DAY 1 - THURSDAY!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was my 5th KISS concert I've been to. Got there about 7 'clock in Vinnie Vincent makeup with my now black hair teased up in hairspray haha!. Saw 1 other Vinnie and 2 Erics there which was cool, and got TONS of comments about the VV makeup. I had Paradise tickets, second half of the floor. We stayed near Paul's mini-stage (and I was 2 metres from him again when he played I Was Made For Lovin' You!).
After Grinspoon (2nd support act), as the music played through the PA, when a song ended, down comes the big KISS curtain in time with the end of the song. There begins the madness, this is a part of the night I always love! The atmosphere just became electric already! About five minutes later, down go the house lights! And the PA music gets turned up! The atmosphere gets bigger! As soon as that song finishes, there it is... THE RUMBLE! The spotlights chasing around the arena with the big rumble, and then the booming voice with everybody in the areana chanting to it!
"ALRIGHT MELBOUUUUUUUURNE! YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST, THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD - KISS!!!!!!!!!!"
.... and in comes the Eric's drum into to Creatures Of The Night!!!The curtain falls as the guitars kick in and pyro goes off everywhere as expected as they head into my favourite KISS song sounding very much like on Alive III! (Except Tommy played a more Ace-style solo)
The concert was simply AMAZING! I have to say now - Why should KISS quit? They are better now than they have been since the early '90s. They were tight as well, sounded the heaviest they have since before the reunion, seemed to have a new found energy & spark, the crowd participation levels were sooo high we were really PART of the show, the setlist was awesome, they changed around where all the theatrics & alot of the pyro is to keep it fresh compared to the last tours, there was actually more pyro than the Farewell & Reunion tours as well haha....
It was the best KISS show I have seen! And I came out thinking, despite any problems we have with the band's decisions, the fact is that you still can't come out of these KISS shows thinking "That was ok..", you get totally blown away! KISS are still the best live band in the world. I don't see any reason for them to give it up now!
Setlist:
Creatures of the Night
Deuce
I Pledge Allegiance To The State Of Rock & Roll
I Love it Loud
Christine Sixteen
Tears are Falling
War Machine
Lick it Up
Calling Dr. Love
I Want You
100,000 Years
Unholy
Shout it Out Loud (with Orchestra)
Love Gun (with Orchestra)
I Was Made For Lovin' You (with Orchestra)
Detroit Rock City (with Orchestra)
God Gave Rock and Roll To You II
Rock and Roll all Night (with Orchestra)
DAY 2 - FRIDAY!
Got in there earlier this time. Went as Vinnie again of course. The crowd was quite a bit smaller (maybe only 8000 there compared to probably 15,000 the night before). Disappointing crowd, especially for Melbourne who usually sell out 3 shows there in no time.
This time I was about seven rows of people from the front! SO CLOSE! They surprised me by opening with Love Gun which was a nice change and mixed it up a bit, but had me worried they had dropped Creatures. But late in the set Paul goes "In 1982 we did an album that we really love and its one of our favourites so we're gonna play something off that, this is CREATURES OF THE NIGHT!" The other change in the setlist was that "I Pledge Allegiance.." was replaced with "Makin' Love". During Unholy some guy next to me was complaining that they played that instead of God Of Thunder. Unholy is WAY better!
Anyway it was another killer show and I had a ball! Afterwards I went to Shamiana Bar & Restaurant in the city to the official KISS after party which I had passes to! Gene Simmons was there but I didn't see him because a few minutes before I turned up, he walked in, grabbed a girl, practically started doing her in front of everyone and dragged her in a private room and shut the door and disappeared for the rest of the night and left out a back way. All I saw the his bodyguard standing outside the locked door haha!
This was the best part of the night - at one stage I was standing there and some dude taps his friend on the shoulder to point out my Vinnie makeup. So his friend comes over to me and taps me and says "Great makeup!" and shook my hand. I'd been getting that all night so I shook his hand, said thanks and turned back around. Then realised I just shook hands with ERIC SINGER! So I turned back around and told him he played a great show and introduced him to one of my friends and he was talkin' about the badges on her jacket and stuff, then he went and made the rounds and see what else was goin on in the club hehe. It was great! Eric came up to ME to introduce himself because he liked my Vinnie makeup, unreal!
KILLER NIGHT! Another great show and I met Eric Singer, and there was just one door between me and Gene Simmons while he was having sex, HAHAHA! The after party was such a typical rock star party, it was an interesting experience (and lots of nice eye candy too, half naked girls everywhere!)
Setlist:
Love Gun
Deuce
Makin' Love
I Love It Loud
Christine Sixteen
Tears Are Falling
War Machine
Lick It Up
Calling Dr. Love
I Want You
100,000 Years
Unholy
Shout It Out Loud
Creatures of the Night
I Was Made For Lovin' You
Detroit Rock City
God Gave Rock and Roll To You II
Rock and Roll All Nite
DAY 3 - SATURDAY
Tonight's show was at a different venue. A small 2,000 seat theatre, and the show was called KISS IN YOUR FACE, an intimiate show with an extended setlist or stuff they never play live anymore. It was invite only for people who had tickets to the other shows so it was a special show for the diehards.
The show was great! It was really interesting and alot like seeing KISS in 1975 or something! They played pretty much a vintage, classic KISS set on a smaller stage with no pyrotechnics or anything, just a long set of classic KISS songs! It was unpredictable, you didn't know what they'd play back, the band was relaxed and Paul was just chatting to the crowd alot rather than using his typical lines he always does, it rocked! Also, they did that thing like on the early footage a few times too where Gene & Tommy would share a mic stand for the backing vocals etc, they used alot of the old stage moves from the classic shows, it was really like watching the old KISS footage I grew up with so it was a really special show for me!
Another thing - for those who say KISS hide behind the stageshow, last night there was no pyrotechnics, no fire machines, no smoke machines, and Gene didn't even spit blood or breath fire. It was the band on stage with a light show, just playing the songs! As Paul said "Stripped back rock & roll show tonight!" And half the people there came out saying it was the best show on the tour and the best KISS show they've seen. I didn't because I was way up the back and the last 2 nights I was down on the floor right in front of them which was better, but I LOVED it and it was a really special night for me and most other KISS fans too I'm sure! Once in a lifetime experience.
Paul said "This is the show we've been waiting for! We know we have the diehards here tonight, so we get to play all the stuff we usually don't get to! We might forget the words or we might forget the endings, but we know we're amongst friends tonight so we can take some chances!" They played "All The Way" live for the first time EVER in their career so that's pretty special, and almost even played 2 songs off The Elder. He started playing "The Oath" and goes "You wanna hear that?" and the place went quiet! So then he kicked into the "I" riff, and Gene started singing a line then stopped for the crowd to sing the next line to see if they wanted to hear it, and nobody really sang. And Paul said "Obviously there's a reason we don't remember those songs very well anymore then..." and then they just went into "Cold Gin". So the chances of KISS playing Elder stuff now live is even more slim if even a diehard crowd in Melbourne wasn't interested! I would've LOVED to have heard those songs though!
One funny thing was that Paul can't remember what albums some of the songs are from! According to him, "She" comes off the first album, "Christine Sixteen" comes off Rock & Roll Over, and he can't remember what album "Love Her All I Can" is from, hahahaha!
It was great though, a really special show and something for the diehards that they wouldn't usually get to see. It really captured the vibe of a mid-70s KISS show and the atmosphere was great.
So now I'm sad because my 3 days of KISS mayhem is over and today the band will be on their way to Sydney. But it was the best 3 days of my life, I'll never forget it! Thursday & Friday were the 2 best KISS shows I've ever seen and the closest I've been to the stage, Friday night I met Eric Singer and was at their after party, and Saturday I saw a special KISS show that took me back to watching footage of songs like "C'mon & Love Me" & "Hotter Than Hell" from 1976 on Kiss My Ass and Konfidential and stuff!
Paul said they would be back too. And after he said it, he goes "Yep, that's right you heard me!" I ain't complaining because they are the best they have been in YEARS, and I no longer see a reason for them to quit. I'll be there with bells on again next time!
Setlist:
Deuce
Strutter
C'mon And Love Me
Parasite
Love Gun
Christine Sixteen
Makin Love
Got To Choose
I Love It Loud
Love Her All I Can
She
All The Way
I Want You
War Machine
100,000 Years
Hotter Than Hell
Shout It Out Loud
I Was Made For Lovin You
Calling Dr Love
The Oath & I (few seconds only)
Cold Gin
Detroit Rock City
King Of The Nightime World
Shandi
God Gave Rock And Roll To You
Rock N Roll All Nite
KISS - Thanks for 3 awesome days, 3 awesome shows and the time of my life that I'll never forget! No matter how much I disagree with the way the band is being run and having Eric & Tommy in Peter & Ace's makeup instead of getting their own etc, KISS proved that they are still the best live band in the world and EVERYBODY walks out blown away. As long as that's the case - why quit? They are still on top. I've now seen KISS 7 times live and this year they were better than ever.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was my 5th KISS concert I've been to. Got there about 7 'clock in Vinnie Vincent makeup with my now black hair teased up in hairspray haha!. Saw 1 other Vinnie and 2 Erics there which was cool, and got TONS of comments about the VV makeup. I had Paradise tickets, second half of the floor. We stayed near Paul's mini-stage (and I was 2 metres from him again when he played I Was Made For Lovin' You!).
After Grinspoon (2nd support act), as the music played through the PA, when a song ended, down comes the big KISS curtain in time with the end of the song. There begins the madness, this is a part of the night I always love! The atmosphere just became electric already! About five minutes later, down go the house lights! And the PA music gets turned up! The atmosphere gets bigger! As soon as that song finishes, there it is... THE RUMBLE! The spotlights chasing around the arena with the big rumble, and then the booming voice with everybody in the areana chanting to it!
"ALRIGHT MELBOUUUUUUUURNE! YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST, THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD - KISS!!!!!!!!!!"
.... and in comes the Eric's drum into to Creatures Of The Night!!!The curtain falls as the guitars kick in and pyro goes off everywhere as expected as they head into my favourite KISS song sounding very much like on Alive III! (Except Tommy played a more Ace-style solo)
The concert was simply AMAZING! I have to say now - Why should KISS quit? They are better now than they have been since the early '90s. They were tight as well, sounded the heaviest they have since before the reunion, seemed to have a new found energy & spark, the crowd participation levels were sooo high we were really PART of the show, the setlist was awesome, they changed around where all the theatrics & alot of the pyro is to keep it fresh compared to the last tours, there was actually more pyro than the Farewell & Reunion tours as well haha....
It was the best KISS show I have seen! And I came out thinking, despite any problems we have with the band's decisions, the fact is that you still can't come out of these KISS shows thinking "That was ok..", you get totally blown away! KISS are still the best live band in the world. I don't see any reason for them to give it up now!
Setlist:
Creatures of the Night
Deuce
I Pledge Allegiance To The State Of Rock & Roll
I Love it Loud
Christine Sixteen
Tears are Falling
War Machine
Lick it Up
Calling Dr. Love
I Want You
100,000 Years
Unholy
Shout it Out Loud (with Orchestra)
Love Gun (with Orchestra)
I Was Made For Lovin' You (with Orchestra)
Detroit Rock City (with Orchestra)
God Gave Rock and Roll To You II
Rock and Roll all Night (with Orchestra)
DAY 2 - FRIDAY!
Got in there earlier this time. Went as Vinnie again of course. The crowd was quite a bit smaller (maybe only 8000 there compared to probably 15,000 the night before). Disappointing crowd, especially for Melbourne who usually sell out 3 shows there in no time.
This time I was about seven rows of people from the front! SO CLOSE! They surprised me by opening with Love Gun which was a nice change and mixed it up a bit, but had me worried they had dropped Creatures. But late in the set Paul goes "In 1982 we did an album that we really love and its one of our favourites so we're gonna play something off that, this is CREATURES OF THE NIGHT!" The other change in the setlist was that "I Pledge Allegiance.." was replaced with "Makin' Love". During Unholy some guy next to me was complaining that they played that instead of God Of Thunder. Unholy is WAY better!
Anyway it was another killer show and I had a ball! Afterwards I went to Shamiana Bar & Restaurant in the city to the official KISS after party which I had passes to! Gene Simmons was there but I didn't see him because a few minutes before I turned up, he walked in, grabbed a girl, practically started doing her in front of everyone and dragged her in a private room and shut the door and disappeared for the rest of the night and left out a back way. All I saw the his bodyguard standing outside the locked door haha!
This was the best part of the night - at one stage I was standing there and some dude taps his friend on the shoulder to point out my Vinnie makeup. So his friend comes over to me and taps me and says "Great makeup!" and shook my hand. I'd been getting that all night so I shook his hand, said thanks and turned back around. Then realised I just shook hands with ERIC SINGER! So I turned back around and told him he played a great show and introduced him to one of my friends and he was talkin' about the badges on her jacket and stuff, then he went and made the rounds and see what else was goin on in the club hehe. It was great! Eric came up to ME to introduce himself because he liked my Vinnie makeup, unreal!
KILLER NIGHT! Another great show and I met Eric Singer, and there was just one door between me and Gene Simmons while he was having sex, HAHAHA! The after party was such a typical rock star party, it was an interesting experience (and lots of nice eye candy too, half naked girls everywhere!)
Setlist:
Love Gun
Deuce
Makin' Love
I Love It Loud
Christine Sixteen
Tears Are Falling
War Machine
Lick It Up
Calling Dr. Love
I Want You
100,000 Years
Unholy
Shout It Out Loud
Creatures of the Night
I Was Made For Lovin' You
Detroit Rock City
God Gave Rock and Roll To You II
Rock and Roll All Nite
DAY 3 - SATURDAY
Tonight's show was at a different venue. A small 2,000 seat theatre, and the show was called KISS IN YOUR FACE, an intimiate show with an extended setlist or stuff they never play live anymore. It was invite only for people who had tickets to the other shows so it was a special show for the diehards.
The show was great! It was really interesting and alot like seeing KISS in 1975 or something! They played pretty much a vintage, classic KISS set on a smaller stage with no pyrotechnics or anything, just a long set of classic KISS songs! It was unpredictable, you didn't know what they'd play back, the band was relaxed and Paul was just chatting to the crowd alot rather than using his typical lines he always does, it rocked! Also, they did that thing like on the early footage a few times too where Gene & Tommy would share a mic stand for the backing vocals etc, they used alot of the old stage moves from the classic shows, it was really like watching the old KISS footage I grew up with so it was a really special show for me!
Another thing - for those who say KISS hide behind the stageshow, last night there was no pyrotechnics, no fire machines, no smoke machines, and Gene didn't even spit blood or breath fire. It was the band on stage with a light show, just playing the songs! As Paul said "Stripped back rock & roll show tonight!" And half the people there came out saying it was the best show on the tour and the best KISS show they've seen. I didn't because I was way up the back and the last 2 nights I was down on the floor right in front of them which was better, but I LOVED it and it was a really special night for me and most other KISS fans too I'm sure! Once in a lifetime experience.
Paul said "This is the show we've been waiting for! We know we have the diehards here tonight, so we get to play all the stuff we usually don't get to! We might forget the words or we might forget the endings, but we know we're amongst friends tonight so we can take some chances!" They played "All The Way" live for the first time EVER in their career so that's pretty special, and almost even played 2 songs off The Elder. He started playing "The Oath" and goes "You wanna hear that?" and the place went quiet! So then he kicked into the "I" riff, and Gene started singing a line then stopped for the crowd to sing the next line to see if they wanted to hear it, and nobody really sang. And Paul said "Obviously there's a reason we don't remember those songs very well anymore then..." and then they just went into "Cold Gin". So the chances of KISS playing Elder stuff now live is even more slim if even a diehard crowd in Melbourne wasn't interested! I would've LOVED to have heard those songs though!
One funny thing was that Paul can't remember what albums some of the songs are from! According to him, "She" comes off the first album, "Christine Sixteen" comes off Rock & Roll Over, and he can't remember what album "Love Her All I Can" is from, hahahaha!
It was great though, a really special show and something for the diehards that they wouldn't usually get to see. It really captured the vibe of a mid-70s KISS show and the atmosphere was great.
So now I'm sad because my 3 days of KISS mayhem is over and today the band will be on their way to Sydney. But it was the best 3 days of my life, I'll never forget it! Thursday & Friday were the 2 best KISS shows I've ever seen and the closest I've been to the stage, Friday night I met Eric Singer and was at their after party, and Saturday I saw a special KISS show that took me back to watching footage of songs like "C'mon & Love Me" & "Hotter Than Hell" from 1976 on Kiss My Ass and Konfidential and stuff!
Paul said they would be back too. And after he said it, he goes "Yep, that's right you heard me!" I ain't complaining because they are the best they have been in YEARS, and I no longer see a reason for them to quit. I'll be there with bells on again next time!
Setlist:
Deuce
Strutter
C'mon And Love Me
Parasite
Love Gun
Christine Sixteen
Makin Love
Got To Choose
I Love It Loud
Love Her All I Can
She
All The Way
I Want You
War Machine
100,000 Years
Hotter Than Hell
Shout It Out Loud
I Was Made For Lovin You
Calling Dr Love
The Oath & I (few seconds only)
Cold Gin
Detroit Rock City
King Of The Nightime World
Shandi
God Gave Rock And Roll To You
Rock N Roll All Nite
KISS - Thanks for 3 awesome days, 3 awesome shows and the time of my life that I'll never forget! No matter how much I disagree with the way the band is being run and having Eric & Tommy in Peter & Ace's makeup instead of getting their own etc, KISS proved that they are still the best live band in the world and EVERYBODY walks out blown away. As long as that's the case - why quit? They are still on top. I've now seen KISS 7 times live and this year they were better than ever.
