As soon as I walked into the NEC I checked that Kasim’s stool was set up on stage and thankfully it was! The lights dimmed at about 7.40pm and there was about a minute of nothing before Kasim half ran / half bounced on stage! I think he was expecting someone to introduce him but nobody did so he had to introduce himself “Ladies and Gentleman - Kasim Sulton” which fell slightly flat as most people there didn’t realise that it was Kasim Sulton introducing Kasim Sulton! (It always gets a big laugh if he has to do it at his solo gigs as people are there to see Kasim).

Kasim then explained that he plays with Meat Loaf but that first he was going to sing some of his own songs and he started with Sacrifice. For all of Kasim’s set he used his metal-acoustic guitar (the one he uses in Testify) and at the start of his set his capo was already on his guitar. For the ignorant (like I was in Halle) a capo is that clothes peg thingy that allows one to play open chords higher up on the neck. This way, one can change keys but still play the same chord shapes. So, musicians use it often when they want to play a song in a different key but want to play the same chord shapes as they would lower on the guitar neck. (That was what Doug Kennedy told me and I still don’t understand it - personally I think Kasim’s trying to save on his guitar strings!)

Kasim’s voice sounded brilliant in Sacrifice - really strong and he sang the song faultlessly. His guitar work is just amazing in that and in the guitar solo part he slowed it and then did that muted string bit which is so effective!

Next Kasim mentioned Quid Pro Quo and that it was available to purchase in the venue (thankfully it was positioned better at all the merchandise stalls than at Halle but at £15 it is quite expensive as that makes it about $20…maybe they have to add on VAT if it’s sold in UK). Kasim then removed his capo and sang Before She Was Gone. I don’t think it was my imagination but I that Kasim sang it slightly slower than normal. One part I did notice was that when he sang the “like a dying fire” part the word “fire” was echoed after he sang it - I don’t know how that was done unless they turned on an echo in the microphone for that one word. Again Kasim’s voice was very strong in this song.

Kasim next explained that he was pleased to be in England and that he’d just played with Meat Loaf in Germany. He said that at the two concerts that he had opened he had asked the promoters to tell him a few words of German so that he could say them but that by the time he got on stage, he always forget them! He also said that he had been getting fed up with seeing Star Trek dubbed into German!

Kasim’s final song was Don’t Hold Me Back but he didn’t start it with his loud “I gave no promise or guarantee!” but instead played a few chords of guitar before starting the song. Somebody was recently called “a prick” for saying that another singer’s voice was not so good one evening (!) so at the risk of being called the same, unfortunately vocally this was not the best performance I’ve heard of DHMB. I’m not sure if the guitar was tuned too high or just that Kasim needed a sip of water but his voice sounded very husky throughout the song. He still received a loud round of applause afterwards though!

And then, all too soon for me, it was time for Kasim to leave the stage after another great opening set!

Click here for a review of the whole concert.

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