Michael  Aday, aka Meat Loaf, died exactly a year ago, but his legacy as one of the defining acts of the rock era is assured, specifically because of one album, Bat out of Hell which has sold over 43 million copies of the over 100 million albums that he has  sold overall. His success hinged on three things, a spectacular operatic voice, a supersized physique, and Jim Steinman’s songs.

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Terry  Nash plays Meat, with a fitting physique and voice, and does so with some style and panache. In the early 70’s Meat, Jim Steinman and Bruce Springsteen used to go to the New York opera house to watch Opera and ballet. In Springsteen’s song, “Jungleland” he speaks of their being an “Opera out on the turnpike , a ballet being fought out in the valley” and it is that urban melodrama that Steinman writes of so well. That was Steinman and Meat Loaf’s vision.

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Make no mistake, this is the “Terry Nash  as Meat Loaf show, with the production wholly focussed upon him. Every trademark gesture, handkerchief  and mannerism is captured alongside the performance of some great rock n roll. The setlist contains every song that you will know, know the words to, sing along to, and dance along to. The highlights were a particularly strong “You took the words right our of my mouth”, inevitably “Bat out of hell” and surprisingly,  Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land”.

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I saw Meat Loaf live several times in the 80’s and this show  faithfully  recreates the music and the time. Nash plays Meat with bombast, braggadocio  and brashness which Meat certainly had, but there was also a stage and personal vulnerability that I would have liked to have seen a little more of. He fronts an eight piece band, including himself, twin guitarists, bass, drums, keyboards and two female backing singers one of whom plays saxophone. The secret to the full sound is that five of the band are harmonising behind Meat producing a rich soulful sound. I mentioned that “Promised Land” was particularly good. Meat would often encore with “Gimme Shelter” a song that would have given this band, and his two female singers the perfect showcase.

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I would love to be able to namecheck the band members but can find nothing on the band’s media presence. Meat Loaf was about his female singing partners and his brunette singing partner is superb, so much so that you wonder why she was not given “Total eclipse of the heart” to sing.

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The unsung hero is the female bass player, hidden in the shadows of the backline but playing the most mellifluous of bass runs during the upbeat numbers. Similarly in the shadows was the female blonde saxophonist and backing singer who deserved  a front of stage  position alongside her counterpart.

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The staging is professional, the pyrotechnics on time, and the costume changes on era thanks to Karen the stage manager. With such a big band, touring will be expensive, and it is to Nash’s credit that costumes, personnel and instrumentation have not been skimped on.  It also serves as a neat, and less expensive on tickets,  counterpoint to the Musical theatre production of “Bat out of hell”. As a recreation of a legendary and unique performer in the Rock n Roll pantheon, this does nicely.  The second night at Lichfield is tonight, the show then continues on tour.