This was one of my favourite of Kasim’s opening sets as he was just really amusing throughout it!

Kasim really bounced onto the stage and explained who he was and what he would be doing on stage….about two hours of reading his own poetry! Thankfully the people of Manchester must have heard about how good Meat Loaf’s opening act was so were all already in their seats so Kasim’s comment received a terrific burst of laughter!

Kasim started his set with Don’t Hold Me Back and tonight his voice was sounding just perfect! As I posted in my reviews last year, a few times Kasim’s voice showed some signs of wear after singing his opening set and then in Meat Loaf’s set and yet on this tour, I haven’t noticed any wearing of it!

Kasim next mentioned Quid Pro Quo but then went on to sing a song that isn’t actually on the album! ( wonder why it wasn’t included?!) - Sometimes Love Is A Dangerous Thing. In the middle of the song, for the first time on this Opening Set World Tour, Kasim did his “take it boys” comment to “his band” which brought even more laughter!

Kasim (bless him!) still hasn’t quite mastered the use of the UK version of the English language as he always mentions that Quid Pro Quo makes a good “stocking stuffer” (we say a “stocking filler”) and keeps wishing us “Happy Holidays” (I think he means “Happy Christmas” and not a nice time on a beach!) but I think that most people can get the gist of what he’s saying, although I’m not sure that the people sitting behind me would even understand what I was saying as their northern accents were so strong! Thankfully, although Kasim’s set is only 3 songs long, his personality really does come across well.

All too soon for me, Kasim then said that he just had one more song to sing…..before he would start his poetry reading!! His final song was Sacrifice which this sold-out crowd really seemed to like - it’s such a catchy tune and yet has quite deep words too. Tonight Kasim left a very long gap in the middle of the song which always leaves people wondering if they should clap or not as they are unsure whether he's finished the song. Tonight he did receive a big round of appluase during this part and during the silence, very slowly, a lovely smile came across his face!

When Kasim left the stage tonight, there was even more applause than there usually is which was just brilliant to hear!

And there, although I didn’t know it at the time, ended this leg of the Kasim Sulton Opening Sets World Tour! Thankfully Kasim opened all but one of the UK concerts, two of the German ones and the one Irish gig and I am sure has made loads of new fans.

Video Clips
These are 15 second video clips which should take about five minutes to download on dial-up. All these clips are used with permission.
Don't Hold Me Back (hitting the next note after "strong" pefectly!)
Singing Sacrifice
Kasim's brilliant guitar work!
"Yeah" and leading up to the pause (Here is the full 15 second clip where you can just see the beginning of his smile and the applause!)
Singing Sacrifice (with his eyes open!)

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