Imitation Meat Loaf Review

So, our visiting act for Bank Holiday Monday was on a bit of a loser from the start with me, really, because I simply didn't want to be here to watch him. I wanted to be at home with my sons, enjoying more of the Easter Weekend and trying to be a 'normal' dad. But I have to say, despite not being a huge fan of the music, that the guy put on a really good show. His name was Gary, and he was from the Scottish Highlands somewhere, but he chatted to the audience in an American accent and, as far as I remember, he really had the voice and mannerisms down to a very high level. I was going to introduce him as 'Tofu' (which of course is itself a substitute for a meat product) but thankfully my inner comedy filters kicked in and persuaded me to bin that line and instead I let one of our enthusiastic twenty-something hosts do the onstage bit on my behalf.
It was a good night, I have to say. The place was packed, our sound system really is a thing of wonder, and Gary did a good job of keeping the music flowing, but keeping the crowd engaged. He was on his own, too, with everything being played from backing tracks on a laptop. (that's the only way we could afford him, really, I can't be booking in big touring bands with 4 or 5 members, with our budget). What worked really well, I thought, was that he dropped the Meat Loaf persona a bit as the second half went on, and talked as himself, sharing stories of why he loved this music so much and why he wants to keep the songs alive for people. So you started the evening with a full-on, in-character tribute act but ended it singing along with a fellow fan and a real enthusiast, who has been very open about his enthusiasm.
And he hung around afterwards to chat to people and have selfies, which is always a nice touch.
You do meet some absolute w**kers when you're dealing with performers, so it's a lovely change when you meet someone down-to-Earth, not up their own arseholes and genuinely nice. So I told him we'd like to have him back again and maybe make it an annual Easter appearance, which he was thrilled about.

RC 8-4-26