Black and White Black Maria Trapped I Saw The Light Mad Afraid Mercenary Gun Courage Weakness Strike Pissin Today Bardo Mountaintop Panic Manup
Open My Eyes
Click here for more photos of this gig by Renee.
Tonight Love Of The Common Man was played instead of Couldn't I Just Tell You. They also forgot Open My Eyes during the set so it was played in the encore.
Review by RMAC:
At 8:20 pm, the lights diminished and the entire venue went into a state of pandemonium realizing that the wait was finally over. One-by-one, Todd and Crew took their usual positions and magically shook the rafters in The Palace Theater. Who cannot enjoy such Todd favorites as Love In Action, Black and White followed by Black Maria and Open My Eyes? If you are a true aficionado of Utopia and the Nazz, I can only guess that these songs carried a special meaning in more ways than one. Todd proceeded to introduce the band one-by-one purposely leaving out every one’s "ageless" rock journeyman by saying, "Did I forget some thing? Oh yeah! Kasim Sulton". Without warning, Kasim broke into his performance of Trapped. Kasim’s dynamic charisma and power voice added chutzpah and intensity to this concert – or is this an Arena? You just had to be there.
Kasim at keyboards, percussion, guitar and backup vocals was the perfect added ingredient for the Arena Tour. Kasim’s persona and bright smile (sounds like a toothpaste commercial – Oh no!) made eye contact with familiar and new faces in the crowd while throwing guitar pics. Being able to catch one of Kasim’s guitar pics was as though receiving a gift from an old friend. As always, Kasim’s precise attention to every musical nuance was truly appreciated by all in the house. The flawless guitar expertise and one-on-one guitar exchanges with Jesse and Rachel definitely won the hearts of the audience. That Kasim – always the crowd pleasure!
Once Trapped put the crowd in a state of mental frenzy, Todd reached deep down into his repertoire with I Saw The Light, Mad, Afraid, Courage, Mercenary and the rest of the Arena album that rocked every Clevelander. Todd encouraged the usual audience participation as Strike was supposed to cure atrophy and exercise certain muscle groups. Todd’s disclaimer that all in the house were to raise the arm straight up and not in any other direction to avoid injury was mentioned. I got the impression no one really cared so long as all were caught up in the Todd wave in HIS ARENA! Over and over again, Todd’s rock genius will always be a fan favorite. The Arena Show achieved a certain crescendo that totally went off the Richter scale. The audience left feeling mystified, excited, exhausted and unequivocally elevated to a whole new level. If you have ever attended a Todd Arena Show, you know this to be true. Hey folks! At the end of the show, Kasim decided to pick up Rachel off her feet and pretended to throw her into the audience. Wow! Who knows where Rachel would have landed. What was going through Kasim’s mind? Now on to Chicago. See you there!
Comments by fans posted to various messageboards and mailing lists include:
"They forgot to play Open My Eyes near the beginning of the show as they had been. I remember hearing TR say "we forgot something" early on in the show. However, it worked nicely as the first encore! Finally got people outta their seats for good that night!"
"The band was relaxed and played very well together throughout the show."
"The performance was fantastic! There were a few times Todd's voice seemed strained but he strived to go on and deliver another satisfying show that we ve all come to see. "
"They are very tight and everyone onstage looked like they were having fun."
Other websites:
Many thanks to RMAC for all the photos on this page.
The venue (taken from the KasimInfo.com Blog that day):
Tickets for this gig can be purchased from this link and vary in price from $40 to $10 (plus charges). Earlier this morning two seats together were available in the fifth row.
This venue is part of Playhouse Square which is the theater area of Cleveland. Between February 1921 and November 1922, five opulent theaters (the Allen, Ohio, State, Hanna and Palace) opened along Euclid Avenue between E. 14th and E. 17th streets. The theaters presented silent movies, theater and vaudeville. Unfortunately with the increase in the popularity of television four out of the five of these theaters closed between May 1968 and July 1969, the exception being The Hanna. However in 1970 a group known as the PlayhouseSquare Association (a nonprofit organization) was formed to make the area the center of theater culture in the Cleveland area.
Playhouse Square is also known for its dedicated team of over 2,000 volunteers (known as "Red Coats" due to the red jackets they wear as part of their uniform). They provide various services for visitors including ushers, ticket takers and more. Many are retired seniors with a passion for the arts.
Of course Utopia was known as The Beatles of Ohio so Kasim Sulton has played in Cleveland numerous times in his 30+ year career. The last time was on Sunday 15th March 2009 when he played a solo gig out at the Beachland Ballroom and the last time he played in the center of the city was on Wednesday 16th January 2008 when he played as part of Todd Rundgren's band at the Allen Theatre which is also part of Playhouse Square.
All Rights Reserved |