I got into such trouble when I said that the Old Miami in Detroit was a "dump" so I'll probably upset the residents of Montclair, NJ with this but the grandly named Bloomfield Avenue Cafe and Stage was another dump.

I understand that it opened over two months ago but the sign on the awning outside still said "billiards" - I drove past it three times in the daylight and missed it. When I walked there, I accidentally went into the dry cleaners next door as the glass door (also with billiards on it) was propped open so I assumed that that couldn't be the entrance.

The gig was advertised, at least on the Internet (which it appears was the only place that the gig WAS advertised!) as a canned food drive to help the hungry in New Jersey. When I walked in there were two guys sitting in reception eating so, never having been to a food drive before, I assumed that they were some hungry brought in - it turns out that they were the venue staff having their break! As no alcohol was sold at this venue, several people throughout the evening went out to a nearby off-licence to buy some - I'm not sure how much of that was donated to the hungry either!

This venue is owned by the same person who owns the Hamilton Street Cafe in Bound Brook and there were obvious similarities as they had some (but limited) art up on the walls and sofas and then table and chairs up to the stage. I'm not sure whether it was because the place had only just opened or if it was due to the average age of the staff there being about 19 but the niceties were definitely missing - things like it being a cafe but not stocking tea or diet Pepsi and people having to actually ask for toilet paper ("only two sheets each and use both sides"!). Turning the light on in the kitchen was interesting to watch too as some guy had to climb on top of the six foot high fridge and push in the starter motor on the fluorescent tube! To switch it off, he climbed back up and removed it! Later, during Kasim’s set he had to ask for a CD to be turned off as it was coming through the stage monitors!

There were supposed to have been two acts before Kasim but at 8.00pm we were told that there definitely wouldn't be any so we were surprised that at 8.10 "Joey" started doing a sound check! "Joey" had an original style (that I certainly hope won't catch on) as he played an acoustic guitar very fast while he screeched beside (but thankfully not into) the microphone - I didn't understand one word he sang all his set and that’s 100% the truth! At one point a girl joined him on stage and she was far more melodic.

Along with the rest of these gigs (for whatever reasons) this show was totally under-promoted. Consequently there were not as many people there as I would have liked (but let's face it unless the show had been sold out twice over for Kasim, I wouldn't be happy!). There were lots of Doug Kennedy's family members there which was great to see (they were all as laid back and friendly as he is too!). There was also a large proportion of musicians in the crowd too and it was fascinating afterwards to hear them raving about how talented and entertaining Kasim is!

Another observation I made about the audience tonight was that there was actually a higher percentage of men to women for a change. Usually Kasim audiences tend to run about 60-40 women to men (it was probably as high as 80-20 in Pittsburgh) but tonight (discounting the Kennedy clan) it was probably 30-70!

Kasim walked on stage at just gone 9.00pm to loads of applause. Unfortunately the stage lighting left a lot to be desired so it was difficult to take photos in there. One of the (many!) highlights of these gigs for me has been that, after the last couple of years of seeing Kasim wearing enough black shirts for 50 funerals, he's been wearing brighter tops which really accentuate his colouring well. Unfortunately tonight he'd opted for a black shirt (over a T-shirt) so he didn't stand out too well. At the back of the stage were two very dusty windows with bars across them. As we were obviously on the flight path to Newark Airport, all though Kasim's set I was often distracted by the bright lights of planes making their approaches to land - it’s just as well that the billiards sign wasn’t in neon lights!

Ever the professional, Kasim started his set by explaining that regardless of how many people were there, he always does a full show....and he certainly does as even right to the end, he was ensuring that things were just perfect! Tonight (as at most of these gigs) Kasim's voice was just amazing! To me he's singing stronger than he ever has. His Don't Hold Me Back / Afraid Himself To Be opener was just incredible tonight!

Just as the applause for those was dying down, Kasim started strumming (almost) the opening bars of Back On The Street so Doug Kennedy walked on stage to take up his position but gradually Kasim strummed into a different song (part of it was “Couldn’t bring no silver, couldn’t bring no gold, what did you bring dear friends?”)! Doug just sat caveman style at the side of the stage until Kasim started strumming Back On The Street properly. However, right at the beginning of the song, even before he had started singing, Kasim broke a sting on his guitar (it obviously caught his hand as it broke too as he flinched!) He then managed to play the song perfectly with just the remaining strings! He said afterwards that that was the worst song to break a string in! Thankfully his brother Alex was in attendance so he replaced the string (Kasim commented that this was “low budget rock and roll” as his brother was both the sound guy and his guitar tech!). [Many thanks to Doug Kennedy for subsequently telling me that the different song was Gallows Pole by Led Zepplin.]

Kasim next introduced Doug Kennedy and made several jokes at his expense before introducing Doug’s parents who were in the audience! Mark Alexander (from Meat Loaf’s band) came on stage and Kasim told us that his new CD is released and said that Quid Pro Quo “is Latin for you give me this, I give you that - so don’t give me any sh*t or I’ll give it back!”. They then played Sacrifice and Before She Was Gone, both from Quid Pro Quo. Sacrifice ALWAYS receives a large round of applause and tonight was no exception. However Mark’s piano didn’t quite blend in with the guitars to me - maybe it was because of where I was sitting, or because it was his first song and the sound wasn’t quite correctly mixed. They do a nice bit of muted guitar playing just before the last chorus in that song which is very effective.

We then had my favourite, The One Sure Thing, but tonight it was the psychic version with the line “If I told you that you’d been thinking that sometimes you just wanna fade away”!

Next came a really special part of the gig for me. Back in 1996 Kasim played keyboard and guitar on the Meat Loaf Born To Rock (Welcome To The Neighbourhood) Tour. That was probably my favourite Meat Loaf tour for a number of reasons. When it came to the part of the show when Meat would introduce the band, it was always Kasim that came on first and he would start strumming Two Outta Three Ain’t Bad while the rest of the band were introduced. If (as often happened) Meat was in one of his more verbal moods, Kasim could be playing the opening bars of the song (with Mark Alexander on the keyboards too) for ten minutes or more! For me it was the longer the better as I used to tune out Meat’s endless waffles and just listen (and watch!) Kasim - even my husband knew not to talk to me at that point in the show! At one show in Bremen, Germany in May that year, Meat decided that they would sit on the floor at the front of the stage (with their legs dangling over the side) to sing it. As it’s all standing at German concerts and we’d been standing for about 4 hours in total by that point, several people had left so I was relatively near the front and it gave me my first chance to hear Kasim sing without a microphone which was interesting to hear. Anyway, consequently (and because it’s a good song) Two Outta Three is one of my favourite songs so it was amazing to hear Kasim singing the song tonight - I was in seventh heaven! Mark played along on the piano and Doug played some of the chords (but he obviously wasn’t expecting it as Kasim told him some of the notes to start with). Trying to be as objective as I can be, Kasim’s version was far more melodic and tuneful tonight than Meat Loaf’s is on stage nowadays. It was just beautiful to hear! Afterwards Kasim explained that when they were recording the song, it was HIM that suggested to Jim Steinman about changing the chord from a C minor with a C flat bass (as Jim had written it) to a C minor with an E flat bass which then became the hook of the song! The video clips below explain it more fully.

Kasim mentioned that this seemed to be the cover song portion of the show so he sang Bad Company’s Shooting Star. When they first sang it at The Bitter End, I wasn’t too keen on their version but it’s really grown on me these past couple of weeks. That’s another song that really suits Kasim’s voice too and this audience of musicians obviously really appreciated it too.

Next, on the first chord of the song, Kasim broke a string on his guitar so there was then some in-family banter about whether or not it was inferior guitar string replacement or whether it was a different string that had broken! Instead Kasim moved to his piano and explained that he often writes on the piano and that he bought his first one (an upright) when he was about 16 and that it took 7 guys to move it down into his parents’ basement (to which Alex shouted out that it was still down there now!). Kasim then sang Love Alone straight into Set Me Free (with Doug Kennedy playing guitar on the latter) and then Heaven Help The Child (Mark also played on keyboards for that song).

Kasim moved back to the middle of the stage and they played Goodbye from Quid Pro Quo. They then went to leave the stage but everybody kept clapping. Kasim also said that he HAD to sing one more song as it is John Lennon’s birthday! He also mentioned that a friend of his (a successful songwriter) said that it was his least favourite Beatles song as he doesn’t understand what it’s about - Kasim’s answer was that it doesn’t matter what it’s about “it’s just a beautiful song”. Tonight Kasim played his quiet version of the song which is very effective and was a lovely tribute.

Such a brilliant gig in such a frightful dump….....

Click here for some photos of this gig by Gary "Goat" Goveia

Video Clips
These are 15 second video clips which will take about 5 minutes each to download on a normal modem.
The chorus of Two Outta Three Ain't Bad
He sings it so much better than Meat Loaf!
He gets the words wrong (like Meat Loaf)!
"I want you....I need you"
"What chord is that?"
"I would like to show you the difference"
The difference between playing a C minor with a C flat bass and with an E flat bass

Back to Kasim's promotional appearances to promote Quid Pro Quo