Well, first, as I was entering into the House of Blues, who should walk right by me, but Kasim himself! The bouncer at the door did not recognize Kasim and was giving him a hard time about getting in. He finally got in, and after he was done flirting with a young lady he obviously knew, I took the opportunity to shake his hand and tell him how much I loved his playing, especially with Todd and Utopia, and wished him a good show. He thanked me & then went on his way to get ready.
The show really rocked as all of the reviews indicated, from the opening of Buffolo Grass to the closing of Hawking (one of my favs) and Worlwide Epiphany. The crowd of maybe 300-400 was very enthusiastic which I think Todd responded to by talking between songs even more than usual. It was funny, when he began Fascist Christ, he actually blew the opening line. He said, "It's o.k., I'll come back to it," as he then waited for another measure of music. Then he said he forgot the line entirely and asked members of the audience if they knew what it was. The band actually lowered the music so Todd could hear some guy standing about 10 feet away from the stage. Todd then went back to the mic and said, "Give that man tickets to tomarrows show," and then began to sing, "Founding fathers and mothers left us a mandate..."
After the show, I waited for about an hour to one and a-half- hours untill O.H. finally came out, and was it worth the wait. He was very generous with his time, hanging out for about 10-15 minutes answering questions about working again with Jim Steinman, his son Rex's baseball carreer, his life in Kauai, his studio in San Francisco, and of course, posing for pictures. I finally got that "Todd Pic" I was hoping for, just me & him arm in arm! Thank you Todd and the band for putting on another great show that never dissappoints and leaves you completely satisfied . And thank you Marshall for having your camera with you!
