Meat Loaf’s performance at Rod Laver Arena on Friday wasn’t bad at all. That’s a good thing, because his Grand Final performance was bloody awful.
Meat Loaf - Photo By Ros O'Gorman
Meat Loaf redeemed himself to some degree at his Melbourne show although he had to warm up and he ran out of pace before the end. Then again, he is 64-years old. “At 64 years of age this is a seismic event. It is a tsunami,” he told the crowd at the start of the show.
He did give the crowd what they came to hear. There were lots of songs from ‘Bat Out Of Hell’. In fact he did the title cut third song in.
Like most shows these days the setlist didn’t vary from show to show. He did have a mighty stage presence and a lot of props. Opening with ‘Hot Patootie’ and ‘Time Warp’ from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the Meat Loaf as Eddie scene from Rocky Horror screened as a backdrop.
‘Paradise By The Dashboard Light’ had a giant blow-up doll, similar to AC/DC’s Rosie. There was just something a little creepy about a 64-year old singing “we were barely 17 and we were barely dressed”.
The new songs sat well in the set. A trilogy from 2010’s ‘Hang Cool Teddy Bear’ worked well between ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ and ‘You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth’. I agree with Meat too. That was a great but overlooked album.
Unfortunately, Meat’s voice started to putter after ‘Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad’ and struggled through ‘Paradise By The Dashboard Light’. This show wasn’t his finest moment, but thanks to the AFL show as few weeks earlier, it definitely wasn’t his worst.
However, 10 out of 10 to the band. They were a crack team of musicians.
Setlist
Hot Patootie/Time Warp (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1975)
If It Ain’t Broke, Break It (from Bat Out Of Hell III, 2006)
Bat Out Of Hell (Bat Out Of Hell, 1977)
Peace On Earth (from Hang Cool Teddy Bear, 2010)
Living On The Outside (from Hang Cool Teddy Bear, 2010)
Los Angeloser (from Hang Cool Teddy Bear, 2010)
You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Bat Out Of Hell, 1977)
Acoustic solo by Paul Crook
Rock and Roll Dreams (from Bat Out Of Hell II, 1993)
Stand In The Storm (from Hell In A Handbasket, 2011)
I’d Do Anything For Love (from Bat Out Of Hell II, 1993)
Acoustic solo by Randy Flowers
Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad (Bat Out Of Hell, 1977)
Paradise By The Dashboard Light (Bat Out Of Hell, 1977)
Boneyard/Freebird
All Revved Up With No Place To Go (Bat Out Of Hell, 1977)
Mercury Blues
