Performer carries on in face of bushfire tragedy

“IF it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger,” is the motto veteran performer Neil Anthony has lived by since his house, studio and almost the entirety of his possessions, including his cherished record collection, were lost in the Longford fires on 9 January.

Despite his personal devastation, his Meat Loaf tribute concert on Saturday 7 March – Neil Anthony Performs Meat Loaf – will still go on at Ulumbarra Theatre as scheduled.

“It’s been a bit of a crazy month and a bit, I’m still coming to grips with it,” he said.

“It’s a big shock because you think your home is always going to be there and that’s your little safe space, then one day it’s not, along with all of the things you had your entire life.

“It keeps you awake at night because you randomly realise at three or four o’clock in the morning, ‘Oh, that’s gone, I’m never going to see that again’.”

Nevertheless, Mr Anthony said the impending tribute will be “a lot of fun”.

“It’s a show that I’ve done for a long time,” he said.

“The production values are huge, the songs are huge and there’s an ongoing fan base for the material because it came out during a period in the 1970s where music was a massive part of our culture.

“You’d go out, you’d buy the album, you’d read every single word that was in the cover jacket and you’d play it non-stop.

“It became instinctual, a part of you as a person.”

He said anyone who comes along is set to have a blast, with a full band and three backing singers upping the ante.

“We’re heading off to Europe at the end of the year, that’s the level of the show, it’s world class,” he said.

Neil Anthony Performs Meat Loaf is billed as the longest running tribute to the music of Meat Loaf and composer, lyricist and producer Jim Steinman. Visit Gotix for tickets.