Review by SueW:
It’s a round trip of 602 miles from my house to Newcastle but thankfully the traffic was moving well (although heavy) so I managed to do it in about 5 hours each way. Parking at the venue is free and easy (if you know where to look!) so I made it into the venue by 7.10pm. The merchandise stall had Kasim’s double CD available for sale for £20 but they had the sign advertising it as "Kasim Sultan" and not "Sulton"!

I had a seat in the sixth row in the middle block and thankfully, despite the Bat caves, you can still see Kasim okay at a seated venue, although he is further back than normal. They appeared to have set the Bat Caves inside the stage (rather than extending the stage area) and, other than it being a way of charging more money, I really can’t see the advantage of the Bat Caves as Meat Loaf has his back to them through large chunks of the concert and there really appears to be little or no interaction with the fans in the Bat Caves. Of course Kasim makes eye contact with them (but he does whenever he’s in front of an audience) but Meat Loaf rarely did.

Pearl Aday (Meat Loaf’s adopted daughter) was the opening act and she really surprised me about how strong her voice was – she’s really come on leaps and bounds since I first saw her in Germany back in 1996! She had two excellent guitarists with her too and although her music isn’t really my type, she was a good enough opening act (although her set was a little bit too loud).

As often seems to happen at UK concerts during Meat Loaf’s set the middle block mainly stayed seated while the side blocks at the front stood. In fact the only time the middle block stood was for You Took The Words Right Outta My Mouth (although I expect they would have stood for Bat Out Of Hell and the encore).

Kasim was wearing all black again and once again started the concert playing his brown and white bass and then switched to his black KSulton Bass from In The Land Of The Pigs onwards.

The show started off normally enough and certainly I had no idea about what was going to happen (although I was concentrating more on Kasim than Meat Loaf!). People said after the concert that they thought that Meat Loaf’s voice wasn’t great but the people around me weren’t saying that during the concert (and some of them were chatting annoyingly through it). I did notice that several times Kasim went across to Meat Loaf to either check he was okay or to reassure him but I thought at the time that it was because of what happened during Frying Pan but it may have been to check that he was okay.

During Out Of The Frying Pan (And Into The Fire) there’s a part when Randy Flowers plays a long guitar solo and then Kasim sings the next line ("It's only two o'clock and the temperature's beginning to soar") with Meat Loaf. Tonight for some reason Meat Loaf didn’t sing that line so instead we just had Kasim singing it (which I thought was brilliant!). Kasim stopped after the line and looked at Meat Loaf but he was indicating that Randy should have played for longer so Kasim sang too soon! I don’t think Meat Loaf was correct but Randy did start playing again and then they both sang the line – at one point Kasim put both his arms up in the air as though in surrender!

At the end of DeadRinger For Love when Meat Loaf went over to pick up the beer that CC and Aspen were drinking, he brought it to the front of the stage and it was a can of Newcastle Ale which was very popular with this crowd!

For some reason I’m Gonna Love Her For Both Of Us was omitted today and instead they went straight from In The Land Of The Pigs into It’s All Coming Back To Me Now after Meat Loaf had spoken for a little while (mainly proudly about Pearl and her opening set). In retrospect it seemed even more strange to me that he took the time to do this if he knew at this point that he may not be able to complete the concert.

At the start of Paradise By The Dashboard Light Meat Loaf made what I thought was the most astonishing statement. Possibly it was just a spur of the moment thing but even if it was because he just felt really ill, it seemed strange to say it. He said that he was going to sing Paradise By The Dashboard Light, Bat Out Of Hell, Anything For Love, Mercury Blues and Gimme Shelter and that we should enjoy them as they were to be the last songs he would ever sing on a stage anywhere! Most people around me were just amazed at that but the band continued playing the intro into Paradise. Meat Loaf then tried to start the song but said that he was sorry but he couldn’t continue, took his coat off and said thanks for 30 years and goodbye to Newcastle and walked off stage!

The band stopped playing and then also left the stage and most people just sat there (in the dark) not really knowing what was going on. After a little while the lights came up and someone said over the PA for us all to wait 3 or 4 minutes and they would "try to find out" what was going on! They then said that Meat Loaf was ill (they didn’t say what exactly) and that the concert was over. Some people then started booing but others (the majority) started clapping and we all left the hall.

Later I read that it was either exhaustion or laragytis that prevented Meat Loaf from finishing the concert but, to my mind, that didn’t explain his never going to sing again speech which is the part that really confused me.

Comments from fans on various messageboards and mailing lists include:
"Meat still performed for more than an hour despite being ill. i've seen other performers do not much more than that."
"Meat was fantastic when he was on - he seemed more relaxed than usual but he made some cryptic comment about 3 days ago he jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, just before he sang the song don't quite know what he was meaning. Then after he had been on for more than an hour he announced that this would be his last ever concert. He tried to sing Paradise but appeared to be struggling. He then said that he couldn't go on any longer and thanked the audience for the last 30 years before leaving the stage."
"Meat had already been a little off during the rest of the concert, which is unusual for him, including the comment about having gotten out of the frying pan and into the fire three days ago. It got so bad he had to rest his head on Aspen's shoulder during "All Coming Back." They cut "Gonna Love Her" as well because he wasn't feeling so hot. The band kicked in on the "Paradise" intro, and as he pulled on his dress jacket, he looked across the audience and said, "Newcastle, thank you very much. I want you to enjoy this Paradise, Bat out of Hell, Anything for Love, Mercury Blues and Gimme Shelter because they may be the last of my ~~~~ing life." Reportedly, the audience and band were equally very stunned, but the NLE carried on with shocked and puzzled looks on their faces. He then proceeded to start the first line, but made it no further than "happened only yesterday," then he looked out at the audience again and said, "No, I can't. That's it. No more. That is the end, no more Bat, no more Meat Loaf. Thank you, Newcastle, for 30 wonderful years. I take off my jacket to you..." (which he did, and dropped it on the stage.) "...say again thank you, and that's all there is. Goodbye." And he left the stage. The announcement came over the tannoy minutes later."
"During the intro to Paradise, he said something about enjoying Paradise because this was the last show of his life. The band kicked in again, and after signing the first line he stopped. He said "Newcastle, I love you, but I can't continue. I'm taking my coat off to you. Goodnight." The band left the stage. House lights came up. A PA announcer said that they'd know what was going on in about 3-4 mins. After which time, PA said ML had fallen ill and was unable to continue. Boos from the crowd at this point, but many recognised this was unfair, so applauded."
"I was enjoying the show but I could tell he was struggling compared to Glasgow."

Other websites:
Meat Loaf's official website MeatLoaf.net had a thread about this concert but it was shut down. MLUKFC.com has a thread here.

The venue (taken from the KasimInfo.com Blog that day):
Tonight Kasim Sulton plays the 7th concert on the second European leg of the Meat Loaf Bat Out Of Hell III Tour. The concert is at the Metro Radio Arenain Newcastle Upon Tyne, England.

The concert starts tonight at 7.30pm and Pearl Aday will be the opening act. Tickets for this concert are £45 to £37.50 (about $85 to $75) and two seats together are currently available in the third row of the third block back.

The venue opened in 1995 and was called the Telewest Arena but Metro Radio started sponsoring it in 2004 when it changed it's name. The hall seats 11,000 people and, as well as concerts, lots of sporting events are also held here. The first concert here was performed by David Bowie on 7 December 1995.

Kasim Sulton last played here on Sunday 20th May 2007 (with Meat Loaf).

Meat Loaf Bat Out Of Hell III Tour