|
Yellow Cab The God Of Low Somebody Loves You I Just Wanna Touch You Sacrifice There Goes My Inspiration Set Me Free Keep It In Mind (That I Love You So) Libertine Cliché Watching The World Go By Love Alone Drive One World 
Click here to see photos of the soundcheck, here for more photos of the gig and here for photos of Kasim with fans at this gig.
Review by SueW:
Jeff had a large but not massive house by US standards but it certainly was by UK standards (we’re short of space over there!) and he’d cleverly set up Kasim in the corner where two rooms met so there was plenty of room for everybody. Some people even sat up on the next floor overlooking the rooms. I opted to be one of The Brady Bunch (as Diane cleverly called it) by sitting on the stairs.
There was a wide spectrum of ages with several people knowing who Todd Rundgren was but lots of people who didn’t know either Todd or Kasim but they were certainly fans by the end of the evening!
The lighting wasn’t perfect as Kasim’s face was slightly in the shade but the lighting was certainly far better than at some of his other gigs on this tour so far!
Kasim played for one hour seventeen minutes and I thought this was easily the best of the four gigs so far on this tour! I go to lots of gigs so it’s rare for me to wake up still buzzing the next day but I certainly did after this gig! One of the best parts of this gig for me was that Kasim sang without using a microphone. I’ve only heard his natural voice a few times over the years so this made it very special. Kasim explained that it’s because he sings very loud normally anyway! Tonight Kasim’s voice was strong right from the first song.
Kasim started his set as normal on the keyboards with Drivin’ Me Mad. He then explained that he was from New York and that his next song was about the city although it was written by somebody from London – Yellow Cab.
Kasim then switched to his guitar and asked us how many of us had bosses that we hated and only a couple of people who put up their hands which was unusual. Kasim explained that this was the basis of his next song – The God Of Low. There was an abortive start as Kasim had forgotten his capo and then I noticed that after the first chorus, he played the music for longer than he usual does – he’d forgotten how the second verse starts! Thankfully he remembered and continued with the song. After that Kasim went straight into Somebody Loves You.
Kasim then told us about playing in Utopia and about The Beatles parody album. It was interesting listening to peoples’ reactions here as most of them didn’t know the story. This obviously led into I Just Wanna Touch You but tonight it was a duet as Kasim got our host Jeff to sing the “oooh” parts of the song which was hilarious! It’s this sort of thing that makes Kasim’s solo gigs so unique each time and why I can never get enough of them.
Sacrifice was next and even though most people here didn’t know the song, they obviously loved it from the massive round of applause that it received. The next part was really sweet as Kasim told us that his father fixed tele-typist machines (which I hadn’t heard him say before) and how Kasim got into playing music and that he always refused to play guitar when his father asked him to play in front of his aunts and uncles as he thought that playing in front of a roomful of people at a house would be the worst thing possible but tonight he was doing exactly that and loving it!
After There Goes My Inspiration, Kasim switched back to his keyboards to play Set Me Free. At this point someone said that he loved the video for the song (which I realised that I don’t think I’ve ever seen) and then someone else piped up that there was some sort of negative connection with a guy in that video and Indianapolis which I didn’t quite understand. Despite that Set Me Free received loads of applause afterwards too.
Kasim then told us the story about Keep It In Mind (That I Love You So) before playing that song which was popular too as I saw lots of people’s feet taping to it.
It was the audience participation song next – Libertine. This audience were brilliant at it right from the start and obviously loved joining in! So much so that Kasim got us to keep singing at the end! First of all we all sang it really quietly, then he got just the single guys to sing, then all the pregnant women (Kasim joked that someone found out something tonight!) and then all the dairy farmers as he had asked someone earlier if they were one as she had got up at 4am today.
Cliché was next before Kasim told us about his plans for his forthcoming album. While he was telling us this he switched to his orange metallic looking guitar and was strumming it. He usually plays both The One Sure Thing and Watching The World Go By on this guitar but tonight (to my disappointment) he omitted TOST although he was strumming part of it as he was talking.
Kasim then moved back to the keyboards (he had taken his jacket off by this time) and said that this had been his favourite House Party Concert that he had ever played (I can believe it!) before playing Love Alone. Afterwards Kasim told us about his appearance singing that song on The John Davidson Show and their meeting the next day on the airplane.
Drive was next which I thought was a great choice as even people who hadn’t heard of Todd or Utopia knew that song and obviously really liked Kasim’s version.
Kasim’s final song was, of course, One World although tonight was probably the worst clapping at the end of the song that I’d heard as most people didn’t know it. However with the applause that followed it (and Kasim’s set) it proved to me how great it is that total strangers to Kasim’s music enjoyed his set! The standing ovation certainly proved that too.
And then, all too soon for me, it was the end of a really brilliant set. I’d certainly go to a House Party Gig again! Thanks very much to Jeff and Kathy for arranging the gig and making us all feel so welcome.
Roll on Grand Rapids on Saturday!
Review by Jeff:
Kaz arrived 6:10pm and set up a long red electric piano and 2 guitars. Instruments were amplified but no mic, Kaz said he sings loud. Folks started arriving 6:30 for "social hour" and most didn't realize Kaz was "in the house." We had 50 seats set up in the living room, dining room, entry way and stairway. Kaz chatted with fans till about 7 or so then sort of hung out in a room and made calls etc. At 7:25 I asked everybody to take a seat and we all assembled. Several people preferred to stand at the back or on the stairs but everybody had a great sight line. I prepared a 7 sentence intro concluding with : "Ladies and gentleman, sit back, relax, mute your cell phones and enjoy Kasim Sulton. Then thunderous applause.
Kaz takes the "stage" (about a 9x9 foot area in the corner of the living room) and proceeds to wow us! Kaz has a great senese of humor and found ways to engage the audience. People are loving it.
I'd say half of the people attending had no previous knowledge of Kaz (other than my recommendation to attend). After 90 minutes, with the final sounds of "One World" drifting away they all rose to their feet in a long and heartfelt standing ovation.
Nearly everyone attending told me how energized they were and what a great time they had. Kaz hung out for another 90 minutes chatting, signing autographs, have pix taken, etc. You could tell the 50 folks that attended were really pleased with the show.
My brother-in-law took lots of pix and I'll post some when I get them. Lots of college age kids (my kid's friends) were there and really enjoyed having their photos taken with kaz. A bunch of CDs and DVDs were purchased and autographed. There was much talk of attending the upcoming Todd/Healing show at Clowes Hall Indy on 9-11.
What a night.
The venue (taken from the KasimInfo.com Blog that day):
Pre-show page on KasimInfo.com:
 All Rights Reserved |