Music

The last of the 'Summer Nights' concerts at Chatsworth House, and it really was a perfect summer night with warm sunshine throughout the evening.

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The support band Hurricane Party gave a great rock performance with tones of Aerosmith and even Guns 'n' Roses at times. 

The crowd received them well and at the end of their set were well ready for Meat Loaf.

After a brief interval for the stage to be prepared, Meat Loaf, Patti Russo and CeeCee came on stage to a roar of approval. 

As always, Meat Loaf puts on more than just a concert with his acting out the stories of favourite tracks such as Dead Ringer, All Revved Up and Paradise by the Dashboard Light. 

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Sadly, at times he appeared to be struggling to belt out his usual powerful vocals that fans have come to expect, but the strong backing of The Neverland express, with Patti and CeeCee’s awesome vocals, the skilled guitar work of Paul Crook and Randy Flowers on lead and Kasim Sultan on bass, John Miceli on drums and Mark Alexander on piano/keyboards, more than made up for anything that was lacking.

He played a range of material with old favorites from Bat Out of Hell through to the new Bat Out Of Hell 3 album, announced on his last tour in 2003/4 and due out in 2006, which promises another classic Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf package.

The crowd were totally in the palm of his hand when they took up the chorus of 'You Took the Words Right Out Of My Mouth', always a favourite at his live shows.

I spoke to one or two fans during the performance to get their reactions.  Linda Harvey from Lincolnshire simply said “Fantastic”. 

Gemma Doxey of Matlock, who has been a fan since she was about four-years-old and was seeing him live for the first time said he was very good and she would have loved to have been closer to the stage. 

Jane Bonsall from Ashbourne had seen him live once before and said he was very good, while Ian Moss of Ashbourne said the show was fantastic.

Overall, despite signs that he was struggling at times, he still knows how to put on a great live show and the crowd loved it.

Alli Price

Browse through Alli's concert pics using the link in the right-hand panel