Review by SueW:
I’ve been saying for a few years now that Kasim should be playing in Cleveland city centre and not out at The Beachland Ballroom (but I guess it’s easier to just pick up the phone and book him there). At least tonight for the first time he was at the larger Ballroom side rather than the Tavern (we were bursting at the seams in there!).

We arrived about 15 minutes after the doors opened and already all the tables at the front and the front row of seats were almost full. (I think the female / male split was 6 to 1 here!)

The support act (The Elements featuring Denny Carleton) played for about 40 minutes and I preferred them as the 6 piece band compared to when Denny Carleton on his own opened for Kasim in the summer. I was amazed that I even remembered some of his songs (e.g. the first one).

After a brief break (while Jesse and Doug sorted out their own guitars but the sound guy did Kasim’s!) Doug and Jesse and then Kasim came out on stage! Overall I thought the sound at this venue was fine (other than very briefly once when Kasim was talking and there was some slight echo) but Kasim’s voice was slightly husky tonight. Not too badly so but I could tell that he’d played a gig last night, however someone I spoke to after the gig said that they preferred Kasim’s voice with the slightly husky sound!

Unfortunately though the lighting at this venue tonight was diabolical as Doug had his usual red face hue, Jesse was hardly lit at all but Kasim, the star of the show, only had half his face lit! The whole of the left side of his face was in shadow apart from when people used flash photography. We’ve often complained before that in the Tavern he is lit red but tonight there was only light on part of his face. I really think that as well as doing a sound check at a venue, Kasim should do a lighting check too! Us fans pay for a show so expect to see a full face.

Kasim started his set with Are You Happy Now straight into Sometimes Love Is A Dangerous Thing (with that amusing music part in the middle that improves the song so much and again received a round of applause during the song itself) followed by This Must Be Love before Kasim really started speaking. He told us about the snow and the driving before singing Yellow Cab from his album All Sides.

Kasim then spoke about being in Utopia and how they used to sell out the large venues in Ohio. He explained that he would only be playing one Utopia song tonight so they sung There Goes My Inspiration. Thankfully once again Todd Rundgren songs weren’t included in this famine so they next played Cliché.

Like in Chicago, Kasim then spoke about the two House Parties they played in Texas (Dallas and Houston) a couple of weekends ago. Kasim then said that as we were a more appreciative audience they would play another Utopia song – Libertine. That’s another song with some amazing guitar playing in it by both Jesse Gress and Doug Kennedy.

That song lead straight into Bourgeois Tagge’s I Don’t Mind At All followed by a discussion about whether or not it was the first day of spring! We were then treated to “one more Utopia song”! This time it was the great Back On The Street with even more amazing guitar playing in the middle of the song! Kasim’s suggestion afterwards was that if we want to see a reunion by Utopia that we should write to our congressman!

Sacrifice was next and again they all stopped near the end of the song! Tonight Kasim used the break to get a sweet (candy) out of his pocket! (I think he said it was a Recola???) Kasim then told us a story about his mother and sister and said that after that we deserved another Utopia song – The Up this time!

After Drive we then had my favourite part of the set as it was the time for a few of Kasim’s own songs. They started with Before She Was Gone before playing Kasim’s latest song Watching The World Go By after he told us about his $20 T-shirt / CD deal at these gigs! Next was my favourite The One Sure Thing (that was worth the airfare alone!) before Kasim thanked us all profusely for coming along and played Utopia’s One World. There was a boy of about 11 or 12 at the table in front of me and he was really getting into this song which was brilliant to see! Of course everyone joined in the clapping part as usual.

They then left the stage and it took Kasim longer to come back on stage (on his own). He asked for a show of hands about whether he should play Don’t Hold Me Back or Across The Universe. Thankfully he decided that he would have to play both which was brilliant!

Once again, all too soon for me, the gig was already over! It’s a shame that Kasim is only playing 5 public gigs this month when we’d hoped for so many more (and I’m kicking myself now for not going to the Houston party gig). As usual Kasim spent a long time signing autographs, posing for photos and chatting to people which is always lovely to see.

Roll on The Bitter End on Friday!

Other websites
Click here to see a video by Joe Camloh Jr. of Kasim singing Don't Hold Me Back in the encore at this gig.

The venue (taken from the KasimInfo.com Blog that day):
Tonight Kasim Sulton plays the fourth public gig of this series of gigs. The concert tonight is at The Beachland Ballroom which is about 10 miles outside the center of Cleveland, Ohio.

This will be Kasim's 7th solo gig at this venue but his first inside the larger Ballroom instead of the Tavern. (The Tavern has always been packed when he's played here before!) The address of the venue is 15711 Waterloo Road, Cleveland, Ohio, 44110-1659 and the telephone number is 216 383 1124.

Doors open at 7.00pm with the show starting at 8.00pm. Tickets are $25 on the door or $22 in advance. Click here to purchase tickets online. The Elements featuring Denny Carleton is the opening act. Their music is described as "Satirical but spiritual pop songs with roots in the 60's".

Kasim will probably take the stage at around 9.00pm and also on stage with Kasim at tonight's gig will be Jesse Gress and Doug Kennedy.
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