Meat, I'm sorry for the harsh review I gave you of your latest album. Cause the concert I saw you at was beyond anything I could have expected.
I went solo to Gibson Ampitheatre to see Michael Lee Aday at a strange point in his career. He's been criticized of losing his voice, his showmanship, and his strength. He was very vocal about his opinion of the critics during the show. But even at age 62, all three of those are still very much intact. I was young in a crowd of old people, to say the least-- so, I walked from my original seat all the way up to the front row. At least those people were standing up!
The setlist was: Hey Patootie (from Rocky Horror Picture Show), Break It, Bat Out of Hell, Peace On Earth, Living On The Outside, Los Angeloser, Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth, Song of Madness, Animal, Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through, I'd Do Anything For Love, Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, Paradise By the Dashboard Light, and All Revved Up With No Place To Go.
It'd be impossible to comment on everything, but I saw it all-- the crazy eyes, the red handkerchief, the shaky hands, the gum chewing, and a '77-esque Meat Loaf sweating like a madman on stage. He yelled in the sax player's ear to play like he meant it. He brought a dull LA crowd to its feet. There was nothing dull about the 2.5 hours he was on stage, alongside the legendary Patti Russo, and a piano player so talented that I don't think even Meat could believe it. He even busted out an American flag guitar with "MEAT" in rhinestones on the strap, jamming along during the final song.
He and Patti have been doing this act on stage for years and years, and luckily for us, he has acknowledged his age-- no more full-on making out on stage during Paradise. That'd be disturbing. But they still have an amazing theatrical presence together, with interactions that are heartfelt and convincing.
The song that had the most energy was Bat Out Of Hell, his third song of the night. He was screaming into that microphone like he was going to keel over right then and there. A huge bat came out of the background with big red eyes. For the most part, he was on tempo-- something that he's had some issues with live. I didn't hear any lyrics that were incorrect. He also sounded on key, but his vocal volume was pretty low compared to the roaring guitars around him. My favorite song was Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through-- Meat and the backup singers sounded absolutely amazing.
After a lackluster VH1 Storytellers album, and hearing that even Jim Steinman himself saying Meat's voice is gone, I was kind of worried about seeing him live. The guy is old, though, and I was running out of time. But I was so impressed with how much fun he was having, and the wild energetic feeling about him. I'd see him live again in a second, and especially with this classic setlist, I recommend that you do too.
Pictures are bad quality, but I managed to get a few on my Blackberry:
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