Meat Loaf: Live at Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS - The last time I saw Meat Loaf onstage, he was singing beneath a sky draped in stars. 'You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth,' he sang, followed by 'All Revved Up With No Place To Go' and 'Two Out of Three Ain't Bad,' 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' and 'Bat Out of Hell.'

The stage was in Central Park. I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday. It was the summer of 1978 and Tom Petty was touring with his Heartbreakers. Journey was making its way across the country and the Rolling Stones - despite people saying they were too old to rock 'n' roll - had just released a new album and hit the road for a big stadium tour. Tickets were expensive. It was long ago and it was far away.

At SPAC Monday night, Meat Loaf rattled through a two-hour set, performing his 'Bat' hits along with a half-dozen others that included Leadbelly's 'Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)' and 'Only When I Feel,' a new song that will appear on the 'Bat III' album in September 2006, the singer announced.

It was the second half of the 13-set performance loaded with hits that brought the crowd of 6,000 to its feet.

Dressed in black and flanked by a pair of leather-clad sirens, Meat Loaf fronted a seven-piece band that struck an amicable mix between providing a musical soundtrack for the night as well as becoming part of the theatric performance. Meat Loaf played up the theatrics to the hilt.

'Hey Saratoga, look what I won at the race track Saturday,' he announced, showing off a wad of bills and stalking the stage like a caged tiger. While singing one of his conflicted boy-meets-girl what-do-I-do-now songs, his pocket was 'picked' by one of the female on-stage characters. As far as Meat Loaf songs go, the girl always wins.

He nearly retired from the stage in 2003 after a tour that he admits nearly killed him. And a series of ailments that have plagued him through his career have taken their toll on his voice. His vocal limitations were especially pained on some of the softer ballads, although the combination of his capable band and a crowd happy to sing along added dimension to tunes like 'I'll do Anything For Love (But I won't do that).'

The voice may not be what it once was, but the singer's spirit is willing. The evening's showstopper, 'Bat Out of Hell,' was delivered with a fury that served well its place in rock's classic cannon. And if 'Bat' was a stand-out, Meat Loaf's energized performance of 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' was an exceptional piece of rock 'n' roll theater.

Amazingly, all these years later, the 2005 delivery of the timeless epic may have been the performance of the entire summer, a grand piece of work that pumped full-throttle on all cylinders. It was a staged work by which to measure all others. Throughout the amphitheater and out on the lawn, you could feel it among the crowd. This was one for the ages, one that brought back the original emotion, when it was long ago and it was far away.

On this night, it was glowing on the metal on the edge of the knife. On this night, it was enough.

By Thomas Dimopoulos
Published in The Saratogian, Aug. 31, 2005.