The Frying Pan (And Into The Fire). This is one of my favourite Meat Loaf songs and tonight's performance was great enhanced by massive bursts of flames spurting up at the back of the stage each time they sang the word "fire"! It was an incredible spectacle and I could really feel the heat on my face where I was standing so it must have been very toasty for John Micelli at the back of the stage on the drums!

Life Is A lemon was next followed by a very abbreviated version of Anything For Love as they appeared to start it almost in the middle of the song!

Next they sang Objects In The Rear View Mirror (unfortunately without the middle verse) followed by a great version of Rock ‘n’ Roll Dreams. Meat Loaf put his guitar on for part of that song (although I did notice that the light on his backpack never lit up!).

They then left the stage for about 10 minutes during which they played the video of Cry Over Me with a blurb to say that it is Meat Loaf’s new single. It then all went dark again and there was a montage of clips of Meat Loaf movies accompanied by a recorded version of Alive. The band then next came back on the stage and sang a brief excerpt of Seize The Night. For this set Kasim wore his black and white jacket and a white shirt with black trousers.

Meat Loaf then returned to the stage and they gave a really rocking performance of The Monster Is Loose before changing the tempo totally and singing Blind As A Bat. Break It was next and then Bad For Good. Meat Loaf then introduced all the band (Kasim was introduced as “Kasim Bad Boy Sulton”) other than Paul Crook as Meat Loaf made a joke of introducing his guitar instead. Marion Raven (who was the opening act) came back on stage and they sang their 2006 single release It’s All Coming Back To me Now.

Bat Out Of Hell was next which was just brilliant to hear again. I turned around during this song and it seemed that all 17,000 people were standing up singing and clapping along to this song.

They then did the band bow before leaving the stage for a couple of minutes and returning for the Black Betty / Mercury Blues / Gimme Shelter (The Rolling Stones) finale.

It was then time to face the almost bazaar-like hordes of touts trying to sell us cheap Meat Loaf T-shirts as we left the venue before my 245 mile drive home.

The Meat Loaf part of the concert lasted almost exactly two hours (less breaks) and if this is an indication of what is to come on the remainder of this tour, then it’s going to be great! I can always judge how good a concert was by how I feel the next day and despite only having 2.25 hours in bed I was still buzzing the next morning so that shows how much I enjoyed it!

Review by Mike Piercy:
The enigma that is Meat Loaf rolled into the M.E.N. once again on Thursday at the start of what may well prove to be one of his last-ever UK Tour dates. Another leg of what may well be his farewell tour is scheduled for November and by the end of 2007 I guess we’ll know more. Maybe there will be a fourth album under a different banner with Jim Steinman to conclude the relationship … who knows? However, twenty five years on from when this correspondent first saw the mighty Texan on stage in the UK he was back singing songs from all three Bat albums and in particular showcasing new material from Bat III. Billed initially as "Seize The Night Tour" a touch of schizophrenia has seen it evolve into "The Three Bats Tour". Which did you attend?

Meat Loaf was supported by the wonderful and ever-professional Neverland Express ably led by MD Kasim Sulton and augmented by the inclusion of Dave Luther on saxophone and keyboards plus now regular singer CC on backing vocals and with new vocalist Aspen Miller given the unenviable task of replacing the irreplaceable Patti Russo.

Meat has always been prepared to tour his material extensively and that willingness to play to his fans far, wide and often, has sometimes seriously affected both his health and vocal quality during numerous lengthy tours. Tonight follows on from a disrupted North American Tour leg which saw enforced cancellations due to ill-health so once again it was with some trepidation that we awaited his arrival on stage hoping he was fully recovered from the severe inner ear infection and was on fighting form. I have to say overall after a shaky start it mostly worked fine.

The evening opened with a brief homage to All revved up featuring Dave Luther on sax before Paradise was upon us and Meat had a new partner to aid his attempts to ham up this old relic. This time round it was Ms. Aspen Miller, a diminutive and pretty "pop starlet" with an excellent clear melodic voice, who, although acting as predator, had to endure the attentions of our hero whilst pretending she was enjoying the experience. Yes it’s acting, but I can’t help feeling CC would have been a more suitable foil for this song. At least Aspen didn’t have to wear those appalling children’s pyjamas she donned at the RAH in late 2006 favouring instead what I am led to believe was a miniscule Dallas Cowboys style cheerleaders outfit. God bless America and thank God they’ve let Aspen grow up! Meat said "I’m so f****** lucky" - how true! You took the words was next up followed by Frying Pan with numerous flame pods increasing Meat’s contribution to global warming - at this point it’s fair to say they hadn’t played for awhile so it was a little rusty but still OK. Life is a Lemon had some very pitchy vocals which even the flash pods couldn’t disguise while Anything for love was not helped again by Meat’s suspect vocals, meanwhile Aspen Miller sang clearly and looked stunning in a black dress. Objects followed, a great song, probably his second best, and pretty well sung until Meat decided to over embellish with an overdose of angst at the end ruining the whole thing by screeching and shaking his mic ad nauseum, a real shame and unnecessary. Rock n’ roll dreams brought the first half to an end and was good to hear again finishing with fireworks from the lighting rig. A fifteen minute interval followed.

Seize the Night introduced the second half with CC and Aspen sharing the vocals before Meat emerged to start The Monster is Loose, this was excellent live and the show began to take off. Bad for good was slightly compromised for me by too much sax (some say you can never have enough sax but for me you can)! However I was pleased to hear less of the Brian May style guitar and a slightly heavier Paul Crook version - much better. My least favourite Meat song If it ain’t broke followed, I loathe this song and as if to make things worse we were treated to inflatable band effigies which sadly reminded me of those often seen outside used car dealers or cheap garden furniture shops. If you are using special effects make ‘em big and in Meat’s case make ‘em a Bat! Bring back Bob. This being my third visit to events at the MEN in four nights I reflected on the Roger Waters show on the Monday where giant inflatables were used to stunning effect as they flew by remote control around the venue. How about a flying bat?

Marion Raven was called out to perform an excellent version of It’s all coming back to me now. Judging by her opening set she will be a force in the music industry. This was beautifully performed by them both and it’s shame the single did’nt reach number one. Blind as a bat followed and was excellent live and a real potential single, fantastic. Then the showstopper as motorcycle guitar led us in to Bat Out of Hell. I don’t think I can ever remember hearing a bad rendition of this number and tonight’s was excellent culminating in more pyro from the rig. The band were now fully warmed up and encores of Black Betty, Mercury Blues and Gimme Shelter followed to conclude a good night.

Meat Loaf always gives his best, it might not always have been perfect but his shows have never short-changed anyone and his effort and energy over many years has been truly amazing, his vocals have occasionally been shaky but the high power intensity of his performances cannot be faulted. Taken as whole tonight was a good opening show (the second half was better than the first) but there was the realisation that there was one missing ingredient … call it chemistry, charisma, presence, I don’t know, but it didn’t totally work. The trouble is, driving home, I looked in my rear view mirror and I swear I saw Patti and then I realised that nothing would ever be so close to perfection again.

The future seems likely to be one without Meat, very soon he’ll be gone, time is catching up. The future ain’t going to be what it used to be … I wish it wouldn’t come but I fear it almost has. See him now while you can otherwise you won’t know what you missed.

Meat Loaf Bat Out Of Hell III Tour