Last October, Melbourne rock band Chocolate Starfish performed the songs from Meatloaf’s classic 70s album, ‘Bat Out of Hell’ in a very special Halloween show at the The Palms at Crown. Now, due to popular demand, they’re back to do it all again. We spoke to Adam Thompson about the show. Obviously, the first one was a great success. “It was fantastic,” he tells me. “It was pretty much a sell out and we’re doing it again. It’s awesome. It’s a great variation for us. Aside from our normal Chocolate Starfish material, it’s just good to be able to do something like that and to do it well.”
While the show will be very much like the previous ‘Bat Out of Hell’ show, the band has had a chance to refine it and make a few changes. “We’ve also included another Jim Steinman song which our backing co-singer does with me as well,” Adam explains. “That’s been an addition and the rest of it is still pretty much the Bat Out of Hell album from start to finish. There’s not many bands that can do an album of that magnitude the way we do it so it certainly has our own stamp on it but it’s very true to how you would imagine that album would be done live.”
As the singer points out, the interpretation comes in the theatre of it. “That’s where I can put my own stamp as a lead vocalist on it and I guess the theatrical tone of my voice is very true to the way he (Meatloaf) sings. It’s a very big, rich voice so when I hit the big notes, it’s pretty much the way it’s recorded.”
Adam says he feels honoured to be able to do the show and to perform those songs. “They’re great songs and it’s an album that you can really sink your teeth into when you do it. There’s moments where you can milk the note a little bit longer or you can even go for a third above the original note and you can use that big sing and it’s quite exciting for the audience to feel part of that too so it’s emotive.”
In addition to performing the ‘Bat Out of Hell’ album in its entirety, they have also been squeezing in some of their own material in the encore. “We’ve been doing three big Starfish hits,” he tells me. “But recently we started to do a couple of songs from the new EP as well and they’ve gone over really well so there’s the option to just slide those in. The last time we did the show, I think it was about two hours long.” And for those who don’t yet have a copy of the EP, it will be available at the show; as will the band’s live recording of ‘Bat Out of Hell’.
Adam says they are thinking about touring the show further afield “But all of the band members have other commitments so we will have to wait and see what happens. The beauty of this is it’s not going to go stale. If you do it well, you can do it in months or years to come so we’ll do it this round and if we get good crowds and it seems like we are, we will probably do it even further afield after that.”
Adam’s ‘other commitments’ include running his own business. “It is called Muso Magic,” he explains. “We do personal and professional team building through song writing everywhere from remote Aboriginal communities to big corporate companies like BHP. They’ll write and record a song with me over a given amount of time and make a clip around a company value or a social issue if it’s a group of kids so it varies every time. It’s a group written song so there’s got to be co-operation; there’s got to be negotiation. That’s been my core business now for over ten years so I do that all around the country.”
He has also joined forces with Great Southern Rail, assisting them with their entertainment for the next few years on The Ghan and The Indian Pacific; both on board and on platform. “So there’s a lot of consulting in that respect as well.”
And if you want a chance to see Chocolate Starfish again after the ‘Bat Out of Hell’ shows, you will be pleased to know that they have secured the support spot for the Live concert in Melbourne in November where they will be performing a combination of old and new original material in their set.
But, for now, if you’re hungry for some Chocolate flavoured rock and you love the ‘Bat Out of Hell’ album, here’s your chance to have both. See below for details on how to book.
by Sharyn Hamey
Copyright © Sharyn Hamey 2015. All rights reserved
CHOCOLATE STARFISH
presents
BAT OUT OF HELL in concert
Friday 7th August 2015
Palms at Crown, MELBOURNE VIC
Saturday 8th August 2015
SSA Club, ALBURY NSW
For more information please visit www.chocolatestarfish.com.au
