Review by SueW:
Tonight was probably one of my most expensive concerts as I’d bought a 6th row VIP ticket for $208 (as I’d only decided to come to this concert once Kasim had booked his solo gig last night) but then I realised when I was sitting at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday evening that I’d left all my concert tickets at home!!! My language was not polite when I realised what I had done! I’ve been travelling abroad to concerts for 13 years now and I couldn’t believe I’d done that! Thankfully last night TicketMaster had tickets available again in the 6th row (but on Paul’s side) so I bought one of those (at *only* $75 this time) and when I got to the venue I just sat in my original centre section seat.

There was torrential rain all the drive to the venue but after dinner with friends we caught the mini bus across to the venue and it was dry but VERY humid! I was hot standing in the crowd so I imagine it was baking on stage under all those lights. Kasim walked on stage wearing his light grey suit with a black T-shirt and he kept his jacket on for quite a while so that I was beginning to wonder if he’d only bothered to iron the front of his T-shirt! For Paradise By The Dashboard Light Kasim wore his blue and white smock-top and after that he switched to a long sleeve black shirt.

The venue was basically a massive corrugated iron arch by some water and we had the unusual sight of seeing part of some scaffolding behind Kasim on stage as there was just netting as a backdrop. The stage was quite tall too. The venue’s camera policy seemed to vary from person to person as lots of fans got in openly carrying their cameras and yet others had theirs confiscated! It seemed to depend on the staff members rather than the size of camera.

Thankfully Kasim was shown more on the large screens than ever happened in Europe which was great to see. The cameraman also seemed to take a shine to CC as, during her solo in Gimme Shelter, there was one very long and deliberate pan up her body!

There was no opening act but the concert started about 30 minutes late at 8.30pm and it lasted just under two hours. Once Meat Loaf’s voice had warmed up, he sounded really strong tonight.

This was my first concert in US since February and after seeing the flames and sparklers in Europe 15 times, I really missed them as they were so dramatic but I can understand why they’re not used at any of the US concerts. (Hopefully we’ll get them at the 2 Canadian concerts next week.) However the beginning of the concert is very dramatic as the band just launch themselves on stage before Meat Loaf walks on stage and then If It Ain’t Broke is sensational with the inflatable dolls!

The first 4 songs are really rocking so it seems as though there’s no pause for breath right at the beginning. In fact there isn’t really a slow song through all the set (although I do miss Meat Loaf’s little chat that he used to do before Objects In The Rear View Mirror).

It was a really great crowd tonight as everyone stood throughout the whole concert and they even allowed people to go to the barrier as soon as it started! Once the band stopped singing during You Too The Words, the crowd immediately took over and sang possibly the loudest I’ve heard! (I was half hoping that Meat Loaf would still stop the song so that Kasim could re-start it!)

There was a brilliant long musical intro to Anything For Love that was just great to hear! I think it took a while for most people to recognise what the song was as they don’t play the motorcycle-guitar lead into it but it’s very effective. As they’ve played it all tour, it was an abbreviated version of the song but tonight, unlike in Europe, Aspen Miller didn’t get changed into a dress.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Dreams was brilliant (as always!) and then they briefly left the stage while Alive was played with a montage of Meat Loaf films. Next they came back on in all their 1970s gear for Paradise By The Dashboard Light. It was virtually the same arrangement and spiel as at the European concerts but they started talking about some sort of local beer (I didn’t catch the name) and Meat Loaf said that his wig was worth more than a whole case full of that beer. He then dropped his microphone so Aspen ad-libbed about whether it was worth more than his expensive microphone!

We then had Bat Out Of Hell which was just brilliant as always, before the band bow and they left the stage before the encore. As usual they started off with Black Betty and then sang Mercury Blues but, unlike in Europe, near the end of the song whenever Meat Loaf sang “Crazy for a Mercury” the band sang it back to him too which sounded effective.

All too soon for me it was time for Gimme Shelter but it was a longer version as Meat Loaf introduced the band in the middle of the song.

Although I paid over the odds for this concert, it was well worth it!

Roll on Gilford on Saturday!!!

Comments posted by fans on various mailing lists and messageboards include:
"It was awsome. everything..... vocals...... band..... everything."

"There is something magical about Meat Loaf in Cleveland. His voice sounded really strong."

"I too think Meat sounded better than ever.....maybe all the humidity in the air kept his vocal cords nice & loose. "

"I don't know how the band got through the show.... the air was so thick with moisture that it was difficult to move through it and it didn't seem to slow them down one bit. I'm in awe of their stamina and dedication. "

Other websites:
Meat Loaf's official website MeatLoaf.net has a thread about this concert here.

The messageboard attached to MLUKFC.com has a thread about this concert here.

The first 2 photos show the 2 unsung heroes of the tour
Both Mark Alexander and John Miceli rarely get any time
in the spotlight and yet they make such a massive contribution to the concert:

Meat Loaf looks so much younger without the wig!

Meat Loaf Bat Out Of Hell III Tour