When Kasim had a totally useless manager who couldn’t promote his way out of a paper bag, I’ve seen him play to audiences of less than 20 people so my intention was that when he was on stage, I would look around the audience to see the 12,000 people watching Kasim playing his songs at “my” venue. Of course that never happened as when Kasim walked on stage, I was just too wrapped up in the music to think of anything else!

This was the ninth time I’ve seen Kasim play an opening set at a Meat Loaf concert and this was by far his best performance in my humble opinion. Kasim’s voice tonight was just brilliant. He sounded very strong and exceptionally clear (probably as they haven’t played for 5 days). He certainly has one of the best voices there is.

Another added bonus tonight was that the cameramen and the guy who decided which shots to show on the big screens was just excellent! As I was over on the side, it was far easier for me to watch Kasim on the 10 foot(?) high screen in front of me and they didn’t miss a trick. They were showing one side of his face and then the other, then his hands on the guitar from the front and then from down the neck of the guitar. They also panned the shots across him and faded to the next shot which gave a lovely smooth feel to the presentation that suited Kasim’s music so well (for Meat Loaf’s set that did short cut-out shots).

Kasim’s first song was Don’t Hold Me Back and he sang it perfectly. He started it with his impressive (and loud) “I gave no promise or guarantee” beginning which is so effective. He sang a strong “strong” and then hit the next note perfectly. It’s strong beginning also always makes people sit up and listen right from the start!

Next Kasim mentioned Quid Pro Quo. One of the complaints at the Halle concert was that he laboured on too much about the CD (I think he just hadn’t rehearsed what he was going to say so he waffled a bit) but tonight’s mention was just right as he tied it up with the fact that Christmas is coming soon and was really amusing! Even one of the more critical Germans behind me remarked on how well Kasim phrased it! Kasim then sang Before She Was Gone and sang it beautifully.

Unfortunately there was only time for Kasim to sing one more song so he put his capo in place so I knew it was going to be Sacrifice. He then had a bit of a problem getting his guitar fully in tune (it probably only took about 10 seconds in total). That song went down really well with the crowd but I wonder how many people really listened to the words? It’s a great up-beat song but the words are very thought-provoking which is unusual for a fast song. In fact the words that Kasim sang tonight were slightly different to those on Quid Pro Quo! Maybe the album is wrong?!!

All too soon for me, it was time for Kasim to leave the stage …..to loads of applause and cheers.