Felicia and I went with six others to see Kasim play with Meat at the Allentown Fair. It was a wet two-hour drive and an outdoor venue, but luckily, the rains turn to a light mist and drizzle by show time.

Promptly at 7:30, Dennis DeYoung took the stage and did a one hour set including songs from his days with Styx and some of his solo work. His set included: The Grand Illusion, Lady, Lorelei, Desert Moon, Show Me The Way, Mr. Roboto, Suite Madame Blue, Babe (written for his wife of 27 years!), The Best of Times and Come Sail Away as an encore. His performance was mediocre and his voice the same as you’d remember from years gone by. The light man could have done a better job.

After the stage crew removed Dennis’ equipment, the stage was set for Meat Loaf. But first a quick three-song performance by Patti Russo with Kasim on the bass, Mark on keys, Johnny “The Hammer” on drums and Damon on guitar. Patti did Queen’s Tie Your Mother Down, and two songs of her own: Madeline and Not Enough. I’ve heard Patti sing with Meat last year (wow!) and have heard her sing the “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” duet with Kasim at The Bitter End back in April of 2001 on Kasim’s Solo Acoustic Tour, but this was the first time I have heard her sing solo. She is quite impressive. (And I usually don’t like female solos). Kasim’s backing vocals were clear and extremely supportive of Patti’s songs, providing wonderful harmony. (Do you expect any less from Kasim?)

Meat joined the artists already on the stage, ranting and raving back and forth across the stage, getting the audience all riled up. I had the opportunity to take a number of pictures during the first two songs (pictures forthcoming). As Meat opened with Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back, part of his act (the ranting) was to be yelling at Kasim, right in Kasim’s ear as if to say, “Dang it Kasim, I want MORE out of that bass and I want YOU to ROCK THIS PLACE.” Kasim, trying to have the “Yes, Boss!” look on his face and a severe determination to do-as-the-boss-insisted, started to break under the “pressure” and cracked a smile. (The photo BETTER come out. Kasim’s got one of those – well, KASIM-smiles on his face. Ladies, you know what I’m talking about.)

Back to the show… As Kasim’s beating the hell out of his bass and Meat is approaching each band member, seeming to tell each of them he wants their BEST performance tonight, they made it through Lemon and moved on to Crazy About a Mercury and then Lawyers, Guns and Money. I wasn’t familiar with the songs, but the next did Tear Me Down and Dead Ringer For Love. Jumping into All Revved Up, Kasim took control of his bass and kept the pace with Johnny, seemingly forcing Meat to exert himself into the dripping sweat we all know him for. Anything For Love followed bringing all attention to Patti and Meat, but Kasim’s backing vocals could easily be heard. I pointed out Kasim’s parts to the friend I was sitting with and I believe she was in awe. (She loves his voice on his first two albums and the live recordings I have from his solo shows.)

Rock-n-Roll Dreams was followed by Paradise By The Dashboard Lights. The whole band, led by Kasim’s bass, went into a… well, as I took note on my digital voice recorder (Amy, don’t read this), “ a really funked-out rhythm and blues version with Kasim going ape-shit on the bass.” And the crowd was going wild. Meat, for the first time, proclaimed himself in the heat of passion with Patti, “Big Stud Moose-Johnson” to the crowd of 12,000 people. He REALLY must have like calling himself that because he wouldn’t let it go for the rest of the night. I think a lot of the ladies were looking for proof, but that never came about ;-) I know many more ladies were hoping for Kasim to prove… well, never mind. Towards the end of Paradise, they went into a reggae beat, really putting a twist on the song. Again, Kasim was enjoying the heck out of the interaction and direction of the music. (Amy, you can continue now)

Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad was next, followed by Mony Mony. Kasim and Patti did a solo during Honky Tonk Woman in a slow blue-like rendition. Pearl did a slow song that I did not recognize (Back In Your Arms Again?), but she did it in a most excellent way. Much better than Mercedes Benz from last year’s show.

Meat brought out Willie Wilcox, stating how some of the people on the original Bat album were with him tonight. They then did You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth and, of course, Bat Out Of Hell. Again, Kasim was in all his glory performing this song, as it is heavy bass and a real kick-butt song. The band came out for one encore, Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode, finishing at 11:45.

There was a lot of interaction between Meat and the audience tonight. At one point, he knew he was going to run over his schedule and announced, “Well, we blew the curfew tonight.” That was at about 10:45 and from that point on, he succeeded at getting the crowd to sing loud enough to get people at the food stands across the fairgrounds to wonder what the heck was going on.

After the show, Kasim was kind enough (isn’t he always?) to bring myself and friends backstage where we talked for about 45 minutes. My friends were glad to meet him and commented on how nice and personable he is. After seeing his performance, they are now anticipating the release of Kasim’s new solo CD, Quid Pro Quo.

We didn’t get home until 04:00, and I woke up at 08:00 to see my daughter off to school. This review may be foggy, and I should be sleeping, but after the excitement of last night and seeing a bear and her cub strolling through the yard this morning, I just couldn’t get back to sleep. I hope you all enjoy the review.
Frank

Audio Clips
Kasim singing Honky Tonk Woman
The musical part of Paradise By The Dashboard Light
Paradise By The Dashboard Light "reggae style"

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