The Kasim Sulton Band in Chicago

I left at 3.45pm for the 45 minute drive into Chicago but, even though I came off the freeway as it was solid, it still took me an hour and a half to get there! I calculated that this is my 15th visit to Chicago but I’ve never known the traffic as bad as this before. Rebecca was late too and got there just after me. I had dinner with Rebecca, her daughter and two of her friends at an Irish pub / restaurant that also had a lot of Scottish things in there! It was a lovely meal but massive so most of us only ate half.

There was then construction on the way to The Abbey Pub so we didn’t get there until just about 7pm which is when we believed that Kasim’s set was starting. However outside there was a queue as the doors (which were supposed to have opened at 6.30pm) were not open yet. Kasim has played here about 8 times over the years and this was his largest crowd so that was great to see (there were even people having to stand at the back!) but it did mean that we had to sit upstairs so it wasn’t a great view. I also experimented with my camera while the opening act were on and changed the setting so that it made the photos lighter and it worked! I went on the percentages game and shot lots more pictures than I normally would as with that zoom everything has to be totally static but I got a couple of good shots.

I’ll add a full review to KasimInfo.com later but this was the Kasim Sulton Band’s best gig yet! Kasim seemed far more focus (didn’t chat to the audience as much as he did in Dayton) and he said himself that he had been rehearsing his lead guitar parts and it really showed! For Do You Want To Dance loads of people stood and danced at the front of the stage which was brilliant to see!

Afterwards we went downstairs and there were loads of people I knew (and some I was introduced to for the first time) which was nice so I didn’t leave there until about 11.15pm. On my way back to the hotel, I received a phone call to say that Kasim had left his suit at the venue so could I pick it up on my way through Chicago tomorrow! When I got back to my hotel I arranged to meet the person who has the suit at a freeway entrance tomorrow morning.

I got to sleep at about 1.45am.