Kasim Sulton's gig in Fort Lauderdale

I worked all afternoon and then left at about 5.00pm. My plan was to wander around the festival area and then see Kasim's gig at 6.30pm but I had a HORRENDOUS drive there because as I turned into the road where I thought the 43rd Annual Fort Lauderdale Billfish Tournament was being held I had my doubts as I was nowhere near any water! Eventually I realised that I must be at the corporate headquarters! Worst of all was that I didn’t have the correct address with me. I called into a petrol station but nobody there had heard of it and my mobile phone wouldn’t connect for some reason so I had no alternative but to return to my hotel to look it up on the Internet! I decided that Sunday night must be the night that all the slowest drivers in Fort Lauderdale go out for a drive as it I didn’t manage to get back until 6.05pm. I immediately set off again and my SatNav said that I would get there at exactly 6.30pm however it didn’t account for all the red traffic lights and then I even got stuck at a drawbridge for a good 4 minutes!!! (See photo above.) I must admit that my language was ripe at this point. Eventually I got to the venue at about 6.45pm but I missed the entrance to the car park. As I tried to turn around I was taken across another drawbridge which AGAIN was up to let a boat through! I sat on the bridge listening to Kasim’s soundcheck (not very quietly) swearing! I eventually got to the venue at about 7.05pm and thankfully couldn’t hear Kasim playing yet. The lady at the entrance said that he hadn’t started but that he was "very good"!

They were just finishing the Award Ceremony (thankfully running half an hour late) so I walked out to where Kasim would be playing. The stage was about 4 feet high and was a decent size. It must be the only venue that Kasim has played where there’s been a boat parked at either side of the stage!

When this gig was first announced I really thought that this could have been a very important gig in terms of Kasim’s solo career as he was headlining a tournament where he could also have picked up a lot of new fans. (This is a tournament where people like Rick Derringer and Pat Travers headlined on other nights.) Unfortunately it seemed that playing after the award ceremony was not a good idea as lots of the boat people had already left by then so even Kasim said at one point in the gig that there were only about 15 people there! Despite that Kasim, Doug and Jesse put on an amazing performance! In fact it was as good and professional as if there had been 10,000 people there.

I put a (detailed of course!!!) review on KasimInfo.com here but the funniest part for me was that during Utopia’s There Goes My Inspiration, a drunk guy who had been quietly sitting along to my left a bit came over to me (with a bottle of beer in his hand!) and asked me if I’d like to "make out"!!! I was in fits of laughter after that!

When I watch a Meat Loaf concert I can easily remember all the set list but I get so engrossed in Kasim's solo gigs that I don't have a clue which songs he's sung afterwards! That's why I record his gigs. (He gave me permission when he first started playing solo gigs and I never make copies for anyone else.) Anyway, straight after the gig Grady came over and spoke to me and then Kasim did too but what I'd forgotten was that I hadn't turned my recorder off so I have our conversations on tape and even some of what we said later in the car!

Anyway after the gig EJ suggested that I join Grady, her husband and her at a Polynesian restaurant that they were going to and I'm really glad that I did as they had an amazing floor show! There was a band of 4 musicians, plus 3 girl dancers and 2 guy dancers who did so many choreographed moves, mainly hip-shaking dances but from all sorts of places. Afterwards we had a wander around their gardens which had loads of Polynesian statues in it. Apparently it is one of Todd Rundgren's favourite restaurants in the city.

They dropped me back to my car at the festival and I got back to my room by 11.30pm.