(Did anybody else notice the coincidence that Kasim broke a bone in his foot during the concert before they played in Virginia in 2000 and Elliot breaks a bone on his way to a concert in Virginia in 2006?!)

Another interesting thread on that messageboard (complete with photos and links) is all about Greg's keyboards that he uses on stage.

The Fast Lane Crew Diary has a post after the Ravinia concert last Saturday (complete with photo) which contains the following quote:

"If you have not heard already we have had some special guests at the party. Band Members of course! Kasim and Elliot have both stopped by and done some trivia with the group as well as make up some of their own questions. I have heard rumors that they will be returning with some instruments and some accoustic sets. See stay tuned for more information!

For those who have admired Prairie Prince's outfits on this tour, they are designed and made by Rachel Culp.

Many thanks to Mike B for the review and photos on the page.

Fans at this concert will not starve as the venue offers Snapple Ice Tea and Juice, Pizza Hut pizza, Subway sandwiches, Carvel ice cream, Mrs. Fields cookies and brownies, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream bars, hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, soft drinks and beer!

For the people on the lawn, special low-profile chairs are available for rent. Personal lawn chairs are allowed provided the seating area is less than 9 inches from the ground. Plus, as a part of the PSE&G WorryFree Lawn Chair Program, the first 300 lawn patrons will receive a free lawn chair rental courtesy of PSE&G. Blankets are usually welcome on the lawn too. Although this venue is large there is no problem with parking as they provide buses for those in the out car parks! The weather for the soundcheck is expected to be 72 degrees but with a 23mph wind and for the concert they are predicting a clear night with a high of 64 degrees and the wind will have dropped to 18mph. All day there's only a 20% chance of precipitation.

Kasim has played at this venue loads of times in his career - the last time being in August 1995 when his daughter Kasandra was also on stage with him for the encore.

Kasim making an appearance at the fan's party.

Kasim with Elliot and Todd.

Kasim not using his signature bass (and the first time this bass has made an appearance on this tour!)

At the mic.

Kasim singing (with Prairie and Greg in the background.

Kasim doing what he does best - vocals and bass!

Total Tour Mileage - 8,328 miles.

The concert starts tonite at 7.00pm with doors opening at 5.30pm so Kasim and The New Cars are expected on stage at around 9.00pm. Blondie will again be the opening act.

Tickets for this concert vary from $20 for the lawn to $65 (plus charges) and the VIP packages were offered. Tickets for this venue appear to be selling quite well. This morning the best seats were in the 8th row of the second block back.

This venue is another outdoor venue and, as for most of the rest of the tour so far, it seems that the weather will not be co-operating - maybe they should have called it the Weather Rage Tour! Thunderstorms are expected during the soundcheck with a high of 69 degrees and a 7 mph wind. By show-time the temperature is expected to go down to 65 degrees (but still a 7mph wind) and there's a 40% chance of precipitation plus thunderstorms! Sunset tonight is at 8.24pm. (On the plus side the tour moves to Florida next week, although all 3 of the concerts there are inside!)

The basis of the lawsuit is that Meat Loaf claims that Steinman wrongfully registered the phrase "Bat Out Of Hell" as his trademark in 1995. Steinman wrote the title song and other compositions on Meat Loaf's 1977 Bat Out of Hell and 1993 Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell albums but according to Meat Loaf he contributed lyrics to the song, which he recorded and performed. Meat Loaf further claims that he has used the phrase "Bat Out Of Hell" extensively for the past 29 years in connection with his recordings, videos, tours and merchandise. The complaint alleges that "out of nowhere" Steinman applied for a federal trademark registration but never objected to Meat Loaf using the phrase until a recent falling out. According to the Meat Loaf camp, they offered Steinman a position to produce and write on the upcoming album Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose which will be released in October. According to the executive producer Winston Simone "Along with Jim's lawyer we had negotiated by far the best producer agreement that we had ever seen. Unfortunately Jim decided not to sign the agreement or accept the very substantial advance."

Rather than expanding on this topic any more the following are links to varying sides of the story:

Billboard Report

CNN Money

San Francisco Chronicle

Statement from Desmond Child (producer of Bat Out Of Hell III)

As previously reported on this website, click here to read the original trademark case.

These law cases only relate to the US and it seems that plans for the album to be released worldwide at the end of October are still going ahead (whatever they end up having to call the album in the US). There has been a fair amount of coverage about the guests who will be appearing on the album (they include Brian May, John 5 and Nikki Sixx) but no bassists other than Kasim have been mentioned! Kasim is also known to have recorded background vocals for the album (including at least one song with Todd Rundgren).

A tour to promote the album is expected in 2007 (which obviously will include Kasim).

Many thanks to Audrey, CB and Bob Cerminaro for the reviews and to Brian K. O'Malie for all the photos on that page.

One professional review of the concert has already been placed online on BostonHerald.com titled "Old Blondie blows by New Cars". One nice quote in the review is "Newbie Kasim Sulton, a former bandmate of Rundgren’s from the Utopia days, did admirable justice to the late Benjamin Orr’s lead vocals for "All Mixed Up," and the monster ballad, "Drive."".

TheBostonGlobe.com also has a review of the concert but with a slightly less complimentary comment about Kasim - "Bassist-vocalist Kasim Sulton -- who, like mighty timekeeper Prairie Prince has worked with Rundgren in the past -- was less successful with the songs originally sung by the late bassist Ben Orr like "Drive," but it's hard to pinpoint why. He sounded just fine and hit the high notes on "All Mixed Up" but it felt discomfiting in a way that Rundgren didn't.".

As The New Cars have today off and then two local concerts on Friday and Saturday with the next concert not until Tuesday, hopefully those based in the New York area will be able to spend the next few days with their families.

Boston, MA to Jones Beach, NY - 227 miles.

Total Tour Mileage - 8,272 miles.

Unfortunately they omit Kasim singing lead on All Mixed Up (and they keep calling him Kay-zum!) but they rave about his lead vocals on Drive.

The concert tonight is at The Bank Of America Pavilion (formerly Fleet Boston Pavilion) in Boston, MA. This venue seats 5,000 people but unfortunately the venue has been taken over by Clear Channel so that the official website now just links to a generic page on LiveNation.com.

The concert tonight starts at 7.30pm and Blondie will again be the opening act. This morning tickets were available in the 10th row (on Kasim's side of the stage) which is probably due to VIP packages not being sold or some tickets which the venue held back being released as a few weeks ago only seats much further back were available. Tickets in the covered area cost between $50 and $75 (plus charges) and in the uncovered General Admission area they cost $35.

It appears that the bad weather (which has been following a lot of this tour so far) is expected to continue! The forecast for the soundcheck is 53 degrees (but feeling like 47!) with a 90% chance of heavy rain and a 21mph wind! The concert weather is margainly better with 54 degrees (feeing like 49), again a 90% chance of precipitation but the wind will have dropped to 19mph!

The last time that Kasim Sulton played at this venue was with Meat Loaf last August.

Hopefully these missing pages are not an indication of the UK tour not happening - it had been announced as happening later this year.

Many thanks to Michael Shell, Michele Kotlarsky and Kathy for these reviews.

A sideways shot

Looking grouchy!

Concentrating

(Kasim does look happy later on stage in the photos in the paid part of the website!)

Click here to watch this performance. Unfortunately it's not a perfect taping of the show because for about 20 seconds near the begining of the recording someone was changing the settings!

(There is a good part near the beginning when Kasim Sulton is joking with Prairie Prince!)

Many thanks to Vicki Pearson of RepublicOfLoafdom.com for the TV recordings.

The trip overnight last night or (less likley) today is 457 miles which will take 7 and a half hours by road or a quick one and a quarter hours by air (for only $64!).

Vienna, VA to Boston, MA - 457 miles.

Total Tour Mileage - 8,045 miles.