It was only tonight that I realised that THE STOOL is exactly the same colour (silver) as the stage setting so it blends in totally. It wasn’t until I got towards the front section of the venue that I could actually see that it was on stage …that walk is always a nerve racking few minutes for me!

I think the absolute worst part of the whole concert is that second or so after Kasim is announced when there is silence from 12,000 people as they realise that Meat Loaf isn’t actually coming on stage quite yet. Usually then a few people will clap and those who know who Kasim is will cheer too. Usually people become more receptive towards Kasim once he explains that he plays in Meat Loaf’s band and that he is only playing a few songs! Tonight however he made the comment that they had decided to “wheel” him out again which was a brilliant swipe at that Evening Standard critic who blasted the whole of the 17th November concert here at Wembley and blatantly said that Kasim was only wheeled out to fill in time as they were running late!

Tonight Kasim’s voice was just brilliant - I think vocally it was one of the best sets I’ve seen of his (or at least that’s how the acoustics sounded although it’s hard to compare this massive venue with somewhere like Zigs or The Bitter End). Last night in Manchester when Kasim was struggling with a broken guitar string he only sang one strong “strong” in Don’t Hold Me Back and didn’t ht the next note perfectly (not that probably too many people noticed but me) but tonight he sang two strong “strong”s and both of his next notes were spot on! It was just amazing to hear!

Next Kasim said that he had been racking his brain trying to think of something Christmassy to sing (I had my fingers crossed at this point that he was going to sing his UK debut of The One Sure Thing as it originally started by being written for a Christmas show) but that he couldn’t think of anything suitable so instead he was going to sing a song by a group who had a terrific influence on him and had first got him interested in music. He then sang his beautiful performance of Across The Universe. Unfortunately I was asked later by a couple of people if it was a Beatles song as it’s not all that well known over here.

Kasim then mentioned Quid Pro Quo and that there were only a few copies left at the merchandise stall before he sang Sacrifice from his album. That song always seems to receive more applause than the others as it really seems to grab people’s attention. I’m sure that anybody wavering about buying the album will decide to do so after hearing Sacrifice.

It was then only time for Kasim to say that Meat Loaf will be out in a few minutes before he walked off the stage to probably 20 times more applause than when he walked on. And leaving me thinking (yet again) that a “short opening set” is just not long enough!

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