Bat Out of Hell

We had been showing the Rocky Horror Picture Show for almost a year and we were selling out regularly. Meatloaf was going to be in town for a weekend show so we got some tickets and I arranged to have someone else cover the earlier shows at the Neptune for me that night. I suppose not everyone is into the Rocky Horror Picture Show so I should spell it out: Meatloaf plays Eddy, the biker/sax player, in the movie.

Dave A. was a friend at school who was in the choir with me and I ended up bringing him along to the Meatloaf concert and then to work. The Meatloaf show was great - it was a KZOK Rising Star show so it only cost $1.02. It was at the Paramount, I venue I've always liked. A big old school classy palatial theater with a huge balcony and ornate light fixtures and details and interior multiple floor open spaces with balconies above concessions that seats several thousand or at least over 1,000 - one of the coolest venues left in town. I think a Microsoft millionaire bought it and restored it, so it's a better venue than ever now.

The band came on first and was doing a simple vamp. The pianist Steinman came out and made an elaborate production of taking off his two sets of gloves, putting on a clinic in psyching up the audience through physical showmanship and flamboyant piano performance. He got us yelling and brought the emotional temperature up, and Meatloaf didn't disappoint us - he took the temperature even higher.


He had an amazing voice, loud, strong, powerful, and on pitch. Paradise by the Dashboard Light was a high point featuring Meatloaf and a powerful (and gorgeous) alto going toe to toe singing, more musical theater than rock show, but definitely in a rock musical vein. Bat Out of Hell rocked out, 2 Out of 3 (Ain;t Bad) was OK, and All Dressed Up With No Place To Go featured Meatloaf throwing his mike aside and bellowing at the top of his lungs, still able to be heard above the amplified guitars, bass and keyboards. Definitely one of the better vocal performances I have ever heard, especially in terms of power and volume.

After the show wrapped up (and boy did we get our monies worth!) we piled back into the Dodge Dart and drove back to the Neptune. Dave went in and sat down while I went out and sold tickets to the freaks. After 30 minutes a weaselly looking guy in a black leather coat shows up. "I'm Meatloaf's manager and he was wondering if he could come in and visit with the crowd."

It sounded like a good idea to me, so I hit the buzzer to call for help from inside and when someone came out I told them "this is Meatloaf's manager, take him in to see our manager so that he can arrange to talk to the crowd" and in he went. A while later, after the doors were open and the last of the crowd was filing in a limo pulled up and Meatloaf and a few people got out and headed into the theater. I was stuck outside finishing tickets sales, then in the locked office counting up so I didn't get to see Meatloaf's performance, but I heard the highlights secondhand.

Meatloaf was up on the stage talking shit with the audience and it went well. The theater was full and crowded with a loud and enthusiastic crowd. They yelled when they realized Meatloaf was on stage with a microphone. He raised his arms for silence and got a decrease in the noise.

"How many of you have seen this movie before?" and the crowd start yelling and carrying on.
"How many have seen it five times?" and the yelling gets louder.
"How many have seen it 25 times?" and fewer people yell, but there are still plenty.
"How many people have seen it 50 times?" and many continue yelling.
"You assholes are full of shit!" he bellows at the crowd, smiling widely as they roar back, obviously enjoying himself and thriving on the attention.

I always wished I had seen that, or better yet had a recording. It's too bad we didn't have modern inexpensive video recording technology back then, all of those quirky live costume performances are gone forever, and one off appearances like that really don't leave much of a trail.

After the show was over and the crowd was filing out I went in to get Dave. He looked a little pale and overwhelmed, but in a good way. Not surprisingly he enjoyed the experience and ended up working at the theater shortly after that. Getting to bring your friends to the movies was one of the nice perks of working there.