Complex Numbers

Meat Loaf

Last night was the rescheduled Meat Loaf concert. My wife wasn't interested in schlepping all the way back up to DC, so I ended up going with one of my employees, a guy quite a bit younger than I am who also happens to like Meat Loaf's music (otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to last this long here).

All I can say is, the dude can still rock.

I'd been warned that he might not play very long, having been ill recently. The concert was supposed to start at 8, and the band took the stage around 8:25 - not bad as these things go. The first set was all older tunes, classics such as Paradise by the Dashboard Light, which was perfomed with this skinny brunette chick who could sing.

Not that Meat Loaf couldn't. His voice was a bit rough in places, as he'd been sick, but he belted them right out. The band was tight (not just the brunette ), and I think carried him over some tough spots.

After a short break, they played the studio version of "I'm Still Alive" (from new album) over the speakers while showing a montage of scenes from movies Meat Loaf has been in, including two of my all-time favorites: Rocky Horror and Fight Club.

Then the band pounded into the second set, mostly stuff off the latest album, though it also included a powerful rendition of "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad" - admittedly, not my favorite song, but done well.

The biggest surprise for me, though, came after they played "Bat Out Of Hell" - they came back for an encore, as is usual, but the encore consisted of some rockin' covers, including Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter."

As the show ended, Meat Loaf finished by bellowing out, "Don't you ever stop rockin!"

Say what you want about Meat Loaf; the dude can put on a SHOW. It was totally worth the money and the wasted trip up there, as well as the return trip in the cold, windy rain. Sometimes he looked his age. Other times, he projected the energy that made him a tour sensation in the 70s.

But mostly, I came away from the concert feeling good about myself (which is what concerts are supposed to be about, yes?) - because in watching the performance, it finally hit home to me that you don't have to be beautiful to be appreciated, and you don't have to be slender to be loved.

And I'll never stop rockin'.