Meat Loaf in Cork: Leathers, language, and lots of Irish fans

Were you at one of Meat Loaf's Irish gigs? 

Meat Loaf concert reviewed in the Cork Examiner in 1985; and with Gay Byrne on the Late Late Show on October 20, 1984

Meat Loaf, who passed away on Friday, toured Ireland numerous times and played gigs in Cork's City Hall and at Neptune Stadium in Cork's Blackpool. 

Here's one review in the then Cork Examiner, by a Claire Cronin, at the time in February 1985: 

While most decent folk settled in for a cosy night's television viewing the highlife in Dallas. Well over 1,000 younger citizens jammed into the City Hall Cork to see another Dallas native, every bit as infamous and quite a few pounds heavier than JR. Who else but Meat Loaf? 

With the album Bat out of Hell in the album charts since its release in 1978, it is no exaggeration to say that the man is a rock and roll legend. He proved himself very much alive and kicking legend in a two-hour performance, which moved the crowd into a total frenzy, so that by the end of the night sweat was rolling off the band, steam was rising from the audience, and the floor and walls of the City Hall were still vibrating from the high powered amplification, and hundreds of bopping bodies.

Meat Loaf in Cork: City Hall concert, February 1985

The Meat Loaf musical style is a raunchy rock operatic one and the band's image...well, black leather is the keynote with a profusion of studded belts, fishnet stockings, mini skirts, and high heels — the latter on the two female vocalists of course.

Despite a very genial interview with Gay Byrne last year, this is not the sort of boy to bring home to mother and he reinforced that last night with some very colourful language. 

The dramatic rendition of Paradise by the Dashboard Light saw vocalist Kate Mac (whom we are told has at least 58 relations in Cork) discard her leathers. Left in her underwear (black of course) and stockings, Meat Loaf threw comments like "F... you b.. " to which she responded: "And F... you too W..."

Let me stress that this good-humoured banter is all part of the show, part of the theatrical of the song etc.

These sorts of exchanges take place at Cork bus stops on weekend nights quite frequently so perhaps it is because people can, or at least like to, identify with the Meat Loaf music, that this man's weight or anything else are irrelevant to the fans. For them, he is a musical Messiah.

Meat Loaf with Gay Byrne on the Late Late Show in 1984

By the way, during the Late Late Show interview, the singer discussed his name and said: "You can just call me Meat or you can call Mister Loaf if you want."

• Meat Loaf, whose real name was Michael Lee Aday, died aged on January 20, 2022 aged 74.