Ben Lowry: My memory of 1985 Meat Loaf concert in Belfast

We report today on Ken Branagh’s film Belfast, which has been well received on both sides of the Atlantic.
By Ben Lowry
Published 22nd Jan 2022, 08:56 BST
Updated 22nd Jan 2022, 11:09 BST
American rock star, and actor Meat Loaf performing at the Channel 4 Christmas Show, December 1983. Fourteen months later, in February 1985, he was playing in BelfastAmerican rock star, and actor Meat Loaf performing at the Channel 4 Christmas Show, December 1983. Fourteen months later, in February 1985, he was playing in Belfast
American rock star, and actor Meat Loaf performing at the Channel 4 Christmas Show, December 1983. Fourteen months later, in February 1985, he was playing in Belfast

Sir Ken documents the slide into the Troubles at the end of the 1960s.

Something happened this week to remind me that my personal journey was almost the opposite to Branagh’s. He was born here, saw things deteriorate, and his family moved elsewhere.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I was born elsewhere, my family moved here in late 1974, and for the rest of my childhood, while there was ongoing tragedy and horrific violence, overall life Northern Ireland kept improving, as the incidence of killings and bombings fell slowly but relentlessly.

I remember things such as the Opera House reopening in 1980, new cinemas appearing, often with multiscreens, and restaurants emerging in Belfast city centre (one of the first, Caper’s Pizzeria, was packed from its first night in 1982).

Above all I remember the way in which rock stars started to include Belfast in their tours, having shunned the city in the 1970s.

In February 1985 I attended a concert at Avoniel leisure centre in east Belfast by Meat Loaf, the American rocker who died on Thursday.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It was particularly exciting for me and my school pals, Colin, a drummer, and David, because it was our first such ‘gig’ in our early teens. The venue was crammed, the crowd ecstatic – Belfast audiences were often said to be the most rapturous, maybe because they had been deprived big concerts for years.

Recent Meat Loaf hits then included Dead Ringer and the lead singer Michael Aday (pictured above performing 14 months before Belfast) was just as sweaty and theatrical that night as he seemed on TV.

Everyone was thrilled to see him on stage in Northern Ireland, and soon all the big pop and rock stars came too, as the Beatles and Rolling Stones had done in the early 1960s (my mum saw, indeed briefly met — because my grandfather worked in the King’s Hall — the Fab Four before their November 1964 concert).

• Ben Lowry (@BenLowry2) is News Letter editor. Below a link to his main column this week

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

• Ben Lowry: Double jobbing ban u-turn leaves DUP with reduced options

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdowns having had a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions

now to sign up.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Ben Lowry, Editor

Related topics:Ben LowryBelfastNorthern Ireland