With all this talk recently about tribute acts on mlukfc I am suprised that Maet Loaf and The Never Neverland Express do not get mentioned. Has nobody on mlukfc heard of them I have been thinking.
Check them out on http://www.maetloaf.co.uk please. There are just a few audio samples there and the lead singer, Craig was on Star in Their Eyes doing AFL a few years back.
My review of their show on Saturday 30th of August 2008 in the QueensLive Night Club in Stoke on Trent, England:
Normally I would not consider driving almost 2 hours to see "just" a tribute act, but what I saw on the site really impressed me and I thought I'd give this a chance. I'm glad I did!
Great choice of songs, great band, superb singers, great production value in my opinion. An insane amount of value for just 10 quid! Honestly I could have left after the first song and thought I'd got my money's worth!
Both sets lasted for around 1 hour, the second one a bit longer I believe.
They didn't start the show until something like 22.40 and with a short intermission it was close to 1am before it was over, meaning I didn't get home till 3am! Lol
Great renditions of all songs, very true to the originals. What probably stood out most to the crowd was the a cappella version of "Two out of Three Ain't Bad", after which they ALSO did the normal band version, where the crowd were singing the first verse/chorus to good effect. The A cappella version really had gorgeous vocals I thought, superb!
Songs that stood out for me personally were, CHSIB (not heard it live in 4 1/2 years!), I'd Lie for You, Two out of Three Ain't bad, Bat (it actually felt being at a Meat Loaf concert, honestly) and AFL.
All songs were full in length, nothing shortened, no easy ways out were taken at all, believe me I am critical when it comes to this. In fact they did the band introductions during AFL, making it probably the longest version I have ever heard in my life! Something like 15 minutes easily. Also Bat contained the loud band chords after the 2 minute intro before Craig started to sing, something I felt was missing during the Casa tour
What was also VERY intersting I thought was that they did (part) of the spoken speech part during Paradise actually live! Who the hell would think of doing that?! lol.
Craig Halford, aka Maet Loaf has a fantastic voice. He articulates the lyrics very well and it is just a very clear presentation. Unfortunately I am one of those believers who thinks no two voices are the same and have never been that bothered about tribute acts in the past, thus I would never expect Craig to sound exactly like Meat Loaf and I don't think he does. However he actually does come close to some of Meat Loafs album vocals. Notably during I'd lie for You and AFL in my opinion. To be honest I don't think it matters too much. He sings the songs really well and he has a kick ass band to support him so I think it's great all round.
I think the band are absolutely fantastic. The motor cycle guitars during Bat and AFL intro were superb and probably more interesting than what I've seen Paul Crook attempt (sorry Paul! You are amazing but these bits are too short these days...). I certainly think the quality of the lead guitarist here, the drummer and two female singers stand out. In fact the vocals are superb all round I think. A very good tribute to The Neverland Express all in all. Oh and Jodey is well cute I think.
The arrangements of the songs are pretty much perfect, Perhaps here and there on some songs I would recommend changing a few things, but just a few bits mind. Having said that it is very interesting to hear that they have used not just the original cd arrangements but also the actual live Neverland Express versions of the songs to base their own arrangements on. Kudos!
Oh and I like that Guitar hero T Shirt the lead guitarist Simon was wearing. I want one too!
Is there anything negative I can think of? Well there were perhaps not that many people there. I've obviously never been to that place before so I don't know what it is usually like (they mostly have tribute acts in the QueensLive). I estimate something like 50 people in the audience? So not much at all but honestly the band just rocked, so they don't seem to need a large crowd to get motivated, which I think is actually amazing to keep going for 2 hours.
I think this band deserves a LOT more recognition as I think they are very good and this was definitely a memorable show for me. From watching lots of tribute videos on YouTube and looking around on the Net what's out there, I really do think this is perhaps the best Meat Loaf tribute band, as the music is VERY, very authentic and good and the vocals are excellent.
I will post a few video clips tomorrow (later today!) on my Facebook. I hope more mlukfc-ers are interested in this band.
All in all a great night I thought.
Would I recommend others to see this tribute act? definitely, yes.
Will I see this tribute act again? Absolutely
Am I considering booking this act for my 30th birthday party next year? - YES!
(if that happens, everyone from mlukfc is invited!)
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