Gig played on 16/10/06

Back upon its release at the height of the punk wars, Meat Loaf's "Bat Out Of Hell" was the kind of overblown folly that prompted suburban grammar school boys to write the lyrics of the title track in marker pen on the back of their chemistry lesson lab coats. As it went on to worry the charts, in the manner of a flatmate who refuses to move out, no one in their right minds - let alone those suburban grammar school boys - envisioned it would go onto spawn a trilogy that would span decades. Welcome then to the world premiere of "Bat Out Of Hell 3: The Monster is Loose".

Indeed it is; with Meat Loaf hijacking the "Bat" brand from creator Jim Steinman, this musical monster is released from the shackles and chains of ideology and prevailing musical moods to stalk the Earth as if the last 29 years had never happened. And boy, does it show. The original "Bat Out Of Hell", represented in the opening half courtesy of a pumped-up "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" and "You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth", was akin to the unholy lovechild of the bombast of Richard Wagner and the small-town travails of Bruce Springsteen - albeit with the pathos surgically removed - and is presented tonight almost as a piece of theatre; this ain't rock'n'roll, Bubba, it's rawk as Broadway.

Likewise the selections from "Bat Out Of Hell 2" - "Out Of The Frying Pan (And Into The Fire)" and "Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" that, whilst making one wish Steinman's way with a title had led him to write a song called "If It Don't Fit (Then Force It"), make grandiose gestures that are as hilarious as they are daft. And yet, as the selections from the third of the trilogy prove, such verbose statements are actually restrained compared to what Meat Loaf has delivered without Steinman's guiding hand.

Taking the stage in his trademark waistcoat/white shirt ensemble, Meat strains and squats as if he's about deliver a loaf of his own while the music displays all the subtlety of a loudly emitted fart at a dinner party. "The Monster Is Loose" is the worst kind of turgid metal as it revels gracelessly in its pomposity while "Blind As A Bat" really does oversell things and a new nadir is reach with Meat's reinterpretation of Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back To Me Now". All of which, amazingly enough, conspires to make "Bat Out Of Hell" sound thoroughly understated when it's finally dropped towards the end.

By turns unintentionally funny and maddeningly infuriating, this is an event that entertains as much as it as frustrates. Which is more than the new album will do.

by Julian Marszalek