Wednesday 19th March 08 - The Bat Trilogy at Hull New Theatre (1/2) By Steve Rudd Photos by Matt Rudd

(1/2), (2/2).

Back in black and ready to rock the venue from the rafters to its foundations, Steve Steinman vaulted into an epic rendition of Life is A Lemon without delay, the incredible power of his vocal delivery reaching the row furthest from the stage with ease. I should know: that's where I was sat, yet the sights and sounds even from back there were to be savoured. Having mimicked Meatloaf for almost twenty years now, Steve Steinman's voice isn't the next-best-thing to Meatloaf's - it's actually better. And you better believe it. Regular attendees of Steve's shows will certainly vouch for me in that respect.

What's more, the staging of his shows are superior to Meatloaf's too, given that Steve's drummed up a band to die for, along with two fabulous dancers and backing singers in Emily Clark and Shereen 'Fluffy' Webb. The stage is literally set for a blazing night. Deftly mixing and matching all the greatest hits from Meat's three chart-busting Bat albums, Steve and band slam into each epic track with gusto, You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth preceding an extraordinarily beautiful version of Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, the latter of which boldly featured a haunting acoustic intro during which a pin could be heard to drop due to the stunned silence it inspired.

While Meatloaf's recently-unleashed Bat Out of Hell 3 album didn't quite garner as much acclaim as the first two monsters, Steve is always keen to perform a selection of songs from such a release, opening Act Two with a divine performance of Seize The Night.

The other 'new' tracks aired came hard and fast in the form of Alive and If It Ain't Broke, Break It, not to forget Emily Clark's sensational, pitch-perfect rendering of It's All Coming Back To Me, a sultry power-ballad so dramatic that only Jim Steinman could have penned it. Emily Clark and Shereen Webb have long accompanied Steve on tour, as has Jordan Bracewell on guitar. Steve has however drafted in a few new band members for this 2008 tour, saying 'it was a joint decision between me and the old band. They wanted to do some of their original music, and with my very heavy tour schedule we had to make the break. I still speak to the guys and you never know you may see the odd one back in future tours.'

In due course, this has freed up the likes of guitarist Mary Garcia Garner and drummer Tommy T so they can pursue other projects. In interview, Steve added: 'The new band is great... young and talented and a pleasure to work with.' As usual, Steve peppered the show with a hilarious heap of off-the-cuff wisecracks, delivered in such a side-splitting manner that I no longer merely suspect that he's Peter Kay's long-lost brother, because I'm convinced he is his long-lost brother. Constantly ensuring the crowd's having fun, he's keen to initiate audience participation at every opportunity.

Continued...Next Page (2/2)

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