Morrissey Newcastle 2004 & 2006, & Sunderland 2008
Although I saw The Smiths a few times in concert, I’ve only started going to see Morrissey solo since 2004, when he released the excellent “You Are the Quarry”, which is generally recognised as a return to form, and was his best selling solo album. Laura also started to take an interest in Morrissey and his music at that time. So we planned to go at see him at Newcastle City Hall on 7th September 2004. On the night Laura wasn’t too well, so David came along to the concert. This was my first time seeing Morrissey since I last saw The Smiths in the mid 80s, and to be honest I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The show was excellent, with Morrissey in a good mood, and the capacity crowd giving him a great reception. He played a selection of solo and Smiths songs, including several from “You Are the Quarry”. “First of the Gang to Die” is a favourite of mine. 
David, Laura and I then saw him again at Newcastle Arena on 4th December 2006. Morrissey and his band played well that night, but the cavernous Arena was far from full, and the atmosphere and sound quality were, as a result, not on par with the City Hall gig. We then saw him at a packed Sunderland Empire on 1st February 2008. We had seats in the upper circle and although we were looking directly down on the stage (almost on the top of Morrissey’s head !) we really enjoyed the concert. Since then Laura and I have seen him at his 50th birthday show at Manchester Apollo (which was simply amazing and one of the best gigs I have ever been to :)), at Middlesbrough Town Hall, at Manchester Arena and Glastonbury. I blogged about those gigs at the time, and will write about The Smiths when I (finally) reach the letter “S”. I’ve bought his autobiography for Laura for Christmas, and must get another copy so I can read it myself. 
Setlist Newcastle City Hall 2004: How Soon Is Now?; First Of The Gang To Die; Don’t Make Fun Of Daddy’s Voice; Shakespeare’s Sister; November Spawned A Monster; Munich Air Disaster 1958; Let Me Kiss You; Subway Train; Everyday Is Like Sunday; I Like You; Now My Heart Is Full; You Know I Couldn’t Last; How Can Anyone Possibly Know How I Feel?; Rubber Ring; I Have Forgiven Jesus; I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday; Irish Blood, English Heart. Encore: There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.
Setlist Newcastle Arena 2006: Panic; First Of The Gang To Die; The Youngest Was The Most Loved; You Have Killed Me; Disappointed; Ganglord; William, It Was Really Nothing; Everyday Is Like Sunday; Dear God, Please Help Me; Let Me Kiss You; I’ve Changed My Plea To Guilty; In The Future When All’s Well; I Will See You In Far-off Places; Girlfriend In A Coma; Irish Blood, English Heart; Life Is A Pigsty; How Soon Is Now?; I Just Want To See The Boy Happy; The National Front Disco. Encore: Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.
Setlist Sunderland Empire 2008: Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before; First of the gang to die; I just want to see the boy happy; Thats how people grow up; Mama lay softly on the riverbed; Death of a disco dancer; Sister I’m a poet; All you need is me; I’m throwing my arms around Paris; The Loop; The world is full of Crashing Bores; How Soon is now?; Life is a Pigsty; Why don’t you find out for yourself?; Stretch out and wait; Tomorrow; Something is squeezing my skull; Irish Blood, English heart; Please, please, please let me get what I want. Encore: Last of the famous international playboys.
16 Dec
Morrissey Newcastle 2004 & 2006, & Sunderland 2008
15 Dec
Black Sabbath Sheffield Arena 14th December 2013
Black Sabbath Sheffield Arena 14th December 2013
Last night I went with my mate Norm to see those mighty metal pioneers Black Sabbath in concert at Sheffield Arena. Its been over 30 years since we both last saw Sabbath, so we were really looking forward to revisiting our youth and reminding ourselves who the true gods of metal are, and where it all started. We left around 4pm and drove down to Sheffield arriving just after 6pm. There was time for a bite to eat at one of the pubs over the road from the arena, before we walked over to the Arena to have a look at the merchandise (nice, but pricey, so we passed) and catch the support act, who were a young new UK band called Uncle Acid and the Dead Beats. Uncle Acid and the Dead Beats have been described as “the original Alice Cooper band jamming in a cell with early Black Sabbath and the Stooges” (Metal Blade Records), and that sums them up pretty well. Their heavy, dark riffs filled the hall, are very reminiscent of early Sabbath, and prepared the crowd for the main act. The crowd was a mix of heavy rock and metal fans of all ages; old-timers like us, and young metalheads, everyones knows how important Sabbath are in the history of heavy metal and classic rock. Right on time at 8.30pm, Black Sabbath took to the stage. We had standing tickets and made our way as close to the front as we could get. We knew what to expect, Norm has been watching a DVD of Sabbath on tour in Australia earlier this year, so we were anticipating a set full of classics. And that’s exactly what we got; Ozzy and the guys took us right back to their first album, and played all those great 70s metal anthems, with a few songs thrown in from their new album “13”. The packed arena was up and ready for a night of classic heavy metal. From the first chords of opening song “War Pigs”, everyone had their hands in the air, waving back at Ozzy who goaded us to “Go F***ing Crazy!”. The sound was clear, loud and crisp, and the playing excellent; all four band members were rocking, giving it full throttle and volume throughout the entire set. These guys invented heavy metal, and it still doesn’t get much better. I feared that they might not be able to cut it anymore, but last night they delivered 100% and then some. 
Ozzy looked pretty fit, and his voice was in much better shape that I had hoped or imagined. The guy still has stamina and kept a crazy pace going all night. Tony Iommi’s guitar playing switched between exquisite dark, doomy riffs and impressive solos, and Geezer Butler stood solid, pounding thunderous classic metal rhythms from his bass. Its sad that Bill Ward isn’t with them on the tour, but explosive new dynamo drummer Tommy Clufetos, who comes from Ozzy’s band, did an excellent job, full of energy and power. The stage set was impressive with large screens showing a mix of live video of the band, and images of darkness, doom, war, and blasphemy underlining that we were witnessing the classic dark heavy metal band. The show was almost exactly tow hours, and included “Snowblind”, “Black Sabbath”, “N.I.B.”, “Fairies Wear Boots” and “Iron Man”. The encore just had to be “Paranoid”. Stunning, powerful stuff. Sabbath showed us just what heavy metal is and can be, and for me last night they reclaimed their crown as the hardest, darkest rock band on the planet. Sometimes the old guys are still the best, and can still deliver.
Setlist: War Pigs; Into the Void; Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes; Snowblind; Age of Reason; Black Sabbath; Behind the Wall of Sleep; N.I.B.; End of the Beginning; Fairies Wear Boots; Rat Salad/Drum Solo; Iron Man; God Is Dead?; Dirty Women; Children of the Grave. Encore: Paranoid.
We left the Motorpoint Arena at 10.30, drove up the MI, A1 and the A19 and were back home safe just before 12.30am, ours ears still ringing; and thoughts of a classic rock band running through our heads, some 40+ years since we first saw and heard them. It just don’t get any better.
14 Dec
Madonna Earls Court London 2001 and Manchester Arena 2004
Madonna Earls Court London 2001 and Manchester Arena 2004
I guess this should be classed as a guilty pleasure. I’ve seen Madonna twice in concert; in London at Earls Court for the Drowned World Tour in 2001 and at Manchester Arena on the Re-Invention Word Tour in 2004. I also saw her perform at Live 8 in Hyde Park in 2005. Going to see Madonna in concert is an experience in itself. There is an air of excitement and anticipation about her shows like no other; you just know that you are going to witness something different and special. Guilty pleasure or not, you have to hand it to her, this lady really does understand the art of performance, and her shows stand above those of other artists, in terms of their production values, concept and attention to detail.
The 2001 Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by Madonna in support of her seventh and eight studio albums, Ray of Light and Music. The tour was her first outing for some time and featured a major production with many costumes changes, sets and dancers. The show was divided into five segments: Neo-Punk, Geisha-Anime, Country-Western Latin-Spanish, and Ghetto/Urban. The setlist consisted mainly of songs from Madonna’s most recent studio albums, with only a couple of old hits. Each segment had its own theme, stage set and costumes. This was some show.
I went with Marie and we were seriously impressed. The tour was a major success and went on to become the highest-grossing concert tours of 2001. The tour eventually played to 730,000 people throughout North America and Europe. The show is available on home video (I still have a VHS copy somewhere 🙂 ).
Set list for 2001 tour: Drowned World/Substitute For Love; Impressive Instant; Candy Perfume Girl; Beautiful Stranger; Ray of Light; Paradise (Not for Me); Frozen; Nobody’s Perfect; Mer Girl/ Sky Fits Heaven; What It Feels Like for a Girl; I Deserve It; Don’t Tell Me; Human Nature; The Funny Song (Oh Dear Daddy); Secret; Gone; Don’t Cry for Me Argentina; Lo Que Siente La Mujer; La Isla Bonita; Holiday; Music
The next time that I saw Madonna was with David at Manchester Arena in 2004. The concert took place on August 15th 2001 which was one day before Madonna’s birthday, and some enterprising fans, from the Madonna “Tribe” and thus known as “Tribers”, decided that we should all sing “Happy Birthday’ to her. I found the full story on http://www.ultimatemadonna.com/:
“The plan to sing birthday wishes to Madonna as a celebration of her 46th birthday tomorrow began as an idea in one forum threads a few weeks ago. Since then Tribers have worked hard on a secret plan on how to get an arena of thousands to sing to Madonna on Sunday night. This logistical nightmare involved informing the management of MEN Arena as well as Caresse Henry [Madonna’s personal manager at the time] of the secret plan.
Last night a letter was passed to the Musical Director and Stuart Price [Madonna’s musical director at the time] to involve them too. All expressed their interest and indicated that it was a great idea, but the planning and execution was left to the fans themselves. So Tribers got busy – banners spelling out Happy Birthday were made. Thousands of flyers were printed and handed out by Tribers on the door as people took to their seats and then once again in the sections. The flyers asked the audience to sing Happy Birthday 3 times in between ‘Papa don’t Preach’ and ‘Crazy for You’. Word soon spread and the stage was set. But would it work? Hell did it work! As Madonna started speaking Siedah Garrett interrupted and as one the crowd came together and sang Happy Birthday, the band and the dancers joined in, and the Queen of Pop was overtaken by emotion before thanking them and dedicating ‘Crazy for You’ to them.”
It was a great moment, and made the concert extra special for everyone there. This time Madonna performed several more of her hits which ,for me, gave this concert an edge over the 2001 show.
The central theme of the show was unity versus violence. It was divided into five acts with different themes: French Baroque-Marie Antoinette Revival, Military-Army, Circus-Cabaret, Acoustic and Scottish-Tribal segments. The show began with “The Beast Within”, a recitation from the Book of Revelation. Madonna appeared onstage on a rising platform, striking yoga poses and performing “Vogue”. The Re-Invention World Tour was the sixth concert tour by Madonna, promoting her ninth studio album American Life. Re-Invention was named as the highest grossing tour of 2004, earning $125 million from 56 shows and 900,000 total audience figures. The tour was recorded and a live album/DVD set was released in 2006.
Set list from 2004 tour: The Beast Within (Video Introduction); Vogue; Nobody Knows Me; Frozen; American Life; Express Yourself; Burning Up; Material Girl; Hollywood; Hanky Panky; Deeper and Deeper; Die Another Day; Lament; Bedtime Story; Nothing Fails; Don’t Tell Me; Like a Prayer; Mother and Father; Imagine; Into the Groove; Papa Don’t Preach; Crazy for You; Music; Holiday
13 Dec
Madness concerts 1979 to 1986
Madness concerts 1979 to 1986
I first saw Madness on the legendary Two Tone tour which called at Newcastle Mayfair on November 9th 1979. This tour brought Ska to the masses, coming off the back of the punk revolution, and featured the combined talents of headliners The Specials, Madness and The Selecter. The tour sold out everywhere, and was a complete success, but sadly the main reason it made the press was because of some violent outbreaks caused by a minority of troublemakers in some venues. The National Front and the British National Party were out recruiting at the shows, even though the bands who were performing on the tour openly distanced themselves from racism. It was a strange paradox, here we had fans dancing to multi-racial bands and singing along with songs whose lyrics preached racial unity, and yet the far-right was trying to sell politics which came from the complete opposite end of the spectrum. As I recall, there was quite a bit of trouble at the Mayfair gig, with fights breaking out throughout the night; and being one of a small number of people in the crowd with long hair, I did feel quite unsafe at times. None the less I survived 🙂 and it was a great night, featuring three excellent bands, and one of several nights I would spend with Madness over the next few years. By the time the Two Tone tour visited our towns, Madness were already hitting the charts and bringing their nutty humour and perfect pop tunes into our living rooms on Top of the Pops. In 1979 “The Prince”, “My Girl” and “One Step Beyond” had all been chart hits in the UK.
The next time I saw Madness was at Sunderland Mecca, which by then was also called the Mayfair (just to confuse things :)), on April 30th 1980. The place was packed and a hot sweaty fun night was had by all. I remember being right down the front in the pit, gettimg knocked and pushed all over the ballroom floor. I then saw them at concerts at Newcastle City Hall in December 1980, October 1981, and February 1983. I also saw Madness headline the first night of the Dock Rock Festival, which took place down at Hartlepool docks in the summer of 1986. Dock Rock was a great festival in many ways, although at the time it was seen as a big failure, particularly in terms of the number of people who attended (although 10,000 did attend over the weekend). Looking back now, the line-up was pretty strong; featuring Madness, The Wailers, and Dr and the Medics on the Friday night, Lindisfarne, and Dr Feelgood on the Saturday night and Gil Scott Heron, Steeleye Span, Pentangle and Champion Jack Dupree on the Sunday night. 
Going to a Madness gig meant a guaranteed night of fun. By the mid 80s there was no stopping these guys; and they had hit the UK single charts over 20 times, assembling a catalogue of tremendous pop tunes to draw from including “Baggy Trousers”, “Our House” and “House of Fun”. They also had some good support acts on those tours including The Moddettes, The Belle Stars and Jo Boxers.
Madness split shortly after the Dock Rock Festival in 1986, and reformed some years later. I saw them recently at a gig at Newcastle Academy, which I blogged on at the time.
Set list from the Mayfair 1979 concert: Tarzan’s Nuts; Mistakes; Believe Me; My Girl; Swan Lake-Razorblade Alley; Land of Hope and Glory; In the Middle of the Night; Bed and Breakfast Man; One Step Beyond; Rockin’ in Ab; Night Boat to Cairo; Madness. Encore: The Prince.
12 Dec
Muse Wembley Stadium Saturday 16th June 2007
Muse Wembley Stadium Saturday 16th June 2007
This was the first time we saw Muse and the first rock concert at the new Wembley Stadium. Up until this point Muse were pretty unfamiliar to me, but friends had told me how good they were in concert, so I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale, which was the previous December. The concert sold out on the first day and a second show was added. Marie, David and Laura all came to the gig. Support came from The Streets, Dirty Pretty Things, and Rodrigo y Gabriela.
We travelled to London by train and stayed in a Hotel in Wembley, walking distance from the stadium. The support bands were OK, although they suffered from poor sound, as is often the case at large open air gigs. Rodrigo y Gabriela were very different to anything I was expecting, full of acoustic latin rhythms, and The Streets got the crowd going and in the mood for the main act. Nothing could have prepared us for just how amazing Muse were that day. It was one of those gigs where everything just came right. The sound was excellent, the band played a first class set, the stage set was incredible and the crowd were with Muse as soon from the moment that they walked on to the stage.
The band appeared up high, on a large rising platform, accompanied by smoke and confetti. They then walked through the centre of the crowd on a raised walkway, surrounded by men in yellow radio-active suits and hazard masks. They started with Knights of Cydonia, and the whole place erupted; 100,000 people jumping up and down and singing along as one. And the atmosphere stayed like that for the next two hours. Laura still says it is the best big show she has experienced. We have seen Muse twice more since then, once at Glastonbury and once in Manchester, which I have already blogged on.
Setlist: Knights of Cydonia; Hysteria; Supermassive Black Hole; Map of the Problematique; City of Delusion; Butterflies & Hurricanes; Citizen Erased; Hoodoo; Feeling Good; Sunburn; Invincible; Starlight; Man of Mystery; Time Is Running Out; New Born. Encore: Soldier’s Poem; Unintended; Blackout; Plug In Baby. Encore 2: Micro Cuts; Stockholm Syndrome; Take a Bow
11 Dec
Roger McGuinn Newcastle City Hall 28th August 1974
Roger McGuinn Newcastle City Hall 28th August 1974
Roger McGuinn finally put the Byrds to rest in the early 70s and embarked on a solo career. He released an eponymous solo album in 1973, and in 1974 he released the album “Peace on You” and went out on tour to promote it across the USA and Europe. I saw him twice in 1974, at this show at Newcastle City Hall and three days later at a free concert in Hyde Park, where he shared the bill with Roy Harper and Julie Felix. His set consisted of tracks from his first two solo albums, smattered with a few Byrds classics. Pretty sure he played classic tracks like “Wasn’t Born to Follow”, “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star”, “Mr. Spaceman”, “Chestnut Mare” and “Eight Miles High”. I recall Roger was playing a cool plexiglass guitar which had lights in it. Support came from “A Band Called O”.
10 Dec
Gary Moore concerts 1971 to 2007
Gary Moore concerts 1971 to 2007
I first saw Gary Moore live when he was in the Irish rock band Skid Row, at a gig at Sunderland Locarno in early 1971. I remember standing on the dance floor, right in front of the stage, close up to Gary. He was a young man of 18 then, and his guitar work was simply astounding. His technique mixed the feel and tone of great blues guitarists like Peter Green and B B King, with the flash and speed of Alvin Lee. You could also hear the jazz influences in Moore’s playing and in the music of Skid Row. There was another reason why Skid Row stood out from the crowd, and deserved much more success than they ever got, and that was manic bass player Brush Shiels. Brush has a mop of afro hair (guess that’s where his name came from), played a see-through perspex bass, and ran around the stage like the proverbial whirling dervish.
I saw the band once more, after Gary had left to be replaced by Paul “Tonka” Chapman, when they supported Curved Air at a gig at Newcastle City Hall. I saw Gary many more times over the years: in his own Gary Moore Band as a support act at the City Hall (I think it could have been on a bill with Stone the Crows), with Jon Hiseman’s Colosseum II at Reading Festival in 1976 and at a gig at Newcastle Poly, and with Thin Lizzy once or twice. I also saw him supporting Whitesnake on tour (his band was called G Force at that point) in 1980, and solo at Donington Monsters of Rock 1984.
The last time I saw Gary Moore was at a concert at Newcastle City Hall in . I went with a group of mates and we had seats right down close to the front of the stage. As usual Gary was on great form, squeezing some exquisite blues from his trademark Gibson Les Paul. I even managed to catch his plectrum :). From the 2007 programme: “Gary Moore is ackowledged as one of the finest musicians that the British Isles has ever produced. In a career that dates back to the 60s, there are few musical genres that he has not turned his adroit musical hand to, and has graced the line-ups of several notable rock bands, Thin Lizzy, Colosseum II and Skid Row to name but three.”
Typical Gary Moore set list from 2007: Oh, Pretty Woman; Hard Times; Trouble at Home; Since I Met You Baby; Midnight Blues; Eyesight to the Blind; Thirty Days; All Your Love (I Miss Loving); I Had a Dream; Too Tired; So Far Away; Empty Rooms; Don’t Believe a Word; Still Got the Blues; Walking by Myself. Encore: The Blues Is Alright; Parisienne Walkways.
Gary sadly passed away as the result of a heart attack, during the early hours of February 6, 2011. At the time, he was on holiday in Spain. He was 58. Another great talent sadly gone. Bob Geldof commented, at the time of his passing, that Moore was “without question one of the great Irish bluesmen. His playing was exceptional and beautiful. We won’t see his like again.” Thin Lizzy’s Scott Gorham added that “playing with Gary during the Black Rose era was a great experience. He was a great player and a great guy.”
9 Dec
The Damned Newcastle Academy 8th December 2013
The Damned Newcastle Academy 8th December 2013
Last night I continued in my attempts to relive my lost youth by going to see punk goth legends The Damned at Newcastle Academy. I last saw The Damned in concert in the late 80s, and I have been meaning to catch up with them for the last few years, but for one reason or another, I haven’t managed to do so. I was a big fan of this band back in the day. There was a sense of chaos, fun and theatre to a Damned gig; they were always quite different to the rest of the punk bands of the time. Their music blends rock’n’roll, punk, goth and psychedelia, and you can always be sure that Captian Sensible will be crazy and outrageous, which guarantees a fun night out for all. The line up of The Damned has changed many times over the years; the two remaining members are the Captain on guitar and vocalist Dave Vanium.
I arrived just in time to catch the end of support act The Ruts DC, who closed their set with the old favourite “In a Rut”. The Ruts are old mates of the Damned from the punk era; I particularly remember a manic Ruts gig at Durham Dunelm House where the Damned joined them on stage to much mayhem both onstage and off. The Damned came on stage around 9.10pm, Dave Vanium looking as cool as ever in his black Dracula / undertaker garb; this guy was goth before goth. First song was the eerie and dark Sanctum Sanctum. The set consisted of songs drawn from across their 10 albums, focusing mainly on that classic 70s and 80s period. The last few songs were pure classic punk nostalgia: Love Song; Second Time Around; I Just Can’t Be Happy Today; New Rose (“Is she really going out with him”) and closer Neat Neat Neat; they took me right back, and sounded just as good at they did when I first heard them. Their cover of “Eloise” was good to hear, as always. Its one of my favourite songs from the 60s; full of drama, passion and pathos. The Damned must have similar musical tastes to my own, they have covered quite a few songs which I consider to be classics; I am thinking of “Eloise”, Love’s “Alone Again Or” and Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”. The Captain seemed to be in a jolly mood, if a little reserved, he did explain that they had all been suffering from colds. I resisted the temptation of buying a Captain Kit, complete with red beret and round sunglasses, and a bargain at £10, with a signed (and quite obscene) Christmas card thrown in. I figured I probably wouldn’t suit the beret :). Great to see the old ones are still out there doing in, and doing so in style and with panache. Great stuff.
Setlist: Sanctum Sanctorum; Don’t Cry Wolf; Wait for the Blackout; Lively Arts; Silly Kids Games; History of the World; Ignite; Generals; Stranger on the Town; Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde; Plan 9 Channel 7; Eloise; Love Song; Second Time Around; I Just Can’t Be Happy Today; New Rose; Neat Neat Neat. Encore: To my shame I left at this point as I had promised to collect Laura (Apologies to Dave and the Captain). I bet they played Smash It Up and one or two others.
8 Dec
Men at Work Newcastle City Hall 5th July 1983
Men at Work Newcastle City Hall 5th July 1983
“Do you come from a land down under?” 
Its easy to forget just how massively successful Australian band Men at Work were in the early 1980s. The statistics are formidable: a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single in the US and the UK; winner of the 1983 Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and sales of over 30 million albums worldwide. In the UK, the single “Down Under” topped the charts in January and February 1983, and is the only Men at Work song to make the UK top 20. “Down Under” was one of those earworm songs which plays again and again in your head, and it was playing everywhere you went in early 1983. I remember buying a ticket for this gig simply on the strength of that one song. I was surprised just how quickly the concert sold out. 
Unlike every one else in the City Hall that night, I didn’t but their albums “Business and Usual” and “Cargo, and so all the songs, other than “Down Under” were fresh to me. I remember enjoying the gig; I think they may have played “Down Under” twice, once during the set and again as an encore’ or that could be my mind playing tricks again. Support came from Cook da Books a new wave band from Liverpool.
I found a setlist from a 1983 concert in the USA: Overkill; Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive; Underground; The Longest Night; Down Under; Blue for You; Highwire; No Sign of Yesterday; Who Can It Be Now?; Helpless Automaton; It’s a Mistake. Encore: Mr. Entertainer; Be Good Johnny.
“Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover.” (Down Under, Men at Work, 1981)
7 Dec
Meat Loaf Newcastle City Hall 1983 and 1985
Meat Loaf Newcastle City Hall 1983 and 1985
I first became aware of Meat Loaf when I saw the video of “Bat out of Hell” on the Old Grey Whistle Test in the late 70s. That video screening caused quite a stir for a number of reasons. First it was an epic 9 minutes long; much longer than the clips which were normally aired on the programme. And secondly the power and drama of the performance was unlike anything else around at the time. Yes it was very Springsteen-like in its arrangement and its story of the street, love and passion. But this guy just took the concept to an entire new level. Meat Loaf came crashing into our sitting rooms that night, singing his tale of love and the street, and anyone who saw it couldn’t fail to have been moved. The video caused such a reaction that Bob Harris had to screen it again the following week; and it was often requested over the months and years that followed. I remember being totally knocked out by the drama, theatre and passion of the song, by Meat Loaf’s epic performance and Jim Steinman’s arrangement. 
Steinman is on record as saying: “I never really saw classical music and rock ‘n’ roll as different. I still don’t. I grew up liking extremes in music – big gothic textures. I never have much regard for more subtle stuff. Dire Straits may be good, but it just doesn’t do it for me. I was attracted to William Blake, Hieronymus Bosch, I couldn’t see the point in writing songs about ordinary, real-life stuff….Meat was the most mesmerizing thing I’d ever seen…..He was much bigger than he is now, he was f***ing huge, and since I grew up with Wagner, all my heroes were larger than life. His eyes went into his head, like he was transfixed”
I didn’t get to see Meat Loaf in concert until 20th August 1983 when he featured as part of the Donington Monsters of Rock jamboree. The full line up on that day was: Whitesnake; Meat Loaf; ZZ Top; Twisted Sister; Dio and Diamond Head (pretty good eh :)). 
I then saw him play at Newcastle City Hall a month or so later on 26th September 1983, and again on 19th January 1985. I also saw the big man sing at the 22nd June 1985 Knebworth concert which had a line up of Deep Purple , Scorpions, Meat Loaf , UFO, Mountain, Blackfoot , Mama’s Boys, and Alaska.
Meat Loaf in concert was a magnificent piece of theatre, full-on drama and passion. Support on both occasions at the City Hall came from Terraplane, a pop rock band who would later morph into Thunder. The 1985 concert was also memorable for another reason: “1985. Meatloaf collapses on stage at Newcastle City Hall. 
He is taken by ambulance to the city’s Royal Victoria Hospital where he undergoes a 30 minute examination in the casualty department. Tour manager Robbie Johnstone later said, ‘Meatloaf collapsed onstage due to food poisoning contracted the previous evening, leaving his system completely dehydrated’”. The gig was rescheduled a month or so later and Meat Loaf returned to Newcastle on 8th February 1985 to play another great concert.
Typical set list from 1985: Bad Attitude; Dead Ringer For Love; Jumping the Gun; Midnight At the Lost and Found; I’m Gonna Love Her For Both Of Us; Paradise By the Dashboard Light; Nowhere Fast; Piece Of the Action; All Revved Up With No Place To Go; Modern Girl; Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad; Bat Out Of Hell.
“The sirens are screaming and the fires are howling, Way down in the valley tonight, There’s a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye, And a blade shining oh so bright, There’s evil in the air and there’s thunder in the sky, And a killer’s on the bloodshot streets, Oh and down in the tunnel where the deadly are rising, Oh I swear I saw a young boy, Down in the gutter, He was starting to foam in the heat” (Bat Out Of Hell, Steinman, 1977).
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