The Beachland Ballroom was a modern looking building which was about half an hours drive from the centre of Cleveland so I was slightly worried about if there would be a good attendance at this gig (especially as it was difficult to put up flyers in the city itself) but I needn't have worried as they even had to get some extra chairs out before Kasim took the stage!

Kasim came out (wearing his StoryTellers top) to loads of applause and cheers! His opening line was, "I've been wanting to say this for about 25 years and I finally get the chance, HELLO CLEVELAND" which brought him even more applause and cheers! Before he started Don't Hold Me Back he strummed his guitar but it wasn't coming out of the speakers, thankfully one of the audience noticed that it wasn't actually plugged in!! Kasim said that he usually didn't introduce his first song but, as he'd probably played in Cleveland more than he had any other city in the World, he would tonight so he explained that it was a song that he used to play in his solo spot when he played in Utopia (more applause and cheers!)

It was a different version of Afraid Himself To Be tonight as Kasim sang the "Drop your gun and your guard" part the way he used to sing it with more dramatic emphasis (recently at all the gigs he's been singing it slower but personally I prefer the faster version) and, for the first time, he sang the line "Get the hell outta here" really high - he hit the notes perfectly.

It was at this point that Kasim noticed a really sweet little girl in the audience and asked her if he was doing okay and if he sounded alright - thankfully she said yes! He pointed out that young children are very honest and that if he hadn’t been doing well, she probably would have told him! I've been told before that Kasim has this amazing talent for exactly guessing children's ages but I've never seen it myself but tonight he was spot on as he guessed that she was 7 (more applause and cheers)! Kasim then introduced Sometimes Love Is A Dangerous Thing by explaining that he and Tommy Hambridge wrote it for Meat Loaf's forthcoming album but that "it was summarily rejected, as always"! Kasim said that he was just like the hired help with Meat but that it was in Cleveland that Bat Out Of Hell first took off!

The crowd was obviously predominately Utopia fans so they really appreciated Set Me Free. Kasim explained that he wrote it for the album Adventures in Utopia. That was their best selling album and they hoped to follow it up with another hit album in the same vein and then they would become more famous, "we can double our fanbase, we can become a huge commercial success, we can have our own TV shows, our own movies, people will write books about us, we're going to become famous... no more of this only playing in Cleveland stuff!!" (more applause and cheers)! Kasim then gave his views on Deface The Music before he sang Alone.

After Just A Little Bit and Kasim's great link into Ticket To Ride, somebody asked if he'd ever met any of The Beatles so Kasim explained that he'd played with Ringo and had "been blown off" by Paul! He then played two tracks from Utopia's next album, Utopia or "The White Album" as Kasim calls it.

We then had the highlight of the evening for me as Kasim announced that he was going to sing some of his own songs and he started with the wonderful The One Sure Thing! He said that it was a very new song so he had the words to hand (although he didn't need them) and even had to ask someone in the audience what the song was actually called as he'd forgotten!! It went down really well with the audience (loads of applause and cheers)! Again, he sang the Na, na, na's slightly differently - he's sung this song on stage three times now and each version has been different.

Kasim switched guitars again and sang Before She Was Gone before changing to his 1929 Regal tenor guitar (maybe from his "separate storage facility"?!!) for his great newest song, I'll Carry On with that really catchy chorus! However, being pedantic, I did notice that he doesn't ever sing "I'll carry On" in the song but each time he actually sings "I'll just carry on" in the chorus.

Kasim then gave a great speech about his daughter, whose graduation party it is tomorrow (he's obviously very proud of her) before singing Todd Rundgren's It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference.

Someone shouted out for Kasim to sing The Martyr so he attempted a few bars but obviously couldn't remember the words! He did say that it wasn't really a song that could be played acoustically and went on to tell us that he saw Billy Idol singing an acoustic version of White Wedding that didn't work either - he then gave us his impression of Billy Idol singing it (in a deepish voice) which was really good! Getting back to the plot, Kasim explained what a massive influence The Beatles were on him taking up music and that when he saw them on the Ed Sullivan show, he just pointed to the TV screen and said (in a funny voice!), "That's what I wanna do when I grow up.....forget about school.....forget about everything else.....I didn't really talk like this, I'm just doing it for effect"!! His comic timing is perfect on stage! He said that he wanted to be a Beatle but at least he got to be in the Ohioan Beatles! Kasim then ended with Across The Universe to massive applause and cheers!

I usually end my reviews at this point but I think that this gig (my favourite of the trip!) deserves a post script. As Kasim has done at each gig, after his performance he's come into the audience for people to meet him. Tonight he made a point of going up to the little girl that he spoke to from the stage and spent quite a while talking to her and her family and signing autographs. He'd already guessed her age from stage but he said that he would try to guess her birthday - everybody in the room was listening at this point! I think he cheated slightly with the month because he said "I'd like to say October" (she vigorously shook her head) "but I think I'll say February" to which she vigorously nodded her head! He then decided to guess the day and correctly got it first guess - the 20th! It was just amazing and, even though he was off-stage, it brought him loads of applause and cheers!

Video Clips
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Kasim Sulton Solo Acoustic Tour 2001