Click here for photos by Jennifer Salyer of the second set at this gig.

Review by SueW:
It doesn't seem all that long ago that Gary Lacey was posting on various messageboards that Kasim was about to play 15 to 20 gigs on a solo tour and now we're almost at the end of the gigs already!

The Van Dyck is a venue where Kasim has played twice before (both in 2002). Although it's far from being my favourite of the venues he plays, I do like the fact that he has to play two shows here each evening!!

Tonight there were less people here than on the other occasions (sadly a feature of this tour) - at his last gig the tables at the back were even used but there were some empty ones this time. Interestingly there were more people at the second set than the first - that was the reverse in 2002.

When Kasim first sat down on stage, he had a slight problem with his guitar lead making a funny noise as though it was cutting out but thankfully that was soon fixed. Kasim started his first set with this tour's opener Somebody Loves You by Nik Kershaw. His and Dennis' vocals blend so well in that song and it was really great that Dennis was playing this gig again!

Once they finished the first song we could hear some music coming from somewhere and Kasim said that he had Mick Jagger singing Dancing In The Street coming out of his monitor! Once that was fixed they sang The Finn Brothers Where Is My Soul.

Kasim next joked that this show was going to be short as he had another gig in Utica later that evening (it's about 90 miles away). He then spoke about how difficult it is when (in his words) he has a small repertoire of songs to sing so that he has to duplicate some. In fact he only sang 3 at both sets. Although he has sung more on stage at his solo gigs (e.g. Back On The Streets, Afraid Himself To Be, This Must Be Love, Ticket To Ride, Set Me Free) there are some songs that he almost has to sing at both sets such as Sacrifice and Before She Was Gone. Kasim also told us about his 2,500 mile trips by car this week which is something I can really emphasise with! At least he had Doug Kennedy for company and if he was as amusing in the car as he was on stage then it must have been a fun ride!

Next they played Before She Was Gone followed by I Don't Mind At All - Dennis sang some great background vocals in that particular song! Kasim then spoke about playing as part of The New Cars and gave us an exaggerated account of Elliot Easton's injuries before singing Drive. Kasim's performance of that song tonight was just brilliant! I was listening to my CD of The New Cars on the drive up here tonight and he just sings it far more confidently now than he did on that CD and his voice suits that song so well!

After Drive he went straight into Libertine (with some amazing lead guitar on that song by Doug and some great background vocals by Dennis!). Kasim then spoke about playing with Utopia and several people called out the various Utopia gigs that they'd been to in the area and Kasim told us about when his own band opened for Utopia at the Capital Theatre! Kasim said that he was writing songs for his new album but that he wouldn't say which year it was coming out! Kasim played Are You Happy Now which will be on the new album (he said that track is all recorded with a band sound which in fact was him playing all the instruments). For this set we had the line "You're drinking decaff in Oyster Bay, I'm still in Schenectady a hundred miles away"! (At other gigs he's sung "half a world away".)

Throughout both sets there was loads of banter from Kasim and it's these sections of the show that make his shows really personal. Tonight he "picked" (in the nicest possible way) on one guy whose main responses to Kasim were just non-committal shrugs. Kasim also told us about him growing his fingernails and barbequing at home and the difference between burned and burnt food - he doesn't think there is one! I must admit that sometimes I don't always fully understand these references for example something he said about a parking ticket that went over my head (it's that US English and UK English thing) but people obviously find him very funny and with Doug joining in sometimes too, it's far more than just an evening of great music at these gigs! It's interesting how Kasim tapers his gigs to the audience too. For example tonight Keith's two children Gary and Lacey were there so Kasim made a point of saying that he wouldn't swear (I think he calls it cuss or curse) but at other gigs where it's all adults he uses some pretty ripe language!

Next they switched guitars and played my favourite (and Kasim said that it's one of his favourites from Quid Pro Quo) The One Sure Thing. He sang the second line of the song incorrectly ("I might worry for a minute" instead of "Would you worry for a minute") and gradually a really big smile came over his face as he realised what he'd sung. Next they switched guitars back and Kasim introduced both Doug and Dennis before they launched into Sacrifice.

Kasim dedicated his next song to Michelle (Shelley) who had been at about 200 Utopia gigs including his second or third one with the band. Kasim said that he remembers that he joined Utopia in April 1976 as it was near Tax Day! He told us how he had to borrow $20 from his uncle to catch the bus up to Woodstock to audition for Utopia! He played one of Michelle's favourites One World which got the whole audience clapping (and singing) at the end!

The first show finished at around 8.00pm so there was a break until 9.30pm for the second set. It was disappointing that Kasim didn't come out to meet the people who waited as he has on other occasions as a couple of people could only stay for the first show so they didn't get to talk to Kasim tonight.

There had been some music playing during the break between sets and they'd turned it off but left it playing in Kasim's monitor so he told us that this time he could hear The Beach Boys! Kasim (who had switched from a shirt to a jumper) started his second set with his other Nik Kershaw song, Jane Doe (Dennis sings some great background vocals on that song) straight into Yellow Cab (with even stronger background vocals by Dennis).

Kasim then spoke about his regret that he doesn't play his solo gigs more often and about how much he enjoys them. Don't Hold Me Back was next and he sang a really strong version of it. Singing two shows in one evening certainly can't be easy but Kasim's voice betrayed no sign of having done that as his voice was as strong at the beginning of the evening as it was at the end!

Kasim told us that for a couple of years he used to live "up in Woodstock" so he was corrected by some of the audience that in Schenectady it's "down in Woodstock"(!). He said that he didn't live in Bearsville itself but in a small development off Route 275. Kasim then spoke about how much he appreciates Todd and played both It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference and Cliché. I found this part of the set fascinating as Dennis obviously didn't know the songs but spent the first verses of both songs watching Kasim and then picked them up and played them - he's obviously a very talented musician and reminded me of the time that Kasim played that Star Clinic in Milwaukee where he played a song that a young guy's band had written just by watching how the guy played the chords!

Next Kasim told us about the RA Tour and how all the band were different elements and they used to play 10 minute solos during this section of the show. He gave us examples that Willie was Water so they had water coming out of his drums. Kasim was Wind so they had two fans blowing smoke across the stage until they got to somewhere like Phoenix where the crew rolled a tumbleweed onto the stage which just rolled out and sat (stood?) next to Kasim! He explained that these were very heavy plants with loads of sharp barbs. Kasim then joked that he probably rang his mother after the show to complain (as he said he did after most of the gigs then!). Kasim then played There Goes My Inspiration ("from my Utopia days") which he said that Dennis didn't know (but he managed to pick up fine but even I can tell that that song isn't the most difficult musically!).

After an even more country-sounding version than normal of Sometime Love Is A Dangerous Thing, Kasim played his first of only 3 duplicate songs of the evening, his new song Are You Happy Now. For this set we had the line "You're drinking decaff in Oyster Bay, I'm still at The Van Dyck a world and a half away"!

Next Kasim told us about how out of character it was for him to write the song Minutes Slipping Past and he again dedicated it to Jon Paras and spoke really fondly about him. One interesting comment he made was that in places like Schenectady that people will often stay friends with people throughout their whole lives but in a city like where Kasim lives, people move in and out a lot so it was rare for someone there have a friend since childhood.

Sacrifice was next and I really like the way they're playing it on this tour as IMHO they're combining the best parts of the album version (all Doug's great guitar playing) with my favourite musical part of Kasim's live sets (the muted guitar strings bit near the end). This was the Quid Pro Quo section of the evening as they followed Sacrifice with Before She Was Gone and Dennis sang some background vocals on this which I don't remember him singing before (but I couldn't be wrong about that)!

This evening I was seated at the table right in front of the stage so I could see really clearly and now I understand what Kasim meant in Providence about how hard he plays his strings as he really does bang then far more than Doug and Dennis.

Kasim spoke (briefly) about seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and then played John Lennon's Across The Universe with Dennis singing background vocals - their voices really sound so good together.

Kasim then told us that rather than going off stage and walking away and then coming back, he would just play his encore song! I think he was going to sing The One Sure Thing as they started to change guitars but someone called out for a Cars' song so they played Drive instead.

After two great gigs like Kasim played tonight I think it's such a shame that now he's getting into such a good groove that he has to stop these solo gigs to go and do promotion with Meat Loaf. Obviously we all realise that Kasim has to make a living and that playing these sort of gigs full-time won't give him that at the moment, but if there was any justice in the world then he would be selling out the venues that other less talented artists do. It's a real credit to his talent that the 4 people I asked about where they lived and how they got to this gig all told me that they'd driven 3 or more hours to see him! (And spare a thought for the poor person who flew up all the way from Texas for the gigs but got so delayed by the storm that she missed both sets!)

Comments posted on various mailing lists and messageboards include:
"Last night at "The Van Dyke" in Schenectady, NY, Kasim along with Doug Kennedy and Dennis Delgaudio, played two shows to a lively crowd.
Lots of Todd /Utopia tunes.
Kasim's shows are so much fun, he always has lots of funny stories about the old days.
He told a funny story about the "Ra" tour and his part as wind during "SingRing". (roger/fire, willie/water , kasim/wind, todd /earth).
For those who never experienced the "Ra" tour with all its theatrics it's just too hard for me to explain.
For those who have seen it , the story was that the roadies thought it would be funny to throw a tumble weed ( that they hid on one of the buses ) on stage while the big (wind) fans were blowing during his solo. The roadie's thought it would tumble, but to everyone's bewilderment it was so heavy that it just stayed where it was next to (a very surprised) Kasim.
There's only a couple of solo shows left before he heads out with "Meatloaf".
So if at all possible do yourself a favor see Kasim Sulton with Doug and Dennis ."

Pre-show page on KasimInfo.com:
Click here

Many thanks to Gary "Goat" Goveia for all the photos on this page - more to be added soon!

Kasim Sulton's 2006 Tour