Kasim in Bethesda, MD and Reistertown, MD

My dreams finally came true! :) Everything that I thought wouldn't happen happened! :)

Let me start with Kasim and Todd in Bethesda, MD. I'm so glad that I got to see one of the AWATS shows. I was so hoping the tour would come close to where I could go. When the date was announced, I made plans to go! Lucky for me, I had the day off from work that day! :) I had no idea what to expect that day. I wanted everything to be a surprise. I had heard the opening act was Utopia. I had never seen them before! I was so looking forward to see them! :)

Before the show, I met up with some friends. People that I had emailed and never met before. When I walked into the venue, I hung around the little restaurant area to see if I could find some of my friends. The first person I see is Roger Powell sitting and eating with some of his friends. I wanted to say hi to him but I didn't want to bother him while he was eating. I saw Prairie eating outside with his friends. I had on a Utopia Redux 92 shirt with their faces on it. I think he saw me because he spotted his shirt! :) Later, I saw Greg come in with a friend of his. I tried to find Kasim but I couldn't find him. :( I saw Michele come out and get a friend of hers. She was in a hurry so I didn't stop her to say hi.

I had a seat in the 9th row! I had a fantastic view! :) When Utopia came on, the crowd went crazy! It was so cool to see them in the outfits they wore for the Oops Wrong Planet tour. It was great to see Roger as I had never seen him before. I wish I could have said hi to him before the show. I finally heard Trapped live! :) Loved it! :) My fancy bass player was so hot OMG! :)

AWATS was fantastic! :) Sometimes I think back on that night and say to myself, "Did that happen? Was I there?" It felt like a dream. I still have dreams about that night and a certain fancy bass player in his white suit! ;) :) "Does Anybody Love You, do you think....." :) Todd's outfits were interesting. I wasn't too sure about the fat suit.

The rest of September was spent reliving AWATS and waiting for Kasim's show in MD.

On October 9, the rest of my dreams came true. The day I never thought would happen happened. After seven years of waiting to see him solo (now with a band!), the time arrived.

Before the show, I could hear some of sound check. I heard the last part of "The Up". :) I had hoped he would do that song.

The doors opened at 8PM and we all went upstairs to the venue. Micho's is a really nice place to see a show. Very intimate! :) My table was great! :) I chatted with some fans before the show.

There was no opening act which was good for me because I didn't really want to see one. I just wanted to see Kasim.

The show started at 9PM. Everyone clapped and cheered when Kasim and the band came on stage. He looked so happy. I always love to see him happy. :) He has wanted to do shows with a band for so very long now and now was/is his chance to do so. There were a lot of surprises that night with the songs he chose. The biggest surprises for me were: Mimi Gets Mad, Cliche solo, and Do You Love Me.

After the show, Kasim mingled with the crowd. He sure knows how to work a room! :) I think he went to everyone and said hi to them. I met his drummer Tad. He was really nice. He remembered seeing me on his MySpace and Facebook. I didn't get the chance to say hi to Mark or Mike.

When I saw Kasim later, I gave him hugs from fans and he thanked me for coming. :) I thanked him for everything. :)

That night was so very special to me. I know it was for him too. I think the picture of him above says it all. :)

"Where are the words......" :)