Once I’d crossed the river, even at that time, there was a queue to get in. The tickets were misleading as it said that the gates opened at 6.30pm and the concert started at 8.00pm. I got there at 8.02pm and Pearl was just on her penultimate song and someone posted online afterwards that there had been another opening act before her so be warned at future concerts!

It was drizzling by this time so the seats were wet and then it drizzled on about 4 occasions during Meat Loaf’s set. Not enough to be really annoying but certainly enough to make your hair look a mess! When Meat Loaf put his wig on at the beginning of Paradise By The Dashboard Light he joked that it was because it was raining and his hair was getting wet.

I was very disappointed with my seat. There were five blocks across the front but only the middle one was really in front of the stage. From where I was sitting, out of the Casa De Carne sign on the backdrop, all I could see was the word Carne! I was on Kasim’s side but when I sat down I realised that there was a stack of speakers (I think) on that side of stage so I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to see Kasim at all! I even looked around to see if there was somewhere that I could stand at the back but thankfully that was not needed as I could see Kasim clearly when he was standing at his microphone and most of the time when he was away from his mic, he stood to its left so I could see him okay. However I when they were at their microphones, I couldn’t see Patti or Randy at all! Goodness knows how much people in Block E could see!

Tonight before the concert started someone announced on stage that no photos, recording or videoing was allowed and that cameras would be confiscated. This was because Meat Loaf made a post (full of spelling mistakes!) on his official website on Monday saying that photos would no longer be allowed at his concerts. He cited the reason as him supporting the Screen Actors Guild who apparently are in some sort of dispute but lots of fans were upset by this, especially as the SAG has nothing to do with Europe and we bought these tickets to see a singer not an actor. Most fans who complained about this, questioned why he was saying it was due to supporting SAG especially as the post has now been replaced by a better written one that doesn’t even mention SAG! I didn’t notice anybody taking photos myself tonight but I heard the people behind me saying that someone had had their camera taken off them but it’s impossible to enforce especially in an outdoor venue. Ironically I saw one of the women from the St John’s Ambulance Brigade taking photos on her camera! (She was in the 20 foot gap between the stage and the audience.)

Kasim was wearing all black today but he broke the "one concert, one bass" rule as he started with his pearl bass but swapped to his black KSulton bass during the "it’s defective" part of Life Is A Lemon.

I won’t go through the whole set list again as I posted a really detailed review of the Plymouth concert here but they were on stage for about 2 hours again tonight. You Took The Words Right Outta My Mouth has been dropped from the set list and tonight they omitted Roadhouse Blues. This was because they were right in the middle of a residential area so they have a curfew. When they came back on for Rock’n’Roll Dreams Meat Loaf told us about the curfew but that they were still playing. However he then spoke to Kasim and Kasim went round all the band obviously telling them that Roadhouse Blues was dropped.

I Want You So Hard (Boy’s Bad News) was great tonight! As I thought it may be the only chance all evening to see Kasim clearly I concentrated on watching him and he has two lines in the song that are totally solo. Tonight they also seemed to all stand facing Paul in the first musical part and then facing Randy in the second musical bit.

Unfortunately on this tour If It Ain’t Broke, Break It seems to go past me almost unnoticed (I even had to ask my friend in Liverpool if they’d actually played it!) but Out Of The Frying Pan (And Into The Fire) was just brilliant again! Unfortunately from where I was sitting we couldn’t see any of the flames.

Before Life Is A Lemon (And I Want My Money Back) tonight Meat Loaf made a comment along the lines that he wanted his money back as it always rains when he plays an outdoor concert! I noticed that it’s Mark, Dave, Patti and CC that play the drums at the start of that song. Tonight CC missed one of her lines at the end of the song which made Kasim laugh.

Bad For Good was brilliant again but I did think that Meat Loaf struggled slightly during that song (maybe due to the wet, cold weather???). I really hope they don’t drop that song but I know it’s difficult to sing.

After DeadRinger For Love, CC really stole the stage with her version of 45 Seconds Of Ecstasy tonight. Her voice suits that song perfectly and she commands the whole stage. There were a couple of young boys in the front row just in front of me (Kasim made sure that they both got guitar pics from him!) and I wondered what they thought about the noises and actions that CC makes during that song but it probably went totally over their heads!

Once again I was disappointed with Amnesty Is Granted as the words are so difficult to make out and there certainly wasn’t that problem back in 1996.

Pearl (who was one of the opening acts) stood and watched part of the concert tonight for maybe 20 minutes just near me so I felt really sorry for Patti when people chose her song to go and talk to her. I thought that was very rude.

Blind As A Bat was brilliant to hear again but Meat Loaf seemed to struggle with the song again. At one part Kasim sings a line with him and I don’t know whether it was the sound or if Meat Loaf just wasn’t singing loud enough at that point, but where I was standing, Kasim was a lot louder which I thought was great!

Tonight the band instrumental (Dissentience) was just brilliant! It seemed longer to me than at other gigs and the band were all playing their hearts out. Kasim was amazing to watch in that tune as he was obviously really enjoying himself. He’s the one closest to the centre of the stage and he kept moving around which was great to see! I hope that tune gets longer and longer as the tour progresses.

Unfortunately Paradise By The Dashboard Light is getting longer (which tends to happen in tours). I’ll freely admit that it’s not one of my favourite songs and I appreciate that Meat Loaf has to sing it at each concert but tonight they did a really unfunny part in the middle that just didn’t work. The really bizarre thing was that somebody e-mailed me afterwards to say that they had heard that Meat Loaf was totally drunk at that part of the concert, had been all day and that the police had had been called to track him down! Where on earth do people get these stories?!!! There’s no way he could have played the concert he played tonight if he was “off his head” (as it was described to me)!

I thought the singing in Anything For Love was disappointing tonight but an unusual thing happened after the "screwing around" line. Usually they just sing the song but tonight they walked around each other and Meat Loaf joked that it was the first time that they had done a square dance in the middle of the song! He then got Patti to sing that line again and asked her if it mattered about the 45 Seconds Of Ecstasy that he’d had earlier!

Bat Out Of Hell was brilliant as always and they then briefly left the stage before the Rock’n’Roll Dreams / Why Don't We Do It In The Road encore. Unfortunately the crowd really didn’t get into this song as much as at Liverpool but I think they were more of a muted audience even though most people stood for the whole concert. It was probably due to people being wet and cold.

All in all I think it was a good concert but not a great one but that may have been in part because being wet and on the cold side makes it harder to be enthusiastic. I doubt that there are many fans who have been to more Meat Loaf concerts than me (well over 200) and, although he probably has his best band ever now on stage, I still feel that something is lacking from this tour.

Thankfully though Meat Loaf and the band look as though they’re having fun on stage!

Photo by Andrew Nicholson

Other websites:
There is a thread of posts about this gig on Meat Loaf's official website MeatLoaf.net here.

MLUKFC.com has a thread of reviews and photos of this gig here.

Andrew Nicholson has some photos of this gig here.

SafeConcerts.com has a number of reviews of this concert here.

Comments posted by fans on mailing lists and messageboards include:
"Probably one of the best Meat concerts I've seen in recent years. He performed most of the songs really well (Loved Amnesty is Granted - waited AGES to see that live since I missed it in 96), though there were a few misfires (struggled with a bit of timings in Lemon and BFG and it's always interesting to see which order he sings the verses in BAAB!"

"I admit Meat was struggeling with some of the low parts, mostly during BFG and AFL I think however he really gave his all during this show, a higher gear than Liverpool even and as a result his voice was quite strong during many songs I'd say."

"I thought it was the WORST concert of his I had ever been to. AFL was atrocious and people were leaving early because of it."

"Probably the best live acoustics I've heard."

"The accoustucs were awful and the band drowned out most of Meat's vocals which didnt help anything."

"AFL had the best band opening I've ever heard live. John went nuts on the drums. This band has a mission to literally rock your socks off on this tour. I've never seen them look this determined to play so well for everyone."

"Thought it was a really excellent show."

"Meat Loaf's voice improved as the concert went on."

"From the very first note till the end we were treated to an AMAZING show, Sure Meat had his moments where he seemed to suffer abit, especialy in BAAB, but over all we came away from the show buzzing."

"You could see Meat struggling with the words for BAAB as he was looking at Kasim who was mouthing the words to him! But despite these little hic-ups, it was a great show and considering 6 months ago we thought that Meat would not be singing again, I think both Meat & the band put on an amazing show."

"He sounded much better last night from the get go, sounded up for it...outdoor venues are weird and I think yeah at times he was drowned out by the backing vocals...but hey it's a show with backing singers and the sound has to reach the back of the venue too."

The venue (taken from the KasimInfo.com Blog that day):
Tonight Kasim Sulton plays the 4th of 20 concerts on The Meat Loaf Casa De Carne Tour. The concert tonight is at The Rec in Bath, England.

The Rec (The Recreation Ground) is a large open space in the centre of Bath which is used for recreational purposes by Bath residents and the public generally. Part of The Rec is leased to Bath Rugby for use as a multi-use sports ground capable of holding 10,300 people, primarily for professional rugby union matches and occasional concerts. The rugby club was formed in 1865.

The concert starts tonight at 8.00pm with gates opening at 6.30pm. This is a seated concert.

Meat Loaf 2008 Casa De Carne Tour

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