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Yellow Cab The God Of Low Afraid Himself To Be I Just Wanna Touch You Somebody Loves You Sacrifice Set Me Free Keep It In Mind (That I Love You So) Libertine Cliché The One Sure Thing Watching The World Go By Love Alone Across The Universe One World Don't Hold Me Back 
Click here for more photos of this gig.
Review by SueW:
There didn’t appear to be as many people there as on other occasions to me but when we got to the venue there was a queue outside as the venue were running late. Kasim came on stage just after 7pm and, as usual, started on the keyboards with Drivin’ Me Mad. His voice sounded better right from the first song tonight. I was also fascinated in this song by his left hand as he seems for most of the song to just alternate between playing with his thumb and his little pinkie which makes the melody of the song. Kasim then went straight into Yellow Cab.
Kasim then moved to his wooden looking guitar and he spoke about how much he likes playing at this venue. Personally I thought Wilberts (which RMAC found for him when she was booking the gigs for The Kasim Sulton Band last year) was much better located as it was in the centre of the city and not 7 miles or so outside. The lighting was better there too. Tonight there was a light shining right on his guitar but I wasn't aware that his face was lit when he was standing at his microphone. Certainly my photos from earlier in the gig when it was daylight were much better than the later ones when his face was in shadow.
Kasim continued that he was feeling frazzled because he had driven 2,700 miles in the past 7 days and that he had run out of gas, had a flat tyre and had been held up at gunpoint. At this time people were "aahing" because they actually believed him! He then told us that he had had a great time and again mentioned the Indianapolis House Party. He then sang The God Of Low which I think is a really lovely song. However I did notice one Meat Loaf fan there who didn’t clap after that song which amazes me that some Meat Loaf fans think the song is about him and yet some Todd Rundgren fans think it’s about him!
Afraid Himself To Be was next which is another one of my favourite songs. I’m so glad that Kasim’s included it on this tour again. Unfortunately this wasn’t a perfect version today as he played a couple of "unusual" chords in it and I’m pretty sure that some of the words were not in the order that Jason Faulkner wrote them! After the song Kasim said that he gets "finger-tied" (similar to tongue-tied).
After I Just Wanna Touch You (which Kasim kindly told us was a euphemism!) Kasim went straight into Somebody Loves You before telling us that he was working on a new album. The latest news is that he doesn’t have anything completed yet but that he does have a lot started. He then spoke about the album cover and how we can all join in. He again said that the website to accept the photos will be open around 1st July. The people in Cleveland seemed quite keen on the idea.
Sacrifice was next and, as usual, received a massive round of applause. Kasim then mentioned the Akron concert and him playing with Todd as he moved back to his keyboards. He did say that "they" wanted him to wear a wetsuit at his solo Akron gig so hopefully somebody with some taste will deter him from that idea!
Set Me Free was next and then Kasim told us the story behind Keep It In Mind (That I Love You So) and for "that" line the second time in the song he sang about being 55 which caused loads of laughter.
Libertine was next and I (and Kasim I think) was surprised at how quietly the Cleveland crowd sang initially. He had to really urge the crowd to sing tonight. At the end of the song he said that it was just the single girls to sing (quite quiet), then just the steel workers (even quieter), just the Republicans (just Lou!).
Todd Rundgren’s Cliché was next (or should that be Kasim’s Cliché as I think he’s sung it on stage more times!).
Next, for the first time since, Fort Atkinson a week ago Kasim told us that he had made a lot of changes in his life this year. He said that he had quit a job that he had been in for 16 years (he described it as it was time for him to go and that he was sacrificing his emotional life for a paycheck). He then said that he had decided to change his personal life but that that has had to be put on hold as the other person got very sick. He ended by saying that the other change that he had made was that he had stopped smoking and that he had found it easy due to the circumstances surrounding him stopping. He also said that all the changes hadn’t finished yet but that he felt better than he had ever in his life. Kasim then played his beautiful The One Sure Thing straight into Watching The World Go By.
Kasim then moved back to his keyboards for Love Alone. After that I think he was going to play Drive as I heard him strum some of the chords but someone called out for Mimi Gets Mad. He said that he couldn’t do that song unrehearsed but that he would sing it at his Akron solo gig. Someone else called out for Across The Universe and he actually played the whole song which was just wonderful to hear again! He made a couple of false starts right at the beginning but after that he sang it really well considering he wasn’t rehearsed. That was a lovely treat for us!
Kasim then went straight into One World and was ready to leave the stage after the song but a lady from the front row called out for one more song (bless her!) and he asked if she wanted an up-tempo song or a down-tempo song. As she asked for an up one he sang Don’t Hold Me Back which was brilliant to hear again. With this song, Across The Universe and Afraid Himself To Be, it was just like his 2001 / 2002 solo gigs tours!
Kasim then spent about an hour signing autographs, posing for photos and chatting to us fans.
Roll on Somerville on Tuesday!
Many thanks to Joe Camloh Jr. for all the photos on this page.
The venue (taken from the KasimInfo.com Blog that day):
This will be Kasim's 9th solo gig at this venue. The last time that Kasim played here was on Sunday 15th March 2009 and prior to that was 22nd March 2008 when he played inside the larger Ballroom. Tonight he is playing in the more itimate Tavern (which has always been packed when he's played here before so arrive early!). The address of the venue is 15711 Waterloo Road, Cleveland, Ohio, 44110-1659 and the telephone number is 216 383 1124.
Kasim's last solo performance in Cleveland was on Saturday 17th October 2009 when he played with The Kasim Sulton Band in the city center at a venue called Wilberts and prior to that he was invited to play a solo set at The Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame in the city on Saturday 26th September 2009 so in fact this will be Kasim's 12th solo gig in Cleveland!
Doors open tonight at 6.00pm (as it is a Sunday) with the show starting at 7.00pm. Tickets are $20 on the door or the more expensive option is to pay $22.25 to buy them online at this link!
The venue does not list any oening act for tonight.
Pre-show page on KasimInfo.com: All Rights Reserved |
Tonight Kasim Sulton plays the sixth gig on his