Tour Book.qk4 (Page 1)

Nothing s more useless than liner notes that try to describe what you re already listening to.
You ve got the music, you don t need someone telling you what it sounds like. But in the spirit of VH1 Storytellers, it just might be worth telling the story behind the album — talking about
how this particular recording came to be.
Here s the lowdown. VH1 has a series called Storytellers in which great singer/songwriters
tell a small audience the stories behind how they wrote there best known songs, and then
play them. Pretty simple, but very effective television. The idea is that music on TV generally
fails when it tries to recapture a big concert experience. So much of what makes a show
great at Madison Square Garden — the big stage, the huge speakers, the roaring crowd, the
lights, the set, the smoke bombs, the dry ice (okay, I m dating myself now) just gets lost or
comes off as overblown when you re sitting at home on the couch in your underwear, watching
it squeezed down into a little box.
Storytellers goes the other way. The concept behind the series is, TV can t capture what it
feels like to see a rock show in a big place — but TV can do one thing really well: it can put
you face to face with someone and let them talk to you. Our attitude was, if we can t make a
television show that feels like a concert hall, let s go the other way — let s give people at home
an experience no concert hall can duplicate. Let s give them a chance to have a musician
talk and sing right to them. Let s make a show that feels like you re at a party at a great
musician s house and it gets to be around midnight and someone hands him a guitar and he
starts telling you about his songs.
Ray Davies did the first VH1 Storytellers
in 1996. He s a master songwriter and a
wonderful raconteur. He proved it could
really work. Before Ray s episode had
even aired, a couple of other Brits, Elvis
Costello and Sting, agreed to give it a
go. By the time Garth Brooks, Billy Joel,
and Elton John said they d take a crack
at it, VH1 had a hit series.
So we said, let s do the show with Meat
Loaf and Jim Steinman, the man who
wrote most of Meat s hits. Meat Loaf
said, great, that ll be fun. Steinman
agreed, but he was living in London,
working on a stage musical with Andrew
Lloyd Webber. We had to keep moving
the shoot date around to accommodate
Steinman s schedule.
Enter Meat Loaf. We talked about Meat
Loaf doing the series from day one. His
songs are already great stories, and he s
the kind of vivid character the camera
loves. Hey, the guy s a serious actor as
well as multi-platinum rock star. Who
could be better?
Finally we got a window that worked for
everybody: New York City on October 5,
1998. That s when this album was
made.
There was just one hang-up (and it s the
sort of thing that bothers no one in the
real world but gives us TV producers an
excuse to have meetings to justify our
jobs): Meat Loaf doesn t write his own
songs. He has his own sound, his own
persona, songs are written FOR him.
But like, say Frank Sinatra and Elvis
Presley, Meat doesn t make up songs for
himself. He makes other people s songs
his own. In fact, Meat Loaf does Elvis
and Sinatra one better — he sings songs
that are written for (and in some ways
about) him by his longtime collaborator
Jim Steinman.
Around October 3, Meat rolled into town
for rehearsals. We d already been talking about how to make the show work,
and Meat had given us lots of great
ideas — the first was that he wanted it to
look not like it was happening in someone s living room, but in a locker room.
(He said, if you want me to really open
up and be at home it s got to be either a
locker room or a kitchen.) We thought
that wa a pretty good idea and we got to
work designing a set.
I arrived at rehearsals with the director and producer and we sat there with our hands in our pockets nodding our heads while
Meat Loaf and his band played the songs. Then I got up and started throwing my weight around, saying you gotta do this and
don t forget about that and the stories need to be like this and remember to Meat Loaf listened with the same expression you
have on your face when the cop is giving you the lecture before he gives you the ticket. He nodded and asked if they could try
another song. I sad go ahead. He cued the band to play "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth." He was singing it
great, and when he got to the chorus he handed me the microphone and said, "Now you sing it." I looked t him. He said,
"SING IT!" like the high school gym teacher telling you to get up that damn rope. I sand it. The band grinned. The director and
producer tried not to laugh. Meat Loaf took back the microphone and said, "Now you sit down."
W atching Meat and his band lay out the show we knew we had nothing to worry about — this was going to be a blast. But we
had a new problem. All the songs were really, really long and all the stories were great — and also long. How the hell would we
fit this into a one hour show? More immediately — how the hell would we fit a fifteen minute opus like "Paradise" into the eight
minute blocks between commercials?
Lesson learned. We can all stand around and talk about it, maybe we can even help.
DO it.
I can t tell you how much fun that night turned out to be — I don t have to, you can hear it. Meat drew the studio audience into
the show, into the songs, into his world just as he pulled in all of us VH1 ers. What really knocked everybody out was how powerfully Meat Loaf the man uses his training as an actor and his chops as a singer to create something big and grand that somehow, at its core, feels very real and intimate. I have no idea of the depths this guy who used to be M.L. Aday draws on to make
his music. But for a sound that is so broad and accessible, it can really shock you with how deep it can go.0
But Meat Loaf s the guy who s going to
And when the chips were down, man, he did it great. Every good show starts with a series of disasters. This was no exception. I won t bore you with the lighting truss or the monitor problems, but the big headache was the last minute word that
Steinman was sick in London and wasn t going to show. We said, "Oh, no, what do we do?" Meat Loaf said, "Don t worry."
The show run-through was hilarious. Meat announced he needed a
desk, we came up with one. Then he announced he needed one of the
men on the crew to lie on the desk. We drafted somebody. Then he
announced he needed a woman. One of the producers stepped forward. Okay, Meat said, now you have to climb up on the guy and
straddle him. You can imagine the protests, laughter, and threats of
complaints to be filed with the VH1 human resources department. But
Meat Loaf adopted his "Do it for the coach" persona and pretty soon
the Storytellers crew were acting out the romantic audience participation section of "Paradise By the Dashboard Lights." (Note to Amy:
thanks again for not filing the sexual harassment papers.)
Leave it to Meat Loaf. He said, "Well, when we get to the place where you have to go to a commercial, "I ll stop and say, Well
be back with the rest of this song after these messages. " The band tried it, we all fell over laughing. We said, "Can we really
do this?" Meat said, "Who s stopping us?" That seemed to be a pretty good attitude to take for the rest of the production.
When the Storytellers filming was over and everybody was done slapping each
other on the back and taking credit for Meat Loaf s work, when the last trade
shot was snapped and the last fan had filed out of the studio, Meat came out
and looked around and said, "I really enjoyed this. I d like to do it again. In fact,
I d like to buy this set from you and take it with me."
I figured he was kidding, or just caught up in the emotion of what started out
rough and turned out to be an extraordinary night. But as usual, Meat Loaf
meant what he said. In 1999 he put together a VH1 Storytellers tour and hit the
road with the locker room set and the stories to tell, and all those songs that are
the soul property of Meat Loaf, but belong to everybody.
Bill Flanagan
Executive Producer, VH1 Storytellers
The band
KASIM SULTON - MD, Bass Guitar, Vocals
Kasim Sulton has been a world class musician since his first professional gig with Todd
Rundgren and Utopia in 1976 - ironically the same year he played bass guitar on Bat Out Of Hell.
Since then he has played on dozens of albums with artists as diverse as Patti Smith and Celene
Dion. The "Storytellers" tour sees Kasim changing positions from guitarist/keyboardist
to bassist and Musical Director. He remains the only person beside Meat himself
to appear on every track on Bat 1 and Bat 2.
JOHN MICELI - Drums
Before joining Meat Loaf eight years ago, John toured with Blue Oyster Cult on their 20th
Anniversary National Tour; and with Marcello, CBS recording artists, on their National Debut
Tour. In 1997, John teamed up with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow for their
"Stranger In Us All" U.S. and European Tours.
John's musical accomplishments have been recognized by the industry with
endorsements from Sonar Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Gibraltar Hardware,
Evans Drumheads, and Vic Firth drum sticks.
John was also featured in an international print ad campaign for Sony cassette tapes,
which appeared in Rolling Stone, People, Spin, Circus, and US magazines.
When he's not touring, John teaches drums at the Long Island Drum and Guitar Center,
and is publishing two drum instruction books featuring his unique
double-bass style; "Lead Switch," and "Sticking in the Foot."
PEARL ADAY - Vocals
Rock and Roll certainly runs in the family! "Storytellers" is Pearl's fourth tour with her
famous father. No stranger to the music scene, she's recorded three albums with Meat Loaf,
is currently working on a new album with her Los Angeles-based band "Stella," and has been
featured on the latest "Filter" album.
Pearl thanks her beautiful parents and family; her husband; and her faithful friends including
"road family" past and present for her wisdom and love of music.
Let us not forget Curtis!
RAY ANDERSEN - Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals
Ray was born in NYC and grew up in New Jersey, where he currently lives. Listening to his favorite
records, he would copy what he heard, but soon realized he couldn't play chords and melodies on the
drums, so he picked up guitar and piano. He's never had a lesson on any instrument.
In 1991, he married his songwriter-partner, Patti M. Yodlowsky.
They've gone on to form a pop/rock project called Blue Van Gogh.
Ray also enjoys working with children. He visits day care centers and sings kid's songs he writes,
and lets the kids play several instruments as well as strum on his own guitar.
As if all this wasn't enough to satisfy his musical palate, along comes a call from legendary New York
musician, Kasim Sulton, to ask Ray if he would be interested in filling his shoes as
guitarist/keyboardist/singer in Meat Loaf's band! Besides putting two thriving projects on hold, there
wasn't much to think about. Bat Out Of Hell supremely knocked the socks off Ray, and he'd been
a Meat Loaf fan ever since. Who wouldn't jump at the chance of performing
with one of the greatest Rock and Roll artists of this century?
Most importantly, John's the proud papa of two beautiful children; Anna and Scott.
TOM BRISLIN- Keyboards ,Vocals
PATTI RUSSO - Vocals
Having been with Meat Loaf since 1993, she's come a long way since kicking the
bus after she thought her audition didn't cut it!
When she's not touring or recording with Meat, she keeps busy doing jingles
and working on her own material.
"I just want to say thanks again, Meat and Leslie, for taking a chance on me.
Oh yeah, hi Mom! Hi Choomy! Hi Seer! Luv ya!"
Tom Brislin is a New Jersey-based keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter who appears regularly in
the New York area. A child prodigy of classical piano, he started
playing in rock bands at the ripe old age of ten.
Since then, Tom has performed and/or recorded with artists in many styles of music, including
jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker, pop singer/songwriter Glen Burtnik,
and has been with Meat Loaf since 1998.
Currently, Tom leads the modern-rock band "You Were Spiraling," and had produced
the band's two CDs "You Were Spiraling," and "The Hello CD."
When not playing music, Tom can be found writing a book, masquerading a
s a nightclub kid, and completing his Jedi training.
www.meatloaf-oifc.com
DAMON LA SCOTT - Guitar
Native New Yorker Damon La Scott is a former major label (East West/Elektra) recording
artist with the band Redbelly. Over the years he has recorded,
performed and toured with countless other artists.
In addition to playing guitar, Damon's major commitments and passions in life include his
fiancé, Jo Hook, his family, vegan raw foodism, being a program leader for personal transformation, playing ice/roller hockey (when Meat Loaf lets him), and weight training.
Family
Meat Loaf Touring Personnel
The Band
Meat Loaf
Kasim Sulton
John Miceli
Damon La Scot
Tom Brislin
Ray Andersen
Patti Russo
Pearl Aday
The Crew
Tour Manager
Assistant Tour Manager
Production Manager
Stage Manager
Lighting Designer
FOH Sound Engineer
Monitor Engineer
Drum Technician
Guitar Technician
Guitar Technician
Keyboard Technician
Wardrobe
Carpenter
Carpenter
Head Rigger
Ground Rigger
Lighting Technician
Lighting Technician
Lighting Technician
Lighting Technician
Lighting Technician
Lighting Technician
Sound Technician
Sound Technician
Sound Technician
Catering
Catering
Catering
Catering
Band Bus Driver
Crew Bus Driver
Crew Bus Driver
Truck Driver
Truck Driver
Truck Driver
Truck Driver
Truck Driver
Merchandiser
Photography
Tour Contact Information
Management
Business Management
Agent
Record Company
International Travel Agent
Sound Company
Lighting Company
Set Construction
Catering
Freight
Freight
Bus Company
Truck Company
Merchandising
Art Direction
Tour Book Design
Passes
Itineraries
Left Bank Organization
Tribe Management
Rennaissance
Beyond
Valley Travel Group
Scorpio Sound Systems
NEG Earth Lighting
Musical Director, Bass Guitar, Vocals
Drums
Guitar
Keyboards, Vocals
Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals
Vocals
Vocals
Bill Barclay
Mark "Machine" Graham
Geoff Perren
PG Brunelli, Dave Hogan, Marc Hadley, Kevin Mazur,
Timothy White, Neal Preston, Meat Loaf’s own collection
Thanks to:
Ted Mattes, Winterland
Chris Jennings, Winterland
Carrie Toder, Imagics
Smart Art
Euphonics Audio, Ashdown
Engineering, E.O. Mari Strings,
Mitchell Guitars, Stewart Spector
Designs, Sonor Drums, Zildjian
Cymbals, Gibraltar Hardward,
Evans Drum Heads, Vic Firth
Sticks, Gibson Guitars, Mesa
Boogie Amplifiers, Korg USA,
Gibson Strings, Veneman Music,
Whirlwind