Review by SueW:
I last came to this venue in 2000 and they’ve refurbished it since then as now the orchestra pit area has been raised which was a relief as we had second row seats and it saved us getting neck ache from looking upwards! This venue is all in wood panelling and is one of the best acoustically. The seats are also deeply steeped so that you an easily see above the people in front of you. (In fact when most people were standing during You Took The Words Right Outta My Mouth, it was difficult to see who was standing and who was seated.

As soon as I walked in (after I’d put my jacket on to combat the over-zealous air conditioning!), I noticed a stool set up at the front of the stage! I was hoping that it would be Kasim opening but as there were two guitars, I wasn’t sure.

First of all we had 2 dizzy blondes from a local radio station announcing the forthcoming artists at the venue. They also told everyone to turn their cell phones off which I remember they did at the concert in 2000 too!

Kasim then walked on stage! To précis his solo set, his patter was brilliant, his voice was great but unfortunately his guitar playing seemed to lack some rehearsal. Despite that everyone around me said how much they enjoyed his set and he received a massive round of applause when he left the stage!

He started off by saying that he’d be on stage for about 25 minutes and then joked that he’d be doing a poetry recital! Someone yelled out for Freebird so Kasim joked that he was undecided whether to play Freebird or Stairway To Heaven for the 25 minutes! Kasim next explained that he was also Meat Loaf’s musical director / bass player (which I always thinks helps to put the audience more on his side).

Kasim started by playing the Nik Kershaw song Somebody Loves Me which he played and sang perfectly. I’ve heard him sing this song live about 4 or 5 times now and he seems more and more confident each time he sings it.

Next Kasim went straight into Sometimes Love Is A Dangerous Thing. I’d noticed that Quid Pro Quo wasn’t being sold at the merchandise stand but I did wonder at this point why he’d opened his set with two non-Quid Pro Quo songs (although I’ve always wondered why Sometimes Love Is A Dangerous Thing wasn’t on the album anyway!).

Next Kasim said that a few years ago he had released his second solo album Quid Pro Quo and that it wasn’t available at the merchandise stall which got a good laugh! He explained that he was signed to a big record company so would get into trouble if he sold it at these gigs. The next part of his patter (and was something he referred to again later in his set) was something that he said was to go no further than the 4 walls of the venue so …..!

Kasim next played Before She Was Gone. His voice was just amazing in this song as probably out of all the songs that he sings solo on stage, this is one that suits his voice one of the best. Kasim has sung this song at most of his solo gigs and certainly almost all of his opening sets on the Meat Loaf 2003 / 2004 tour and yet a couple of times he played some wrong chords in it! He mentioned afterwards that he had but a friend of mine said that she hadn’t noticed so hopefully not everyone did!

To my delight Kasim next played my favourite, The One Sure Thing! He played something like 40 or 50 opening sets on the Meat Loaf 2003 / 2004 tour and yet never once played this song (due to logistics) but thankfully tonight he made up for that! (I’d felt really ill all day and I did not really feel up to a concert tonight but hearing that song made it all worthwhile for me.) Kasim said that he played it because someone had written to him asking him to if he opened in Clearwater - afterwards I heard two different girls claim that it was them who wrote to him! Whoever it was, I’m just glad that they did! Unfortunately he did play one wrong chord in the song (and actually played it 3 times before he got it correct!). He also slowed down the Na Na’s in the middle which was really effective!

Kasim finished his set with Sacrifice (complete with another wrong chord). Even though it was not his best ever performance, so many people around me were saying how much they enjoyed his set!

About 20 minutes after Kasim left the stage, the Meat Loaf set started. It wouldn't be fair if I wrote a review today as I felt so ill that I couldn’t enjoy the concert but it certainly did seem that they all had fun on stage tonight….

During Mercury Blues Kasim put on the guy in the foreground's hat (and then Meat Loaf wore it too)

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