| re: My Review of Meat Loaf's New Las Vegas Show... (Some JS) (SPOILER ALERT) | |
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Posted by: |
Vin 06:53 pm UTC 03/17/14 |
| In reply to: | My Review of Meat Loaf's New Las Vegas Show... (Some JS) (SPOILER ALERT) - John_Galt 06:05 pm UTC 03/16/14 |
| JG - Thanks for taking the time for the lengthy write-up. I'm glad to hear the show was good. I think I've been hearing more negative buzz about these shows than good, so.... good is better. > I went with my little brother to see Meat Loaf's new > RockTellz and Cocktails show at the Planet Hollywood Hotel > and Casino in Las Vegas. It was Meat's best show in quite > some time and worthy of a review. I've decided to write > the review in the same lengthy, rambling style Meat used > throughout the show. So... > > First in preface, let me just say that I sat at a table > right next to Meat Loaf's daughter, Amanda, and her > husband, who is a guitarist in Anthrax. She loves her Dad > and watching her watch her father was no small part of > what made the evening memorable. > > Second and also in preface, I sat just behind a man who > was a complete dead ringer -- not for love -- but for > Adolf Hitler. Except for the odd 1950s style suit, this > guy could have been Hitler, same hair, same mustache, same > facial structure. As far as I could tell, he came by > himself -- not shocking really if you think about it -- > and danced with genuine enthusiasm through most of the > show. It was a little distracting and I caught myself > staring more than once. Seemed like a nice enough guy. > Perhaps, he just has an unfortunate sense of style. > > Finally, let me note in preface that this is the most > "creative" work that I've seen from Meat Loaf. If you > like Meat's personality blended in with your Steinman > songs then this show is for you, and Meat's voice and the > audio mixing was better than I've heard it in years. But, > If you don't like Meat's personality, or you don't like > Meat Loaf, this concert would have been the equivalent of > ... I don't know... being the subject of Sam Kinison's > lepper sex joke. Not pleasant. > > We walked in a little late despite valiant efforts to make > it there on time. As we walked in, Meat was finishing > Dead Ringer, I think. Then, and I'm not sure how to > describe this, Meat took on the character of a blue > collar, aging, Texas oilman (an oilman because he worked > in a gas station) who was given free food and lodging to > introduce Meat Loaf. This went on for a long, long time. > Much of the monologue centered around Vegas and in the > background while he spoke there were jugglers, scantily > clad women/dancers, and clowns. Meat is going on 70 years > old -- he mentioned he was 66 at least a half a dozen > times during the show -- but, he has no concern with the > idea that dropping f-bombs or acting like a dirty old man > on stage is unbecoming of someone his age. There were two > parts of the lengthy preamble that really made me laugh in > shock. The first involved him going up to two > middle-aged-to-elderly women in the front row, revealing > to them the seat of his pants, and giving them the > opportunity to squeeze his butt cheeks, after which they > promptly stood up, reached out, and squeezed. The second > involved a rather artsy display of a female clown on > stilts blowing bubbles. Meat goes up to the clown and > makes a little small talk and then, with pregnant pause > says, "You look like you're wearing fuck me shoes today." > This is, of course, the type of line that could only work > for a rock star, but it was particularly odd because the > clown on stilts did not have shoes on, at all. They were > sort of metal stilt endings. I tried to stop my mind from > following the implications, but it didn't help when the > clown started to simulate felatio with her bubble blower. > > He then performed a pretty elaborate version of "Hot > Patootie," a song I never really loved from a musical I > never liked, but he nailed it and so did the band, and, > well, the dancers made it worth including. The rest of > the night included Steinman-songs exclusively. The ones I > remember as particularly good renditions were Out of the > Frying Pan, All Revved Up, You Took the Words Right Out of > My Mouth, and Bat Out of Hell (the Finale). His vocals on > Bat were stronger than you'd expect and the version of All > Revved Up surprised me, as well. He also performed > Paradise By the Dashboard Light, but even though i don't > mind Meat's show of a little "personality," he talked a > lot and acted a lot through the song. The conclusion > involves him insulting the girl a la Winston Churchill in > response to her making a comment about his being > overweight (something like "I can lose ten pounds in a > week, but you my dear will always be ugly") and then her > dropping an F-bomb inches from his face. The song gets > lost in all this and the girl is only so-so on my > admittedly very picky scale of attractiveness for women. > And, of course, he played I Would Do Anything for Love, > but used a very different, less distinctive arrangement > for the intro. It sounded more "adult contemporary." > People didn't seem to mind, but I thought it was probably > an example of taking that bit about "if it ain't broke, > break it" a little too literally. Still, aside from > changes to the arrangement, his performance was great. > > Meat is apparently an Apple iOS fan -- like Rush Limbaugh, > I suppose. He grabbed an iPad and used it for a > biographical presentation that was... wait for it... > actually really good. He showed pictures of his parents, > grandparent, daughters, children. And, used > self-deprecating humor that was endearing rather than > clownish. During this 10 to 15 minute stretch of the > show, he didn't try out any southern accents, delve into > irrelevant tangents, or try out unfunny and pointless > jokes. Sure, there were some things he said and I didn't > know whether they were true or not. He talked about his > relatively new wife and said that he took her last name so > that it would be easier. He concluded by showing a photo > of a young and shapely Susan Sarandon on the Rock Horror > Picture Show set in her bra and then he dropped her name > by saying that she'd just sent him an email last week. > Probably the weakest part of the monologue as it seemed > Hollywood whereas the rest was personal and revealed Meat > as a kind of regular Joe. For what it's worth, I liked > the "coach Meat" photos in which he showed the various > kids he coached on various baseball / softball teams. > You'd think from this show that he was more proud of that > coaching than most of the non-Steinman-penned albums he's > released... and that sort of makes sense. All in all, it > was touching, personal, and Meat at his best. > > Many of you may be wondering, "Did Meat try to explain the > songs or claim he wrote them or that they were about him?" > No. Absolutely not. In fact, one of the oddest things > about the show is that he let the songs speak for > themselves. The only exception is that he felt like he > needed to explain the "that" in "I Would Do Anything for > Love" as he's done before. In doing so, he mentioned that > Jimmy was aware that not everyone would "get" the song. > > In fact, if technology and interest would have permitted > it, Jim Steinman would have been a member of the Jim > Steinman and Meat Loaf band last night. A piano intro to > Bat Out of Hell was played on a huge large screen monitor > by a much younger Jim Steinman. Likewise, comments about > the songs came from Jim in the form of snippets of a > recorded interview -- I think circa the Bat II Michael Bay > videos -- but at any rate, Jim was wearing the silver > mirrored sunglasses in most of the snippets. For > instance, Paradise By the Dashboard Light was introduced > by Steinman talking about Ellen Foley having to have her > stomach-lining massaged by Meat's tongue every night. The > crowd freaking loved it and laughter ensued. > > Meat was good on Q&A. Last night's version of "How I got > the name 'Meat Loaf'..." seemed truer and more sincere > than most. But, a couple of drunk folks sort of shouted > and heckled a bit during the Q&A. The place was packed, > but it's still Vegas, you know. And remember, Meat is not > talking about the origin of the songs, at all, so he's > just talking about himself and he's sometimes a bit > dismissive or funny (but not really) about questions > people actually want answers to. He mentioned Jim only > once in a story about meeting Phil Russuto before > recording the play-by-play for Paradise. Phil: "Is this > the type of record that young people have to take drugs in > order to listen to." Jim: "It's probably best if they > don't take drugs." Heckler-guy sitting near me: "Why > not?" Meat: "You belong at a Grateful Dead concert." I > liked the Q&A, but it was less personal and informative > than the iPad presentation that came before and therefore > didn't impact, as well. > > I'm going to close with a part of the show that I'm just > not sure what to think about. And, I'll be honest here, > had I produced this show it would have been Meat doing > lush acoustic arrangements of Steinman songs without the > Vegas-feel and the pyrotechnics and the scantily-clad > women and the sex jokes. He's not too old to be a rock > 'n' roll hero -- he would have been too old in the 1970s, > but today he's actually not too hold for the part > particularly if we're talking about top touring acts -- > but he he might be too old to share the stage with dancing > chicks in bikinis who are paid to look at him as if they'd > do anything... anything at all. But, I digress, as Meat > Loaf himself is wont to do... > > So, I'm sitting down and Amanda starts standing and others > do, so I have to, as well. Now, I don't mind standing and > dancing like a Steinmaniac at a concert, but I like > listening to the music, too. Steinman's music is a dream > engine of sorts for me and at many times when my life > begins to seem to stale or being apathetic becomes a > habit, a binge of Steinman tunes can wake me up to the > reality of adventurous possibilities. Besides, Meat was > already spitting all over us and standing wasn't going to > help. (I think he was using something to stimulate saliva > because of the dry desert climate and his voice, but my > brother's comment on Facebook was as follows: "Just took > a warm bath in the restorative sweat and spittle of Meat > Loaf. Next time I bring a poncho...") But, I digress as > Meat Loaf so often does... > > So, I stand up along with Amanda and my brother. As I'm > doing so, I look down to make sure I don't knock over the > beer bottle that Meat handed-out to the girl next to me > from the stage -- a very trusting move on his part -- and > when I look up, Meat is standing in front of me with a > giant prosthetic penis in a broken condom preparing to > shoot a wad of cum into my face. > > Now, let me be clear, this was not what I bargained for... > now, thankfully for me, Meat's penis-canon is particularly > strong and viral and was built to shoot quite a ways into > the audience beyond me. It probably would have been a > little too intense to take a wad shot into the second > row... but, that's when Meat went a little insane. He > runs over and stands directly in front of the > Hitler-clone. And, you can see the look on Meat's face, > you can see the look in Meat's eyes, there's a real chance > here that even though it could hurt the Hitler > impersonator and it's too close-range, Meat may very well > score a hit for the ages and, in an ultimate sign of > disrespect, shoot a wad of cum into Hitler's face. He > stands there deciding for a few seconds, looks at his > daughter and her husband, and then decides to keep it in > his pants, after all. He continues with the rest of the > show, but I think we all felt this sense of historical > justice was missed. > > Nevertheless, I want to emphasize something: I had a great > time and others in the audience did, too. In the past, > I've been a little critical of how Meat's live shows are > mixed -- sometimes the sound is muddy and that's not the > way to hear Steinman songs live -- but, the sound was > better and the venue was great and the jokes weren't all > that bad :-). Like I said, I think some aspects of the > show are not age-appropriate and are beneath the dignity > of a man Meat's age, but then, again, I think people go to > a Meat Loaf concert for a lot of things and dignity isn't > probably too high on the list. The vast majority of the > audience loved it and this was one heck of a Vegas show. > Congratulations to Meat Loaf on a creative achievement. > Great job! > > > > > > > | |
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