Kasim came on stage at about 7.40pm and received quite a good round of applause. He said hello to Birmingham and introduced himself by saying that he also plays with Meat Loaf and that he’d just play a few songs before he launched into Don’t Hold Me Back. Kasim’s voice tonight seemed very slightly husky to me for his first song but it soon warmed up (or maybe it was my ears).

Kasim appeared to be having some bother with the sound as straight after his first song, he said into the microphone something about “the sides” but it was soon adjusted to his satisfaction. Next Kasim spoke about Quid Pro Quo and how it makes a great stocking filler. (He also mentioned Boxing Day which is a UK holiday!) Unfortunately he next played a song that isn’t actually on Quid Pro Quo - Sometimes Love Is A Dangerous Thing!

Kasim next mentioned that Meat Loaf had been ill but he said that he is recovered now. Kasim also said that he reckoned that the last few concerts that they’ve played since Meat Loaf returned are the best that they’ve played in the “past year and a half”. He then counted on his fingers (it looked so sweet!) that this was their fifth concert and he said that if we didn’t agree that it was one of the best then we could see him afterwards! (A friend of mine was impressed with his UK geography that when he counted out Dublin, the two in Belfast and Newcastle, he said “up in Newcastle” as so many people make the mistake of thinking that it is south!)

Finally Kasim sang Sacrifice which was brilliant as always. He actually changed the guitar part in the middle as he didn’t do the muted part but played it more like it is on the album. I actually thought when Kasim walked on stage that he wasn’t going to sing Sacrifice as he didn’t have his clothes peg on his guitar but his guitar tech (Charlie) brought it out later.

All too soon for me, it was time for Kasim to say goodbye to Birmingham and to leave the stage. The one thing I did notice was how he said “Birmingham” as he said it the correct way of “Birmingham” whereas most UK people will say “Birmingh’m”….after I’m been struggling to say US city names like Schenectady and Tahlequah, it was nice to hear Kasim pronounce a UK city differently too!

As I said before, unfortunately I think that this was the worst concert for me out of the 200+ that I’ve seen Kasim play. Quite possibly the concert itself was quite good but I could hardly see a bloody thing and very little of Kasim so I was not happy! My seat was in the second row right in the middle of the stage but all the people in the front row stood and the people behind me made it quite clear that I wouldn’t be standing so I spent most of the concert stretching my neck hoping that Kasim would come to the front of the stage as I couldn’t see him when he was at his microphone! For the first time I realised how relative little Kasim is at the front of the stage compared to people like Paul Crook and Randy Flowers! Maybe he suffers from a fear of falling off the stage? (Acrophobia or maybe fame-phobia?)

It’s pointless me doing a detailed review of this concert as I really don’t know what was happening on the stage but it sounded pretty good! Meat Loaf seems to be getting more and more energy at each concert and is adding more and more. Apparently last night he went to see Justin Timberlake in concert and noticed that every time he went to the sides of the stage, the people screamed so Meat Loaf did the same thing and made the comment about him also being a “sex god”! Although I prefer to just hear music at concerts, it is this sort of thing that makes me realise how much Meat Loaf’s stage performance was lacking at the earlier concerts and that he IS getting better! Tonight he also managed to cover far more of the stage when he does that criss-crossing thing near the end of All Revved Up.

One new thing tonight was that in Testify, instead of Kasim playing the acoustic intro into Testify, CC played(?) it. Meat Loaf also had a guitar on at that point bit I’m not sure if he played too as I couldn’t see properly. Unfortunately though, whoever or however it was played, it wasn’t anywhere near loud enough. Meat Loaf brought across the extra microphone to the middle of the stage and Kasim and CC shared it (although CC only sang the chorus).

I think my favourite song tonight was I’d Lie For You (And That’s The Truth) as the eight foot tall guy between Kasim and I decided to sit during that song so I could actually see Kasim!!!

The other time that I could really see Kasim clearly was during the musical part of Forever Young as he played a lot of that at the front of the stage….he really got into it too!

The other new thing I noticed was that when the confetti machines were spewing they also had three Union Jack flags that unfurled from the roof. (I only noticed them as Kasim was looking up at them!) Unfortunately they badly needed an iron!

The band had the same funny lines on the screens when they were introduced but tonight Meat Loaf introduced Kasim before CC so her lines came up when Kasim was on the screen which looked strange as it says something about “Looking for a quiet man who likes to read and is kinky”!

As I said, it was probably a good concert tonight….just not for me!

Click here for a review, photos and video clips of this concert by Deb Matheson.