This was my 51st Todd gig but I must admit that I was very dubious about this tour though. I just loved The Power Trio Tour back in 2000. Other than Kasim’s solo “tours” that is still my absolute favourite tour that I’ve seen him on as it was solid rock music and was just brilliant. I found the album Liars was difficult for me to get into and needed a few listens but after seeing this concert, I certainly feel very different about the songs! This is an album that sounds 10 times better live!

I still prefer the Power Trio Tour but that’s mainly because I felt that Kasim was SO restricted in his cage on this tour. There was also talk that Kasim didn’t seem as happy as normal at some of the concerts (in some of the earlier photos I saw he looked bloody miserable!) but at the concerts I saw this weekend, he looked fine and happy, quite possibly the earlier uncharacteristic appearances were due to there being lots of errors on stage and Kasim is a real perfectionist.

My first sighting of Kasim that night was him standing up on one of the balconies in his priest outfit looking out at the audience - he looked almost as though he was in a pulpit about to preach to us!

Webster Hall is the old Ritz venue (where The Kasim Sulton Band played a few gigs back in the 1980s) but it is now mainly a disco venue so we were slightly concerned that the set may be cut short as the disco was supposed to start at 10.00pm. They darkened the venue at about 8.15pm and there was a very dramatic lighting effect displayed with taped music of the beginning of Truth played over the PA system. I had seen photos of the lights before but I expected that they just produced an on / off effect with different coloured bulbs but to my surprise they can also produce coloured horizontal lighting and this (blue) was used to great effect at the beginning.

Todd then walked on stage and got to the microphone just in time to start singing Truth. Then the rest of the band arrived just in time for their first lines! Kasim mainly plays keyboards in Truth but put his black bass on at the end of the song for a while. Kasim only used two guitars (his black bass and his mauve one) but he uses the keyboards even less, just for Truth and for a few notes in Sweet.

The one thing that disappointed me about the gig was how little Todd played the guitar. I appreciate that with Jesse Gress on stage, he doesn’t need to play guitar all that much but as he is one of the best guitarists (IMHO) in the business, it seems such a waste to me.

I won’t go through the full set list but a few random thoughts are:

For more reviews of this concert, see TRConnection.com. Comments about Kasim at this concert taken from that site and various mailing lists include:
"With the audience in total frenzy Kasim played a short solo before Todd returned after what seemed a long time to finish the song"

"Kasim moved to the front next to Todd for the guitar solo"

"Kasim calls NYC home base too. Many Kasim fans made an appearance."

"Kasim joined TR onstage (off his little riser) for JOV, which i think might have been due to him playing to his hometown audience, (but I choose to think it was more of a Utopian thang)"

"A much more energetic performance by Kasim, especially on vocals. Actually, he seemed sort of pissed off during the first half, his playing was strong and he was into the crowd during the second half. And when he walked up and surprised Todd during JOV -- well, a ballsy -- and perfect -- move."

"Kas wore a big smile, it was fun and great to see."

"Kasim's distinct vocals immediately differentiate this reading from the studio version."

"At one point, Kasim tosses in the signature riff from the Utopian anthem "Seven Rays," to the brief delight of the cognoscenti. "

"Kasim, who's vocals on the counter-melody ("Hold that line baby hold that line...") were already inducing Utopia flashbacks, spontaneously hops off his riser and joins Todd at the front of the stage-- somewhat to Todd's surprise-- to jam out the song's close. To us old Utopia fans-- even the jaded ones, like me-- it is a magic, chilling time warp of a moment, Todd and Kasim bopping around"

""Mammon" is up next; again Kasim's processed, distinct vocals are prominent in the background mix. His presence makes the music sound less solitary than it does on record. "

"Kasim and Jesse were terrific and comfortable with so many friends in the audience. That was fun."

"One icky…somehow Kasim didn't have an opportunity to do his solo during 'born to synthesize jam', due to John and/or Jesse jamming too long. Not sure who actually went long. Missed Kas' solo. I love a good bass solo. That was a disappointment."

"Kas always tries to stretch himself by doing different and challenging bass fills. Seriously, if you pay attention to bass, Kas never does the same songs the same way. He's always trying things differently."

"Two reviews mentioned that Kas moved up front with Todd but what happened next was Kas took one foot off the ground and bounced a little. Todd shook his head "no". Kas just gave Todd that big grin and did the foot up bounce again. Todd shook no again. Kas did it a third time. They're playing Just One Victory while doing this. Todd just looked at him and smiled. Kas walked away. Todd then spun/hopped on one foot while playing the solo. Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel. When was the last time Todd spun on one foot during the JOV solo? Kas gave this to us. It was an incredible climax to an incredible show."

"Born to Synthesize, Jesse was fantastic. Kas worked in The Ikon, I believe."

"Kasim's distinct vocals immediately differentiate this reading from the studio version."

"Kasim's bass provides a fat, deft, melodic bottom."

""Mammon" is up next; again Kasim's processed, distinct vocals are prominent in the background mix. His presence makes the music sound less solitary than it does on record."

"At one point, Kasim tosses in the signature riff from the Utopian anthem "Seven Rays," to the brief delight of the cognoscenti."

"Kasim, who's vocals on the counter-melody ("Hold that line baby hold that line...") were already inducing Utopia flashbacks, spontaneously hops off his riser and joins Todd at the front of the stage-- somewhat to Todd's surprise-- to jam out the song's close. To us old Utopia fans-- even the jaded ones, like me-- it is a magic, chilling time warp of a moment, Todd and Kasim bopping around together as "Just One Victory" plays out."

"It took some time, but Kasim finally came out. He was engaging and so nice. He signed THE IKON plate and I showed him where he signed the back 25 years ago. He took up the front with a really nice inscription. He said Todd might get pissed because he took the space in the middle all up. We spoke about his cousin Steve who I knew in the 70's. he remembered we spoke about it via emails, and then said, "My mother would be upset because I don't really know him, 'It's your cousin!', she would say". Then he looked at Lorna, and said, "Is this your wife?", She said yes, "I'm Lorna", he introduced himself as Kasim. He was so nice and gentlemanly. I wasn't sure if she was going to get on the bus though. I think she's a converted Kasim fan now. He spent at least 5 minutes talking with us."

Photos on this page are by Gary "Goat" Goveia from the Redbank gig

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