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Blog 196 (07/27/11 - 11/28/11)
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The address of the venue is 69th Street and Ludlow Street, Upper Darby, Philadelphia, PA 19082 and the gig tonight starts at 8pm (as have most if not all of the gigs on this tour). Click here to view the venue website.
Tickets (from this link) vary in price from $37 to $72 (plus charges). (The $125 VIP tickets have sold out.) A couple of days ago the best seats available were in the fifteenth row at this 3,119 seat venue. There is limited parking in the area.
This venue was opened in 1927 and is named after to the large blue tower-like structure that sits atop the building (a few years ago it used to have a large lighted rotating ball on top too). This venue is famous for David Bowie recording his 10th July 1974 show here and releasing it as David Live. Lots of performances of the radio shows The King Biscuit Flower Hour (on which Utopia played several times) were also recorded here.
Moogy Klingman was expected to play at have played this gig.
The address of the venue is 1008 Brown Street, Peekskill, NY, 10566 and the gig tonight starts at 8pm (as have most if not all of the gigs on this tour). Click here to view the venue website.
Tickets (from this link) vary in price from $42 to $70 (plus charges). (The $125 VIP tickets have sold out.) A couple of days ago the best seats available were in the fourth row but at the side.
The gig tonight will be broadcast as a webcast and later available as a video on demand for 30 days. It costs $19.95 and both options are available as one package for this price. Click here to purchase the package.
Moogy Klingman was expected to play at this gig.
This venue originally opened in 1930 as a 1500 seat movie theater. It has recently undergone a massive refurbishment.
Kasim last played at this venue on Saturday 1st May 2004 on the Todd Rundgren Liars Tour.
Englewood, NJ to Peekskill, NY is 43 miles almost due north which will take about one hour by road.
Todd Rundgren's Utopia Tour Mileage to date (venue to venue) is 2,703 miles.
Thursday 17th November 2011
Moogy Klingman
02.15 - Sadly Mark 'Moogy' Klingman lost his battle with cancer on Tuesday.
Keyboardist Moogy (61) was one of the members of the original Utopia and was the reason that the current tour is being played as it was instigated by two concerts the band played in January of this year to help raise money for his medical costs. Originally Moogy was going to be playing on this tour but it became apparent that he was too ill so instead he planned to play the two local gigs to him tomorrow and on Saturday evening.
Moogy is also known for having written Bette Midler's signature song (You've Got To Have) Friends.
Wednesday 16th November 2011
Tonight plays a gig on the Todd Rundgren's Utopia Tour in Englewood, NJ
The address of the Bergen County Performing Arts Center is 30 North Van Brunt St, Englewood, New Jersey, 07631 and the gig tonight starts at 8pm. Click here to view the venue website.
The Bergen Performing Arts Center is described as "a theater of and for the community that it serves throughout northern New Jersey, by being a creative focus, educational resource, and engine of economic vitality. A not-for-profit organization, BergenPAC’s mission is to make the live performing arts accessible to the entire population – building a creative home that guides and liberates the imagination of our young, inspires and expands the lives of our adults, and attracts established and emerging artists of excellence and relevance."
This theater opened during 2004 in the former John Harms Center. This was one of the largest performing arts centers in New Jersey which closed on 14th April 2003. The John Harms Center originally opened as the Englewood Plaza on 22nd November 1926 so is full of history. Kasim first played here on Friday 2nd April 2010 during the Todd Rundgren's Robert Johnson Tour.
Click here to purchase tickets for the venue which vary in price from $48.85 to $80.60. There were some $125 VIP tickets available but they have sold out. A couple of days ago the best seats available were in the 7th row of the orchestra section at the side.
Kasim Sulton plays the ninth gig tonight which is in Boston, MA. The venue is called the Wilbur Theatre and this will be Kasim Sulton's first visit to this venue in recent years.
Click here to view the venue website. The address of the venue is 246 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02116. The gig starts at 8pm.
Tickets (from this link) vary in price from $41.95 to $52.20. A couple of days ago there were seats available in the third row at the side of the theater.
The Wilbur Theatre was built in 1914 by the Shubert brothers who apparently named it for their friend and theatre manager A.L. Wilbur.
Apparently the theater has a policy that umbrellas are not allowed at the venue!
The venue tonight is called the NYCB Theater at Westbury but it used to be called the Westbury Music Fair. That venue opened in June 1956 and mainly presented musicals. In 1966 the venue was converted to the theatre-in-the-round design it has now (with a stage which revolves at some gigs but it won't at this one). Acts who have appeared at this venue include Judy Garland, The Who), Bruce Springsteen, Tom JonesDiana Ross and Kasim Sulton as part of the Patty Smyth and Scandal Tour on Friday 11th February 2005.
Click here to view the venue website. The address is 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury, NY 11590.
The gig starts at 8pm. Tickets (from this link) vary in price from $52 to $84.25. There were some VIP tickets for $125 but they have sold out. Yesterday there were seats available in the sixteenth row.
Today will most likely be the hardest day of the tour as Akron, OH to Westbury, NY is bum-numbing 468 miles west which will take about 9 hours by road.
On Friday Kasim Sulton made the following tweet so I wonder how he'll feel after this journey!
Todd Rundgren's Utopia Tour Mileage to date (venue to venue) is 2,220 miles.
Saturday 12th November 2011
Tonight plays a gig on the Todd Rundgren's Utopia Tour in Akron, OH
New Kasim Sulton radio interview
01.45 - Click here to listen to a new interview with Kasim Sulton which was broadcast in the Philadelphia, PA area on 3rd November.
The address of this venue is 182 South Main Street, Akron, OH 44308. Tickets for this gig vary in price from $37 to $57 (plus charges of $8.35 per ticket) and can be purchased from this link. There were also some VIP tickets at $125 but they have sold out. Yesterday seats were available in the third row of the balcony. The show starts tonight at 8pm.
This theater was built in 1929 and apparently is one of only five remaining theaters in the country where patrons experience a twinkling star-lit sky and intermittent clouds moving across the horizon while sitting inside the auditorium. In June 2001 the theater closed until November 2002 for a $19 million refurbishment. One unusual thing to note about this venue is that the lobby lights are flicked on and off to indicate when the next set is about to start.
This will be Kasim's fourth visit in recent years to this venue as he played here as part of Todd Rundgren's band on Sunday 6th September 2009 and Sunday 5th September 2010. Kasim also played an opening set here on Sunday 4th September 2011 for Rick Springfield. This was one of the first venues that Kasim played in as part of Utopia when he first joined the band in 1976.
Other than this gig (which was added late), this is probably one of the best logistically arranged tours that Kasim has played on in recent years as they are just steadly heading north with (relatively) short drives. Unfortunately this gig changes all that!
Durham, NC to Akron, OH is 510 miles north west which will take about 9 hours by road.
(Today there is no gig so they have plenty of time for the journey but it'll be worse on Sunday as they have an equally long drive and then have to play a gig that evening!)
Todd Rundgren's Utopia Tour Mileage to date (venue to venue) is 1,752 miles.
Thursday 10th November 2011
Tonight plays a gig on the Todd Rundgren's Utopia Tour in Durham, NC
Doors to the gig open at 7pm and the gig starts at 8pm. Last night tickets were still available (from this link) in the 10th row. Tickets cost between $40 and $65 (plus charges). There were also some VIP tickets at $125 but they have sold out.
Click here to view the venue website. The theater is at 309 West Morgan Street, Durham, NC 27701.
This will be Kasim's first visit to this venue in recent years.
Kasim has written about the Utopia tour which he is currently playing on.
Video of Kasim at the Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp
01.50 - A video of Kasim Sulton jamming at the Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp which he attended in New York City between 27th and 29th October has been added to YouTube.com.
Many thanks to Bart Versteeg for finding the video.
This gig was on Saturday evening in Clearwater, FL. Again it seems that some of the promotion for this gig did not make it clear that it would be from an early era of Utopia so some fans were disappointed with this gig for that reason but others loved it for the same reason!
Apparently Kasim played even more keyboards at this gig as he is gradually taking over Moogy's role in the band.
Doors to the gig open at 7pm and the gig starts at 8pm. There is a General Admission gig and tickets are still available (from this link). Tickets are a reasonable $24 each but each ticket incurs a whopping $6 charge from TicketMaster which increases it to $30 each. (There were also some VIP tickets at $125 but they have sold out.)
Click here to view the venue website. The venue is situated at 1374 W Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30309. The venue can hold 1,050 people.
This gig was on Thursday evening in Ft. Pierce, FL. Again it seems that some of the promotion for this gig did not make it clear that it would be from an early era of Utopia so lots of fans were disappointed with this gig for that reason but others loved it for the same reason!
Apparently Kasim played more keyboards at this gig as he is gradually taking over Moogy's role in the band.
The concert starts tonight at 8pm and tickets vary in price from $36.75 to $42.60 (including charges) so are some of the cheapest priced tickets on this tour. Plus there were some VIP tickets which included watching 20 minutes of the soundcheck for $125 but they are sold out. Tickets for this gig can be purchased from this link. The best seats still available are in the 11th row today so the gig does not appear to be selling too well.
The address of the venue is The Florida Theatre, 128 East Forsyth, Jacksonville, FL. 32202. Click here to view the venue website. The Occasionally Asked Questions section of the website is amusing including "Can I give you an IOU for a ticket?" with the reply "Here at the theatre we do not function on the honor system.... we work on the money system.
The Florida Theatre originally opened on 8th April 1927, as downtown Jacksonville's 15th and largest movie theatre although it could stage live shows too. Elvis Presley played one of his first indoor concerts at this theater. It's a very decorative theater. As the website explains "While designing the Florida Theatre, the architects envisioned a Moorish courtyard at night, resplendent with glittering stars, grand balconies and fountains. An ornate proscenium arch that reaches nearly six stories high dominates the auditorium. The incredible acoustics and near-perfect sight lines make every one of the theatre’s 1,900 seats exceptional. On the building’s original roof garden, patrons in the late 1920s danced under the stars, while the theatre provided a nursery for the patrons’ young children. The theatre boasted many features unique in the 1920s, including central heating, air-conditioning and vacuuming systems." The theater underwent a $4.1m refurb in 1983.
As far as I'm aware the last time that Kasim played at this venue was on 8th January 2000 during the Meat Loaf StoryTellers Tour.
This gig was on Wednesday evening at Hard Rock Live in the Seminole Casino in Hollywood, FL. It seems that some of the promotion for this gig did not make it clear that it would be from an early era of Utopia so lots of fans were disappointed with this gig for that reason but others loved it for the same reason!
The concert starts tonight at 8pm and tickets vary in price from $49.75 to $65 (plus charges), plus there were some VIP tickets which included watching 20 minutes of the soundcheck for $125. Tickets for this gig are no longer available online but can be purchased by ringing (727) 791-7400.
The Capital Theater is located at 405 Cleveland Street, Clearwater, Florida, 33755 . Although tickets were purchased through the Ruth Eckerd Hall website the gig is being held at The Capital Theater in downtown Clearwater.
Kasim was due to have played at this venue on Friday 27th March 2009 on Todd's Arena Tour but, due to excess mold being discovered inside the theater, the gig was moved outside so let's hope they have more success tonight!
That gig was to have been an historic gig as it was going to be the first gig at the venue since it returned to its original name of the Capital Theatre! An article on TampaBay.com yesterday (now removed but reproduced below) reported this. Apparently almost $100K has been spent already on getting the theater ready for the gig tonight! Apparently this venue is known for having some of the best natural acoustics in Florida. The venue can seat between 434 and 520 people and interestingly, the theater's seats (which come in six different sizes) are the same seats that were originally installed when the theater opened in 1924.
This venue also has a reputation for being haunted with no less than three different spirits reported being seen on various occasions! This article explores these sightings.
Ft. Pierce, FL to Clearwater, FL is 177 miles north west which will take about 3.5 hours by road.
Todd Rundgren's Utopia Tour Mileage to date (venue to venue) is 291 miles.
Thursday 3rd November 2011
Kasim Sulton plays a gig on the Todd Rundgren's Utopia Tour in Ft. Pierce, FL tonight
Utopia gig to be webcast
01.30 - The Todd Rundgren's Utopia gig at The Paramount Theater in Peekskill, NY on Friday 18th November will be broadcast as a webcast and later available as a video on demand for 30 days.
It costs $19.95 and both options are available as one package for this price. Click here to purchase the package.
Click here to view the venue website (it automatically plays music so be warned!). The theater is located at 117 South Second Street Fort Pierce, FL 34950. The theater seats 1,200.
Tickets for the gig (from this link) cost
$41.50 and $51.50. Last night there were 204 seats remaining and the best seats available were in the 15th Row.
The Sunrise Theater opened on 1st August 1923. It was open as a performing arts center for 60 years until it closed in September 1983 due to the decline of the downtown area and a refusal to convert to multi-screen operation. In 1988 Main Street Fort Pierce was established which realized it needed a performing arts center so Main Street Fort Pierce began an effort to save the historic theatre. In 1997 the Sunrise Theatre was purchased by the St. Lucie Preservation Association, Inc. and today the theater is completely renovated and is being used once again as a cultural center.
The gig is listed as starting at 7pm.
Orginaly Kasim was to have only sing background vocals on this tour but on Tuesday night it was posted online that Moogy was not doing so well so will only be at his local shows which may mean that Kasim will play some keyboards too on the tour. The first gig of the tour was last night and, as I post this, it is too early to hear whether or not that happened.
Last night Kasim Sulton played the first gig of the Todd Rundgren's Utopia Tour. The gig last night was in Hollywood, FL and the gig tonight is in Ft. Pierce, FL.
For once this tour is in a logical order (except for one gig) and they are mainly just heading north for the whole tour!
Hollywood, FL to Ft. Pierce, FL is 114 miles which will take about 2 hours by road.
Wednesday 2nd November 2011
Kasim Sulton plays the first gig of the Todd Rundgren's Utopia Tour tonight
The gig tonight is at the venue called Hard Rock Live in the Seminole Casino in Hollywood, FL. Kasim Sulton last played at this venue on Monday 12th September 2005 during the Meat Loaf Hair Of The Dog Tour. During that tour Kasim posted some photos of himself backstage at the venue (I think) here, here, here and here. (Kasim was also supposed to have played here as part of The New Cars in 2006 too but that gig was cancelled when Eillot Easten broke his shoulder.)
This venue opened in 2005 and the technical specifications are:
Capacity 5,500 Seated
Stage Dimensions 60’ x 40’
Stage is 4’ high, adjustable to 6’
There are 5 dressing rooms available, each with full bathroom facilities
There is one green room (Approx 20x40) with two bathroom facilities
There is one Production office available for Touring Production with 3 phones, 1 fax and 3 data lines.
Click here to view the venue website. The address is 4150 N State Road 7, Hollywood, FL 33021-1509. The casino itself boasts that it has over 1,150 slot machines! It is situated on 100 acres of the Hollywood Reservation of the Seminole Tribe of Florida and includes the hotel tower, a 145,000 sq foot casino, a 4 acres lagoon-style pool area, fifteen restaurants, sixteen shops, the poker room, a spa, an improv comedy club and over ten bars and nightclubs. The hotel has 481 guest rooms and 86 suites with panoramic views. Guests are greeted by a 50-foot tall signature Hard Rock guitar modeled on the one Jimi Hendrix played.
The hotel is most infamous for being the place where Anna Nicole Smith died due to an overdose on 8th February 2007.
The gig tonight starts at 8pm. Click here to buy tickets which vary in priced from $55 to $80 (plus charges). A few days ago the best seats available were in the 28th row.
Kasim was to have only sing background vocals on this tour but last night it was posted online that Moogy is not doing so well so will only be at his local shows which may mean that Kasim will play some keyboards too on the tour.
Kasim will also be attending another Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp this week. Click here for more details but the camp is from 27th to 29th October and is at the Gibson Showroom in New York City. This camp is already sold out.
Other counselors at the camp include Vince Neil (Motley Crue), Marky Ramone (The Ramones), Simon Kirke (Bad Company), Bruce Kulick (Kiss), Lita Ford (The Runaways) and Mark Hudson (Aerosmith producer).
The gig on the final night will be played at The Cutting Room.
The gig tonight is at The Winchester Music Hall and will be Kasim's first appearance at this venue. The address is 12112 Madison Ave., Lakewood / Cleveland, Ohio 44107.
The show starts at 8.30pm and doors open at around 7pm. It is a General Admission gig but there are seats for all! The venue can hold 200 people.
Tickets are $25 each and you need to call (216) 226-5681 to reserve them, plus there will be some available on the door.
Rob Fetters will also be on the bill. According to the website he "was a founding member of The Bears and of Psychodots. He has also made two solo albums, played on hundreds of recordings by other artists as a session guitarist, and has won numerous awards in commercial music."
Although this is Kasim's first solo gig at this venue he has played solo gigs in Cleveland lots of times. His last solo gig in the city was on 23rd May 2010 when he played at The Beachland Ballroom.
Kasim last played in Cleveland on 9th July 2011 on the 'Classic' Todd Rundgren Tour when they played at the Ohio Theater.
More details about this gig (and the Todd Rundgren gigs in England earlier this month) will be added soon.
Kasim Sulton and Eilot Lewis at The Brokerage Comedy Club, Bellmore, NY
Sunday 16th October 2011
Kasim Sulton plays a solo gig in Bellmore, NY tonight
Kasim Sulton solo gig tonight
07.30 - Tonight Kasim Sulton plays a solo gig in Bellmore, NY which is on Long Island.
The gig tonight is at The Brokerage Comedy Club which is located at 2797 Merrick Road, Bellmore NY 11710. (Apparently the venue is at the corner of Bellmore Ave.)
Doors for this gig open at 6pm with the show starting at 7pm. Eliot Lewis will also be on the bill tonight.
Click here to purchase tickets which are $27 or they can be bought on the door.
This is a General Admission gig and the venue can hold up to 200 people.
According to the venue website "The Brokerage Comedy Club opened its doors in 1980 and for the past three decades many of our nations greatest comedians have stepped onto our stage entertaining audiences: Eddie Murphy, Ray Romano, Kevin James, Rob Bartlett and Tim Allen just a few to name. In January 2007 The Brokerage Comedy Club took on new ownership. Since then, our 3000 square foot Club has seen tremendous changes. Our theatre, which accommodates 200 guests, was completely renovated with state-of-the-art audio and video systems; 5 plasma flat screen televisions; and a 6-foot on-stage screen offers guests the ultimate entertainment experience."
This will be Kasim's first appearance at this venue.
The gigs tonight are both at Ronnie Scott's which is in central London. The address of this venue is 47 Frith Street, Soho, London W1D 4HT.
These two gigs tonight were added to the tour much later than the original four.
Tickets for the early show are already sold out but there are a few remaining for the later show tonight. Tickets varied in price from £45 ($55) to £60 ($75) so are double the price of the other gigs this week.
The doors open at 6pm for the first show with the support act playing from 7.15pm until 8pm and then Todd Rundgren and band plays from 8.30pm until 9.45pm (3.30pm in New York until 4.45pm). The house is then totally emptied and doors open for the second show at 10.30pm. The support act plays from 11pm until 11.45pm and then Todd Rundgren and band play from midnight until 1.15am (7pm in New York until 8.15pm).
Todd has said that tonight they will play one bosa nova set and one blues set.
Ronnie Scott's describes itself as "one of the oldest jazz clubs in the world. We opened in 1959 and since that time have featured most of the legendary and popular names in modern jazz and jazz fusion."
This will be Kasim Sulton's first (and second!) appearance at this venue.
The gig tonight is at the Jazz Cafe which is where they also played last night.
Tickets for this gig were the same price as last night and also sold out very quickly.
The Jazz Cafe was opened in December 1990 after being converted from a bank!. It originally ran along the lines of Ronnie Scott's with seven nights a week live Jazz music. After the venue was bought by the Mean Fiddler company it re-positioned itself as "a Jazz, Soul, Funk, World, Dance and Hip Hop venue."
Monday 3rd October 2011
Tonight Kasim Sulton plays a Todd Rundgren gig in London, UK
The gig tonight is at the Jazz Cafe which is the venue where they will also be playing on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
The address of the venue is Jazz Cafe, 5 Parkway, Camden Town, London, NW1 7PG. This is in the north west part of London. (On Saturday they played the first gig of the tour in Manchester which is about five hours drive north west from London.)
Tickets for this gig were £31.25 (about $40) for General Admission (standing) tickets and £46 (about $60) for seated tickets on the higher floor. Tickets for this gig sold out very fast.
This will be Kasim Sulton's first appearance at this venue.
The gig is listed as starting at 7pm (2pm NYC time) but HMV (who own the venue) have a policy of only putting the door opening time on their tickets so that people arrive early and drink!
There is expected to be an opening act for this gig.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings they play at the Jazz Café in North London. There are no gigs planned on Thursday and Friday evenings and then on Saturday they play two (shortened) gigs at Ronnie Scott’s in Central London.
Kasim Sulton at the Todd Rundgren gig last night:
Saturday 1st October 2011
Tonight Kasim Sulton plays a Todd Rundgren gig in Manchester, UK
The gig tonight is in Manchester in the North west of England. (In fact all of the gigs on this tour are in England as the other five gigs are in London.) The last time that Kasim played in any part of the UK was in February 2010 and that was just one single gig.
The venue tonight is now called the HMV Ritz but it used to be called The Ritz Ballroom when it opened in the 1920s. It closed in May 2011 for a $3m refurbishment including the restoration of original architectural features, extensive sound-proofing and the installation of state-of-the-art sound and lighting. It re-opened in September 2011.
Many of the most famous bands in the UK have played at the venue at some point in their careers including The Beatles, R.E.M., The Arctic Monkeys and Snow Patrol. I believe that this will be Kasim Sulton's first appearance at this venue.
HMV Ritz is located at Whitworth Street West, Manchester M1 5NQ and the venue is also notable for its unusual "springy" dancefloor!
Tickets for this gig were £18.50 (+ charges) so about $30. It is a General Admission gig and is sold out.
The gig is listed as starting at 7pm (2pm NYC time) but HMV have a policy of only putting the door opening time on their tickets so that people arrive early and drink to boost their profits!
Reviews and Photos
02.00 - This is a reminder that KasimInfo.com welcomes all reviews, comments and photos of all gigs that Kasim Sulton plays (either solo or as part of a band). Reviews are presented unedited (except for obvious spelling errors!).
Usually whenever I post this I receive hardly anything but if you are going to the gigs and can submit something, I'd really appreciate it. The something can be anything from photos, videos, full reviews to even just one line with your opinion of the gig!
This tour is called Todd Rundgren's Utopia and is based on the gigs played in January to raise money to help Moogy Klingman's medical expenses as he battled cancer. For this tour Todd's band will be Kevin Ellman, Jesse Gress, Moogy Klingman, Ralph Schuckett and John Siegler as well as Kasim.
The announced dates and venues are:
Wednesday 2nd November - Hard Rock Casino, Hollywood, FL
Thursday 3rd - Sunrise Theater, Ft. Pierce, FL
Saturday 5th - Capitol Theater, Clearwater, FL
Sunday 6th - Florida Theater, Jacksonville, FL
Wednesday 9th - Centerstage, Atlanta, GA
Thursday 10th - Carolina Theater, Durham, NC
Sunday 13th - Westbury Theater, Westbury, NY
Tuesday 15th - Wilbur Theater, Boston, MA
Wednesday 16th - Bergen, Performing Arts Center, Englewood, NJ
Friday 18th - Paramount Center, Peekskill, NY
Saturday 19th - Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA
Tickets for some of the gigs are already on sale.
There are also 20 places available at each venue which cost $125 and include the chance to attend part of the soundcheck. Click here for details.
(Hopefully when they play six gigs of the tour in Britain in early October the British fans will not be as reticent!)
The set lists and comments from fans about the first two gigs on the tour (Sellersville, PA and Bay Shore, NY) have been added to to the Todd Rundgren 2011 Gigs section of KasimInfo.com or click here and here for the direct links.
The address of the venue is 4 Ocean Front North, Salisbury, MA 01952 and the venue is right on the beach front with views out over the ocean. The website states "waves actually break underneath the building!" (I can confirm that fact!) Click here to view the new venue website.
The venue opened in November 2009 so this is Kasim Sulton's second appearance here. His first appearance was on 3rd April 2010 which was only 3 days after the venue changed its name from the Tupelo Music Hall.
The website says that no seat is further than 50 feet from the stage and the seats are arranged around tables. The capacity is 500 seated. Tickets vary in price bewteen $55 and $45 and can be purchased from this link. However a few days ago there were only two seats available for this gig at different tables.
Tonight Kasim Sulton plays the 6th gig of the fall leg of the 'Classic Todd Rundgren' Tour. The concert tonight is at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York City. Click here for the venue website.
The address of the venue is 237 West 42 St., New York, NY 10036 and the concert starts at 8pm with doors opening at 6.30pm. Tickets for this gig are available from this link and vary in price at $37.50 (plus charges). Most of the tickets are General Admission but there are some VIP booths too.
This venue opened in June 2000 and was the third B.B. King venue (named after the blues guitarist) after the one on Beale Street in Memphis, TN and at Universal City Walk in Los Angeles.
Kasim Sulton last played at this venue on Wednesday 6th July 2011 during the spring / summer leg of this tour and prior to that on Monday 28th February 2011 as a member of Yellow Matter Custard.
Kasim Sulton Behind The Scenes
01.15 - An interview with Kasim Sulton called Behind The Scenes was recorded at his solo gig in Akron, OH a couple of weeks ago.
Kasim talks about his solo career, Movin' Out, working with Todd Rundgren and Bat Out Of Hell among other things.
The gig starts at 8pm and tickets were $55 or $60 (plus charges) but this 261 seat venue has sold out.
The Regent Movie Theater originaly opened in 1929 on the site and in the 1970s it was "a porno house" before it closed in the late 1980s. Local philanthropists Frank and Karen Boulton purchased the venue and gifted it to the Great South Bay YMCA in December 1997. Construction on the two million dollar YMCA Boulton Center was completed in December 2003.
This US leg of the tour consists of just seven gigs in nine days. (As several of these gigs are local to where Kasim lives, I will not be compiling a Tour Map for this tour as it is unlikely that he will be 'on tour' for several of the gigs.)
The gig tonight is at the Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA which is a mere 87 miles from Staten Island so will only take about 2 hours to drive.
The address of the venue is 136 North Main Street, Sellersville, PA 18960 and the Sellersville Theater is combined with the Washington House Restaurant. Click here to view the venue website. There has been a property on this site for over 200 years and this link has a detailed look at its history.
The concert tonight starts at 8pm and it is sold out. Tickets were $75 or $50 and there may be returns at the door.
The last time that Kasim Sulton played at this venue was on Monday 5th April 2010 as part of Todd's Robert Johnson Music Tour. Prior to that it was on Monday 22nd December 2008. That gig was also with Todd Rundgren and was part of his Arena Tour.
However, earlier that day, Kasim also played a longer solo set in Akron at the Taste Of Hudson Festival. Unfortunately this gig was not announced in advance.
At both gigs Kasim played his brand new song called 15 minutes which somebody explained as "fame for 15 minutes is the chorus."
Both set lists have been added to the Kasim Sulton 2011 Solo Gigs section of KasimInfo.com or click here for the direct link.
Both Kasim and The Motels are opening for Rick Springfield who is the headline act.
The address of this venue is 182 South Main Street, Akron, OH 44308. Tickets for this gig vary in price from $27 to $77 (plus charges) and can be purchased from this link. A few days ago seats were available in the 12th row. Tickets originaly went on sale to only Rick Springfield's fans for the first two weeks. The show starts tonight at 6.30pm and Kasim is expected to be the first act on stage.
This theater was built in 1929 and apparently is one of only five remaining theaters in the country where patrons experience a twinkling star-lit sky and intermittent clouds moving across the horizon while sitting inside the auditorium. In June 2001 the theater closed until November 2002 for a $19 million refurbishment. One unusual thing to note about this venue is that the lobby lights are flicked on and off to indicate when the next set is about to start.
This will be Kasim's third visit in recent years to this venue as he played here as part of Todd Rundgren's band on Sunday 6th September 2009 and Sunday 5th September 2010. It was also one of the first venues that Kasim played in as part of Utopia when he first joined the band in 1976.
The big news is that, although Kasim is only playing a shorter set, he will be singing a brand new song on stage tonight!
Kasim Sulton interview on Akron.com
05.15 - On Thursday 1st September an interview with Kasim Sulton by Kathleen Folkerth was posted onto Akron.com here to help promote Kasim's opening set at the Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, Ohio today.
One of the final items in the article is:
"Following the show, Sulton will return to his home studio in Staten Island, N.Y., and also tour with Rundgren and the re-formed Utopia before the end of the year."
Quid Pro Quo
05.00 - It doesn't seem like it but it was exactly nine years ago today that Kasim Sulton's album Quid Pro Quo was released!
The album won the Kweevak.com 2003 People's Choice Award.
The first edition of Quid Pro Quo soon sold out but the second edition (without the bonus track Love Reunion) is still available from Sphere Sound Records for $17.
Kasim's next album (as yet unnamed) will be released later this year.
The gig starts at 9pm and more info will be posted later.
Saturday 20th August 2011
2 new Todd Rundgren gigs for Kasim
10.30 - Two new Todd Rundgren gigs have been added which Kasim Sulton and the other members of his band will be playing when they are in UK in October.
Both gigs are on Saturday 8th October and are at Ronnie Scott's in London. They will play at 8.30pm until 9.45pm and then a separate show will be from midnight until 1.15am.
In both cases there will be a support act who will play for 45 minutes and everybody has to exit the venue between the two gigs.
Click here for tickets which cost about £45 to £60 ($60 to $75).
Todd Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Jesse Gress, Prairie Prince and John Frenzik are due on stage from 7pm until 8.10pm Japanese time but as that is from to 6am to 7.10am on Saturday morning New York time I thought it best to post this update today!
Yuzawa-machi, Niigata is about 3 hours north of Tokyo and is marked with the A on this map (Tokyo is shown by the letter B).
(Incidentially Yuzawa-machi, Niigata is 9,706 miles from Staten Island, NY and Google Maps believes that it would take 36 days and 8 hours to travel there by road including instruction #47 which is "Kayak across the Pacific Ocean!")
The Fuji Rock Festival is a massive event in Japan and, although some fans expressed amazement that they are going all that way to play one (shortened) set, the festival attracts some big names. The festival this year lasts from Friday until Sunday and the acts include Artic Monkeys, Incubus and Cold Play.
There are 13 stages at the festival and Todd will be playing on the Field Of Heaven stage just before Saturday's headliner Widespread Panic.
Click here to view the festival website (there is a link to read it in English).
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