And tomorrow night at Radio City Music Hall.

After David Bowie passed in January and dropped his latest excellent new album “Blackstar” almost simultaneously, tickets for the already scheduled Charity event “Tribute to David Bowie” went on sale and sold out instantly. Due to the overwhelming demand for tickets a second night was added at Radio City Music Hall for Friday night which also sold out in minutes. Twenty plus artists will each perform a Bowie tune. I have attended the Neil Young and Rolling Stone “tributes” at Carnegie Hall and they are a decidedly mixed bag but well worth the investment of your attention. Mr. David Jones lived in New York City so this will be a loving hometown send off for one of the iconic rock stars of our generation.

Let’s Dance

Rock on

GQ

I was never a huge Meat Loaf fan but, like Frampton Comes Alive”, the “Bat Out of Hell” album was owned by everyone when it was released and my wife loves the “Bat Out of Hell” album to this day. I saw Meat Loaf in his “prime” when the stage show supposedly included the big man doing somersaults. Unfortunately Meat Loaf had broke his leg prior to the concert at St. John’s University resulting in him singing from a wheelchair until the end of the show when he heroically pulled himself out of the chair and staggered across the stage like a latter day Frankenstein monster.

The old rockers are fading fast and like when Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack suddenly got old, you go to shows like this one as much for the nostalgia as the music.

Long story short, I was expecting awful but was entertained.

Our spot on floor was three rows back to the left and I could have tapped the $189 customers on the shoulder. $189 a seat for a pretty washed up Meat Loaf? Ticket prices have hit a new crisis point but he managed to play two nights at The Paramount at those inflated prices although there were some unsold seats on the floor on the night we went.

We had a perfect view of the band and the girl who is Meat Loaf’s foil during the iconic “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”. She covered his vocal shortcomings capably but is not getting paid enough for the creepy make out session with Mr. Loaf and deserves hazard pay. He’s a mess who is limping through the act wearing what looks like a black spangled blouse and orthotic Herman Munster shoes. The gals in the audience got to sing along to “Paradise” and “Two Out of Three (Ain’t Bad) so it was mixed bag but mostly enjoyable evening.

The band was tight and we found ourselves rooting for Meat Loaf as he is clearly not up to touring anymore. It was long ago and it was far away when Meat Loaf could hit those notes as his voice is shot.This was like watching a heavyweight fight where the former champion refuses to go down for the count; a punch drunk Bayonne Bomber hanging on for dear life.

I won’t ever see Meat Loaf perform again but in the end it was a pleasant diversion where the audience laughed and almost cried as the ravages of time were personified by the once, almost great, Marvin Lee Aday AKA Meat Loaf who would do anything for love.

Life is a Lemon (and I Want my Money Back)

Rock on 

GQ

Mixed bag

The word on the street is that Meat Loaf’s voice is shot.

Let’s see just how creepy “Paradise” can be!

Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad?

Rock on!

GQ