Review by SueW:
I think this was probably the best Kasim Sulton "solo" gig that I didn't manage to see!

Despite a day of endless hassle I made it to the venue okay but I just couldn't see Kasim when I was there as it was SO dark where he was sitting. For example I was sitting 8 or at the most 10 feet away from him and I couldn't even see that he had shaved his beard off! To make it worse there were some lights reflected in the window behind Kasim so that darkened his face even more. I thought it was such a shame when people had travelled from places as far away as Staten island, Philadelphia, Ohio and Buffalo and yet it was like having a tape playing for all we could see! To be fair I could see his guitar okay but his face was in dark shadows.

It was a small room and two people told me that they'd counted 33 people there which was a good number for that size room but disappointing for an artist of Kasim's talent. It was upstairs from the main hall at Toad's Place and unfortunately tonight there were a number of metal bands playing there and the basses especially could clearly be heard (and felt through my chair as I must have been sitting on a lintel!). Kasim's sound was quite loud for the size of the room tonight so I didn't really hear the sound from downstairs too much other than when Kasim was talking. He did talk quite a bit tonight too which was great and the set lasted about an hour and 40 minutes which was the longest set of his tour so far.

Unfortunately Dennis wasn't there tonight but thankfully Doug Kennedy was. As usual he was sitting behind Kasim slightly (Doug was actually almost sitting in a bush that was in the room!) so his face was actually lit better than Kasim's. Between the two of them they had 5 guitars (Kasim used 3 of them).

Doug almost sitting in the bush!

When Kasim first walked on stage he said that he was his own soundman tonight so during the set he'd joke "Can you mute this guitar soundman" and "Right Kas!" as though he was talking to a sound guy! Kasim was on great form with his chatter tonight and was very funny. Sometimes at his solo gigs he'll have worked out what he's going to say before each song but tonight he had to almost give up with his set list because of the noise from downstairs. He decided to play his ballad songs nearing the end in the hope that the noise downstairs would have stopped but that wasn't to be! The sound wasn't perfect throughout Kasim's set (which was understandable) - there was a lot of hissing in the speaker near us.

When Kasim first came out he joked that he'd had to get changed in his car and apologised for turning his back on us as he sorted out the sound which is when someone called out that we couldn't see him anyway so they turned the lights up and everyone cheered. Unfortunately Kasim got them to turn the lights back down and down (I thought he was joking) so that it wasn't much better than before. I think that to be fair to Kasim he could probably see us better than we could see him as he didn't have the reflection in the window to hinder him.

Kasim's first song was Nik Kershaw's Somebody Loves Me. As well as suiting Kasim's voice so well, I think that song is almost biographical for Kasim in places. That song lead almost immediately into Yellow Cab which is one song in particular where I missed Dennis' vocals (Kasim sang the do-do-do's in it).

After Yellow Cab Kasim asked us about the sound and said that he thought there was too much reverb on it so someone in the audience said that it sounded like a full sound (the speaker near us was hissing a fair bit). Kasim then decided to put some more deep end on it so as he got off his chair to change the sound controls Doug played part of Walk The Line!

After Jane Doe and Libertine (there were obviously lots of Utopia fans in the audience tonight again) Kasim said that he'd spoken to Willie Wilcox on the way up here from his home in Mexico. They then played Drive by The Cars after Kasim had explained how he got into the band and why he has had to leave. He also said that he'd like to play with them again at some point in the future. Kasim always sings that song so well (as he did tonight) so I think they're really going to struggle to get another bass player who would sing it half as well.

After I Don't Mind At All Kasim said that he'd started writing songs for his new record and said that he had to release it faster then 17 years or he'd be 67 and would be too old to be singing songs about boyfriends and girlfriends! He then sang Are You Happy Now. The more times I hear that song, the more I like it as it really grows on you. Afterwards Kasim said that someone had asked him to release another version of Quid Pro Quo with just a couple of new tracks but that he didn't think it was fair to do that. Kasim also said that he'd already recorded Are You Happy Now as a track and that it had a band on it so a full sound.

Next Kasim asked us if we wanted a Utopia song or a Todd song and asked us to put our hands up with our preference. He realised that people were putting their hands up for both so he opted for There Goes My Inspiration and followed it by Todd's Cliché.

We then had the Quid Pro Quo part of the set with Sacrifice (which really emphasises Doug's guitar playing especially as he added a new part near the end) followed by Where Is My Soul. Before the latter song somebody had called out for The Finn Brothers song but Kasim misheard and thought they'd said Thin Lizzy so he sung a couple of bars of The Boys Are Back In Town! Kasim then switched guitars and played Before She Was Gone as it was (temporarily) quiet downstairs! Next we had a song which Kasim hasn't played very often on this tour (although he used to play it at most gigs on both his 2001 and 2002 tours) Sometimes Love Is A Dangerous Thing.

Kasim had said at the West Nyack concert about his friend Jon Parascondola (usually known as Jon Paras) who he'd known since he was 12 years old suddenly having a stroke the week before and tonight he told us that he attended his memorial service yesterday. He told us a few anecdotes about their escapades together (mainly getting drunk!) and about how he'd been such a great friend to Kasim. He also said that at the memorial service that he'd played Minutes Slipping Past. Kasim explained that he'd written the song a few months ago and he wasn't really sure why he had written it but now he knew why.

My favourite song The One Sure Thing was next. It doesn't matter how many times I hear that song, I just think it's so beautiful and the words are so inspiring.

I think Kasim was about to only play one more song but as Michelle M was in the audience he played One World which was such a massive crowd pleaser - I don't think there was a person there tonight who didn't join in the clapping part at the end!

All too soon it was time for Kasim's final song (John Lennon's Across The Universe) and then it was time to go out into a massive rain storm with the metal music still playing loudly and police outside the building!

As usual Kasim put on a great performance tonight but this will definitely go down in my memory as one of my most disappointing as I expect to be able to at least see the face of the artist, especially at such a small gig!

On a personal note, I'd like to say a massive thanks to Michelle M who helped me out of a really tight spot today as (due to a massive error on Capital One's part) I was stranded at JFK Airport with no hire car and no way of getting around this weekend!

Review by MikeB:
Attending this intimate show was like being at a party at someone’s house – virtually half the small audience seemed to know each other! The venue, an upstairs room with 10 tables and a couple of dozen seats and a few leather couches, sits over the much larger Toad’s Place nightclub. Unfortunately on this night there was a heavy metal festival going on in the club and the bass and drums sounds filtered right up into the room. Kasim did his best, joking about the sounds from below and changing his set list around to try to get the softer ballad songs done during the band breaks downstairs.

Kasim has developed most of his following through his work with Utopia and Todd Rundgren, but his credits also include doing tours with Joan Jett and Tommy James as well as playing bass and handling the musical directorship for Meat Loaf’s touring bands for many years. A multi-instrumentalist, he played most of the instruments on his most recent CD, Quid Pro Quo, as well as penning all but two of the songs on it.

Accompanied by guitarist pal Doug Kennedy, Kasim played for about an hour and a half, doing his original tunes, some Utopia songs and some Todd Rundgren solo songs. He treated the audience to one of The (New) Cars songs, Drive, that he sang on the recent early summer tour for the revival band, as well as two new songs he has written for his next solo CD. He explained that orginally these songs were going to be included with the re-release of Quid Pro Quo, but he thought that would not be fair to those who had already purchased the CD. Hopefully, he said, it won’t take him 17 years to release his next CD!

In between songs Kas told stories, dropped some familiar names and had people laughing and commenting back to him. Some friendly persuasion brought him back for one last song, The Beatle’s Across The Universe. After the show he hung around signing autogrtaphs and posing for pictures with his loyal fans.

During the show Kasim told the audience that he is always appreciative that people show up for his shows, and whether it is “5 or 27” people, he is always thankful of his fans’ support and he will continue to do these solo shows whenever they can be arranged. If you hear of Kasim playing a solo show near you, don’t hesitate – make plans to attend. You won’t be disappointed!

Comments posted on various mailing lists and messageboards:
"My wife and I drove in from Mahattan to catch the show. PRICELESS! was like having Kaz and Doug playing in your rich friend's living room with about 40 of your koolest friend's on a Sat. nite! PRICELESS!"

"God bless you for an evening treasured, Kaz.And to ALL (Each and Everyone There) present, thanx for helping share the blast even though we didn't know anyone (personally) but "ALMOST" every face seemed to have been seen somewhere/someplace/ Some Show."

"What a great show but where was everyone? There cant have been more than 30 there."

"It really is a treasure to witness such fine talent as Kas has to offer."

"What a great time it was!!! Anyone who ever has a chance to see Kas solo live, you owe it to yourself (and to him) to go to the show!"

Pre-show page on KasimInfo.com:
Click here

Many thanks to MikeB for all the photos on this page.

Kasim Sulton's 2006 Tour