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|
4th - December - 2006 - the New CARS Tour |
I'm
pretty sure I was in Chicago earlier this week and tomorrow I fly
to Los Angeles, get off the plane, drive to the House Of Blues for
soundcheck with The New Cars for a show there that night.
So, It looks like I'm finishing
off this year with one more Meat Loaf TV taping (Dick Clarks NYE
Show) and a week of New Cars gigs on the West Coast.
|
5th - November - 2006 - the New CARS Tour - London |
Whew
... I'm tired.
It's been non stop since August. The hardest part is over. The three
most important shows are done. London, New York and Toronto. All in
preparation for the release of Meat's most important record in 13
years.
The amount of planning and preparation
that went into making these dates special was daunting to say the
least. Everyone, band, crew and management came together to put
all the individual pieces in place.
Meat Loafs' ability to gauge his audience. What to do and when to
do it.
The shows were great. As perfect
as anyone could hope for in a live situation. We're not scheduled
to start touring until March of next year but this is one show you
can't miss. I know I can't wait until we're doing this on a regular
basis.
|
17th - October - 2006 - the New CARS Tour - Royal Albert Hall |
I
can breathe a sigh of relief. Most of the work I've done starting
in August stretched all the way through to two nights ago. I'm refering
to endless rehearsing going over old material, learing new songs,
auditioning a replacement for someone we didn't want to replace, trying
to find yet another band member who would play an instrument that
hadn't been utilized in this band before ... it was madness all the
way around. The rehearsals were done, auditions ended. It was now,
make it or break it.
We played to a packed house at the Royal Albert Hall here in London
and I can honestly say I don't ever remember enjoying a show as
much. Everyone tried their hardest and did their best to make it
as perfect a show as any live show could be and we managed to rise
to the occasion.
In a very ironic way, the work has just begun. Now all we can do
is turn to the next show, the next venue, the next TV or radio performance
and do what we did at Albert Hall.
So
... on to NYC.
There aren't any guarantees life, let alone in my chosen profession
so the thought of Bat III becoming a success on the level of it's
two predecessors is "iffy." We'll do our best to make
it so.
|
April - 2006 - the New CARS Tour |
Check
here for Kasim's notes from the road once the "Road Rage Tour"
gets rolling! In the meantime, you can read about the development
of the K Sulton Signature Bass on Meat Loaf's 2005 Euro-American tour.
After constant Road Testing the K Sulton has been tweaked to perfection.
Remember, you can order your very own K Sulton Signature Bass today!
Be the proud owner of a bass guitar as distinctive as the man who
inspired its creation ... Kasim Sulton!
|
1st - October - 2005 GUITARfest Cascio Interstate Music - New
Berlin, WI |
This
was an incredible day at Cascio Interstate Music. Kasim came on toward
the end of the show with a full house onhand. There were many there
specifically to see Kasim and many Utopia and Todd shirts seen in
the crowd.
Kas played a short acoustic set
and elicited actual screams from the faithful! Selections included:
Sometimes Love is a Dangerous Thing, The One Sure Thing, Cliché
and There Goes My Inspiration. After this, Kasim picked up his Archer
K Sulton Signature Bass and invited Rippingtons
bassist Kim Stone onstage for an impromptu jam! Kasim and Kim were
obviously pumped by the interaction and their enthusiasm quickly
spread to the crowd. The jam ended in a heartfelt embrace shared
by the two legendary musicians.
At the urging of the crowd, Kasim
played Sacrifice before relinquishing the stage to Johnny Hiland.
It was nice to see the love Kasim inspires among his faithful fans
and certainly he made some new ones at GuitarFest 2005!
|
21st - September - 2005 Orlando, Florida - Bob Carr Performing
Arts Center |
Tonight's
show went well. Everyone is at the top of their game and just wanting
to have fun with the show. I've found out -- by keeping a running
tab on things here -- that the beginning of a long tour will usually
see a group of musicians a little guarded. Tentative, if you will.
No one wants to 'screw up' so they'll be slightly more cautious with
the parts they're playing. As the tour progresses, each player becomes
more comfortable -- not only with what their playing but with what
the OTHER guy is playing -- therefore, it makes trying different things
every so often easier. A good musician realizes that the whole is
greater than the sum of it's parts.
This has been true for every band from the Beatles to ... well, pick
a band, ANY band! My personal pick here would be The Spice
Girls. Not one of them, save for Mel C, has had anywhere near
the success in their solo career.
Can you tell it might be time for me to go home? HA!
American
Red
Cross Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert
Oglethorpe Speedway Park - Savannah, GA - Friday, September
16th, 2005 |
Last week we
played a benefit concert for the Red Cross Relief Fund in the wake
of hurricane Katrina and by auctioning off one of my Archer K Sulton
Signature Bass Guitars ( a prototype that I've been using this whole
tour) I managed to raise close to $1500.
All told the show wound up contributing over $100,000.00 for all the
displaced people effected by that terrible disaster.
The young man who won the bass was a nice kid from Savannah, Georgia
who is a musician. I hope he gets many years of use out of that Bass
as it served me well during this whole tour.
- Kasim
17th
- August - 2005 - Bank Of America Pavillion - Boston, MS
20th - August - 2005 - Allen County Fair - Lima, OH
22nd - August - 2005 - Wolf Trap Filene Center - Vienna, VA
25th - August - 2005 - Tommy Hilfiger - Jones Beach, NY
27th - August - 2005 - PNC Bank Arts Center - Holmdel, NJ
29th - August - 2005 - Saratoga PAC - Saratoga Springs, NY |
The
past few shows have been great. What normally happens at this point
in a tour is people start taking liberties with the parts they've
been playing. You know, stretching out, pushing the envelope. That
can be both good and bad. Good in terms of breaking the boredom of
playing the same thing night after night and bad in terms of keeping
the songs close to how they should be played. Each person, each part,
depends on what the other instruments are playing. If Paul - our Lead
Guitarist - decides to play a fill or a riff in a place where he normally
doesn't, it has the potential to throw that whole section off. Granted,
most times this doesn't happen as we're all pro's and pick our spots
with the utmost care. But caring about what you play and WHEN and
WHERE you play it is important.
This
is mostly because our whole show revolves around one person. the
lead singer. In this case, Meat Loaf. His comfort factor has to
come first. If the changes taking place in songs over the course
of numerous tours affect the singers ability to 'deliver' them,
then you have a problem. Fortunately for us, everyone on the tour
is aware of this and plays accordingly.
But,
I digress ... As I said above, the shows have been going well. The
band gets compliments every night from audience members. If you've
never seen a Meat Loaf show before I can assure you it's not your
average rock concert. On this particular tour, we're not using any
pyrotechnics or unusual staging. We're just giving the audience
an hour and forty-five minutes of pure rock. We start with a snippet
of a Steve Earl song then launch into new and old Meat Loaf material
barely stopping between songs. We're even performing a song that
will apear on the next Meat Loaf / Bat Out Of Hell record due to
start recording once this tour is over.
- Kasim
| 15th
- August - 2005 Mohegan Sun Casino - Uncasville, CT |
Played
another casino last night. Time was, you wouldn't go anywhere near
these places but, in the last 10 years they've become real cash cows
in the music industry. Everyone and their brother plays these type
of places now. I guess it's part of trying to lure the 'younger crowd'
to drop a load of dough in the slots or at the gaming tables. I can
remember playing in Las Vegas in the late 70's at the old Aladdin
Hotel with Utopia and Elvin Bishop opened for us. The venue at this
casino is much larger than most, seating around 10,000 people. There
wasn't a spare seat in the house last night.
There were these two young girls in front of me the whole night, they
couldn't have been more than 12 years old and they were totally into
it from the moment we went on stage. I love seeing such young fans.
At one point, I threw a pick twords them and I think their younger
brother wound up with it. I know this because I saw them arguing over
it with the Dad. That spurred a barage of pick throwing from me to
them to make sure they wouldn't be fighting over the one their brother
caught. Cute. Between them and the Carmen Electra look alike in the
front row, I had an interesting show to say the least.
Sometimes I wish we could just call out a song thats not on the set
list and barrel into it but this isn't one of those bands. THAT would
be great though. Bruce Hornsby does that type of thing, telling the
audience to write requests on slips of paper and toss them on stage.
The calling the song for the band to play in the middle of the show.
That takes gut's lemme tell you.
- Kasim
| 13th
- August -2005 - Borgata Casino - Atlantic City, NJ |
Tonight we played at the Borgata Casino and Spa in Atlantic City.
We were the second act to play here two years ago when it first opened
and since then, every major act who tours the States has been here.
So, we've come back and had to add another show end of next month
because of how quickly this first one sold out.
The house was packed and we delivered our usual hour and fourty-five
minutes of pure entertainment. Meat has been in a great mood and his
voice is stronger than ever.
Since we're still in the NYC area there were lots of family at the
show and I was thrilled to play host to my oldest daughter and two
of her cousins tonight. I was watching her form the stage singing
along to some of the songs and getting into it with the rest of the
crowd. If I was accused of giving just a little bit extra after seeing
that, I wouldn't deny it. Anyone with kids will tell you impressing
them with your day gig isn't a simple task.
-
Kasim
5th,
7th, 9th - August - 2005 - Beacon Theater - New York, NY
11th - August - 2005 - Casino Rama - Orillia, Ontario, Canada |
Back
in the US and we've got the first four shows under our belts. We did
three nights at the Beacon Theater in NYC. It's always a pain doing
shows in your hometown because there are just so many friends and
family who want to come. Thats not even counting the requests I get
from people claiming to have gone to High School with me.
It can be frustrating trying to accomodate everyone but I do my best.
I was pleasantly surprised at the NYC audience. On all three shows
we had them on their feet and singing along. Thats always a good guage
of the performance. It's what you really want to see. Every so often
you get a dull crowd and the comment afterwards is "We played
to an oil painting tonight".
We're looking forward to the next
seven weeks of shows and I'm sure we'll see more of the same fervor.
-
Kasim
16th
- July - 2005 - Warwick Castle - Warwick, England
15th - July - 2005 - Blickling Hall - Norfolk, England |
Over the past
couple of days we played our last two shows in the "Stately Homes"
concert series. This has been a really cool experience, seeing these
places and wandering around grounds that have been part of these estates
for hundreds of years. Most of these homes belong to the National
Trust. They open them to the public in the form of tours and concert
series in return for paying the enormous amount of money in the upkeep
on the land and property.
The shows keep getting better as we go along and I know that by the
time we start in the states, we'll be well oiled. Part of the problem
was the amount of days off we had on this particular run. Normally,
we'd be doing three to four shows a week, two on, one off, that type
of thing. Because of the availability of venues on this run, we've
done as little as one show in a week and had more days off, than anyone
would like. Not only does it not help in terms of finding a groove
playing wise, it also manages to burn our collective per-deim faster
than anyone would like.
-
Kasim
|
12th - July - 2005 - Big Top - Liverpool, England |
The
Big Top is actually located in the Docklands area of the city. The
show was great and the crowd of about 5000 people were on their feet
the whole evening. It was a rare indoor gig for us and we're coming
back here next week for the second of two shows. This performance
was added on at the last minute because the tickets went so fast.
- Kasim
|
10th - July - 2005 - Chatsworth House - Chatsworth, England |
This
show was great and once again, the audience was well into it. The
US is going to have to go a long way in matching the enthusiasm we've
been receiving when we take the stage over here.
-
Kasim
| 8th
- July - 2005 - Leeds Castle - Maidstone, England |
We
played our first show in four days at Leeds Castle. The show was a
good one in my opinion, save for the deluge of rain that fell on the
crowd prior to us going on. The funniest thing was the amount of water
that had collected on the tarp covering the stage which no one knew
about, until a few gusts of wind came along, blew buckets of water
down and summarily drenched the first few rows of unsuspecting fans,
cameras and all! I knew a few of these people and felt so bad for
them.
Thankfully the rain stopped earlier but, I'm sure being practically
drowned sitting at the show didn't help the comfortability factor
for some. On to Chatsworth!
- Kasim
| 28th
- June - 2005 - Stadtpark Freilichtbuhne - Hamburg, Germany |
Last
nights show in Hamburg wasn't a stellar performance for me by any
means as I was trying to shake the congestion of a cold with a combination
of vitamins and over the counter cold remedies. I was out of sorts
the whole evening.
-
Kasim
| 25th
- June - 2005 - Zitadelle - Mainz, Germany |
The venue in
Mainz was a very nice open air park-like setting in yet another small
German town. We've settled into a nice groove show-wise and it makes
playing more fun. I can stretch out now within the set and not worry
so much about the song arrangements, parts and cues.
-
Kasim
| 24th
- June - 2005 - Rastatt Open Air - Rastatt, Germany |
This
was a show put on by the local town council as some kind of celebration
for the village. We got to the gig early and I was greeted by some
dear old friends who were on the bill with us that evening, The Hooters.
I'm good friends with Eric Bazillian who, along with Rob Hyman, are
songwriters unmatched.
In addition to having a few major hits on their own, they have also
penned hits for Cyndy Lauper (Time After Time) and Joan Osborne (What
If God Was One Of Us). I did manage to show their bass player, Fran
Smith, my new guitar and got a big thumbs up from him on the feel,
look and playability.
- Kasim
| 22nd
- June - 2005 - Tollwood Festival - Munich, Germany |
After
a nice evening off in Munich, we got on our coach and drove the 20
minutes or so to this evening's gig at the Tollwood Festival here
in Bavaria.
This was another 'outdoor gig' only tonight's show was held under
a huge white tent, enclosed on all sides. Under normal circumstances
this would be a nice cool evening inside but because the weather has
been on the warm side, it was going to be a little hot tonight on
stage. "Hot" would have been tolerable ... by the time we
hit the stage, it was sweltering inside the venue. Not two songs into
the set and I was dripping wet. A couple of other band members were
close to passing out on stage due to the heat generated by the lights
and a packed house. I actually didn't mind the heat all that much
... it's kind of what Rock & Roll is all about, getting up on
stage and putting 110% into it no matter how uncomfortable it might
be temperature-wise.
- Kasim
| 18th
- June - 2005 - Ardgillan Castle - Dublin, Ireland |
Last
night we played here in Dublin at a place called Ardgillan Castle.
Amazing! I'm not too up on the history of the place. Suffice it to
say the grounds and views of the Irish Sea were breathtaking.
The crowd of 20,000 made for an exciting evening. This was our last
show on a triple bill with Status Quo and Melanie C. The festival
area was so huge that I couldn't get up to the actual Castle to take
pictures but as we were playing they lit it in different colors.
- Kasim
| 17th
- June - 2005 - Ravenhill Rugby Ground - Belfast, Northern Ireland |
After
a rather short hop from Manchester across the Irish Sea to Belfast,
we gathered our hand carries and jumped on the coach to the venue.
The bill on today's show was a little less extensive than the last
few and we were looking forward to seeing Melanie C and her band again.
What a bunch of nice guys. They back that niceness up with excellent
musicianship and a great stage sound. I was particularly impressed
with Kim Khahan, Melanie's Bassist. I'm sure percentage wise, male
bass players outweigh female bass players (no pun intended) 10 to
1. Kim is a perfect example of why there should be more female bass
players. She's a total cutie and man can she play! I asked her to
take a picture holding the K-Bass and she was more than kind to oblige.
It seems that this particular venue has never hosted a concert event
before and we were proud to be headlining their first attempt at it.
It went off without a hitch and the ten thousand or so fans in attendance
couldn't have been more kind to us and the other acts on the bill.
See More Photos for great shots of Kasim,
Melanie C, Kim Khahan and more!
- Kasim
Last night we played a large
festival in Holland. Some 20,000 people in attendance. We were headlining
this particular show. Sharing the bill with us was Styx, The Little
River Band, Lou Graham (Foreigner) and Crosby, Stills & Nash.
We got there later than I had wanted to and only managed to catch
CSN but they were great. We took the stage at 10 and besides the fact
that it was FREEZING (roughly 55 degrees), we got right down to it
and gave what I thought was a good show. No soundcheck didn't help,
making the first few songs somewhat of a train wreck. But we managed
to regroup somewhere around the middle of the 3rd song. Hopefully
the next show will go a lot better.
- Kasim
I'm playing the Arrow Rock Festival in Lichtenvoorde,
Holland this weekend and will have a lot of material and pictures
for you by Monday, 6/13/05.
I plan on compiling everything Sunday and sending it off in then.
- Kasim |
