Review by SueW:
We got to the OSP track by 4.00pm and they weren’t very well organised! Will Call wasn’t open yet (it was just a tent!) and they didn’t know a thing about the truck that was supposed to be driving straight to Biloxi after the concert to take things to people there.

The concert was being held in the middle of the racetrack but it was a surprisingly large area so we were hardly conscious of the track. While we waited for the venue to listen we could hear the soundcheck, mainly the music and background vocals so I could hear Kasim a lot which was great! I didn’t actually think that Meat Loaf was there as we could only hear the background vocals but someone who was in the soundcheck said that apparently he faced the back of the stage to sing. Also we were told that they were having fun during the soundcheck as Kasim was putting bottles of water on stage for Meat Loaf and he was kicking them over the fence! For the soundcheck they tested their instruments and then played Warrior, Whore, Life Is A Lemon and All Revved Up.

Next Kasim did his soundcheck and as he was sitting at the front of the stage, I could see him which was brilliant! Unfortunately it started to rain a bit so he just sang part of Bully and There Goes My Inspiration.

They let us into the grounds at 5.30pm and we were about 8th and 9th in line but it was SO civilised! Totally different from European General Admission concerts as everybody calmly walked in and then decided where they wanted to sit (they all had these folding chairs) and it was all a case of "after you", "no after you"! I was even offered a chair from the lady behind me as they had a spare one and I was sitting on the ground - you wouldn’t get that in UK! Unfortunately there was a fence that was about 6 foot high about three inches from the stage. It meant that it was hard to take photos if you were close up but it also meant that the band members were actually handing people guitar pics!

Unfortunately then the heavens opened and it absolutely lashed down. It only lasted for about 15 minutes but even my underwear got wet! There was one guy selling disposable covers there but he soon sold out! It had the effect of lowering the temperature (to about 85!) but it also became very humid so my clothes took ages to dry.

First of all in a field away from us a bit, they had the Dancing Diggers! These were 4 JCBs that moved around to music! It didn’t help that we could only see the tops of them from where we were but it was certainly different!

I bought some tickets for the raffle for Kasim’s guitar. They also raffled one of Meat Loaf’s guitars but the lady in front of me bought $80 worth of tickets for Kasim’s! The guy got rather confused as it was $2 each or 3 for $5 and he struggled with calculating that!

First of all a lady from the Red Cross in Savannah spoke on stage. She said that Georgia has taken in the most numbers of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina after Texas and thanked everybody for all the fund raising.

Kasim walked on stage (to great applause) at about 7.45pm and played a brilliant 6 song opening set. Tonight his voice was really strong and his guitar playing was faultless!

Kasim started by singing a couple of lines of Georgia On My Mind which the audience really appreciated. Unfortunately he said that he didn’t know any more of the song! He next told us that before he came on stage he’d been chatting to his wife on the phone complaining about how hot it was and she’d reminded him that he should be glad that he wasn’t in that heat waiting for a helicopter on top of a roof which reminded us all of why we were here today.

Kasim’s first proper song was Nik Kershaw’s Somebody Loves You. The more I hear Kasim play that song, the more the words come home (it also reminds me a lot of Jason Falkner’s Afraid Himself To Be the way it suits his voice so well).

Kasim went straight into Sometimes Love Is A Dangerous Thing. That received loads of applause from the audience which once again made me wonder why it was never on Quid Pro Quo!

Next we had a new addition to Kasim’s set list for this tour - Utopia’s There Goes My Inspiration. I chatted to a Utopia fan after Kasim’s set and she told me that her husband had seen Todd sing that song earlier this year and that Kasim’s version "blew him away"!

Before She Was Gone was next - that song showcases Kasim’s voice SO well!

Kasim then picked up his other guitar and we had the highlight of his set for me - The One Sure Thing! He played it more like the album tonight (without the slow NaNas) but the words and music of that song are so amazing!

Kasim then thanked us all for being here, told us about his bass that was being raffled and started playing Sacrifice. However after the intro he stopped playing and said that his fly was undone so he had to do it up or there’d be a photo of him like that on the Internet! Kasim’s performance of Sacrifice was wonderful again tonight!

As always, Kasim received far more applause when he left the stage than when he walked on it!

Next we had the raffle for the guitars and I was about 40 tickets out for Kasim’s…so near and yet so far! The funniest thing was that Kasim tried to help with the raffle for his bass by reading the ticket but he didn’t have his glasses with him so he couldn’t see the numbers! In the end he borrowed some from the Red Cross lady!

Meat Loaf came on stage at about 8.45pm and everybody stood up. People also came from the back but there was none of the pushing and shoving that you get at European (especially Irish) concerts. The only problem we had in my section was some guy who went berserk! He was jumping up and down the whole set, shouting and really shaking the fence! I wasn’t sure if he was high, quite excited or drunk but I (and most people) soon moved away from him as he was kicking his legs backwards when he jumped! The funny thing was that he had a really lovely quiet girlfriend who would occasionally just wipe him down with his shirt that he had soon taken off before he started jumping again! I stood in front of Randy’s microphone and had a perfect view!

This was a really good concert and everybody looked like they were having fun on stage tonight! I didn’t think that Meat Loaf’s voice was quite as good as at Hollywood but he was certainly in a fun mood! When Patti and CC take the money off him, he’ll say something (like in Clearwater he said that he was "cleared out in Clearwater" and in Hollywood it was "hustled in Hollywood") and tonight he said that it didn’t matter as it was all going to a good cause! The money they use is quite dodgy looking as the notes are very white and not the usual green tinge dollars! I’ve also noticed that at these US concerts, they don’t do the conspiracy thing between Patti and CC.

Before Two Outta Three Ain’t Bad Meat Loaf read out a long list of names of companies that had donated time or produce to help this event raise as much money as it did. Meat Loaf announced that they expected to raise $100,000 which included a $25,000 donation from the sportsman Bernie Kosar.

The concert finished at about 10.40pm and unlike UK concerts it was well organised so we quickly left the speedway track. We never did see that truck (and Meat Loaf didn’t read out the company’s name) so I don’t think it was there so we still have the whole of the boot and the spare seat full of clothes!

Click here for a 15 second clip of Kasim singing There Goes My Inspiration at this concert. (It will take less than 5 minutes to download on dial-up.)

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