Trixxi's KISS Adventures!

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 13,000 the night before). They blocked off the very back of the seating because none of it was sold.

This time I was about seven rows of people from the front! SO CLOSE! They surprised me by opening with Love Gun which 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". And 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 dropped into The Depot in Richmond coz my car was parked near there where Bad Medicine were playing and caught a few songs. A few people wondered why I rocked up to a Bon Jovi tribute band in KISS makeup haha! Then I drove my sister home and then went to Shamiana Bar & Restaurant in the city to the official KISS after party. 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. All I saw the his bodyguard standing outside the locked door haha!

And 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 "Awesome makeup dude!" and shook my hand. I'd been getting that all night so I shook his hand, said thanks and turned back around. Then realised it was 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!

:headbang:

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 - everyone was so false there and stuck up music industry people except for the KISS fans with passes, half the girls there were strippers paid to be there and they were all half naked of course, it was pretty swank hahaha. Pretty interesting experience!

Tonight is the 3rd KISS show so I'll get back to you with a report after that! Apparently at the soundcheck before last night's show they were rehearsing songs like She, Parasite, Got To Choose, Mr. Speed, Strange Ways, Rock Bottom, etc. so looks like there's gonna be lots of vintage stuff they never play tonight, as well as "I" and "The Oath", yes that's right Wrathy, there is a chance KISS will play 2 songs off The Elder tonight!

Setlist from last night:

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
 
Setlist for the smaller show, according to Blabbermouth:

01. Deuce
02. Strutter
03. C'mon And Love Me
04. Parasite
05. Love Gun
06. Christine Sixteen
07. Makin Love
08. Got To Choose
09. I Love It Loud
10. Love Her All I Can
11. She
12. All The Way
13. I Want You
14. War Machine
15. 100,000 Years
16. Hotter Than Hell
17. Shout It Out Loud
18. I Was Made For Lovin You
19. Calling Dr Love
20. The Oath (a few seconds only)
21. I (a few seconds only)
22. Cold Gin
23. Detroit Rock City
24. King Of The Nightime World
25. Shandi (Paul Stanley)
26. God Gave Rock And Roll To You
27. Rock N Roll All Nite

Twenty-seven songs and nothing from Crazy Nights or Revenge! Inconceivable!
 
DAY 3 - SATURDAY

Well, after looking for a parking space for AGES we finally got in there about 2 minutes after KISS started, half way through the first song Deuce. We were up the back for this one coz we got cheap tickets at the last minute.

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! The vibe in there was great because everybody there was a diehard fan, all Paul's predictable stage banter he uses every show wasn't there and he just chatted to the crowd this time, you kept wondering what song was gonna be next, it was really special to see. 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! And especially since they played alot of my early favourites like Hotter Than Hell, C'Mon & Love Me, She, Parasite, Got To Choose, etc!

Another thing - for those who say KISS would be nothing without the big show and everything and hide behind it or whatever.... 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. Not me 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!

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 can't play! 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!" I thought the setlist was great personally! They played "All The Way" live for the first time EVER in their career so that's pretty special, and with the 2 tracks off The Elder I'm sure they planned on playing it all but the crowd actually didn't really react.

With those 2 songs and also "Hotter Than Hell", the band kinda sussed out whether they should play it or not first. Paul started Hotter Than Hell and everyone went wild so he goes "You wanna hear that one?" and everyone screamed so they played it. When he started playing "The Oath" everything went quiet and he goes "You wanna hear that?" and the place was 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 them..." 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 didn't wanna hear it! I really wanted to!

Anyway, it was an awesome show and I had a ball! Oh 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. I think the reason they only played 3 songs from 1982 onwards was because they were trying to give fans an experience of what an early KISS show would have been like in a way and capture that mid-70s vibe. And they did - it was awesome!

(And Spiff - They did play 1 song off Revenge. No idea about merchandise, I didn't take notice coz I didn't have money to spend after 3 shows and an after party!)

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, as Spiff posted:

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!

:headbang:
 
Hey Trix, I bought Animalize at Utopia the other week then realised that I should have bought Asylum instead (I always get them two mixed up), but listened to Animalize this morning and it RULES! Can't find Asylum anywhere here though for me to listen to Tears Are Falling before Thursday night.
 
Animalize is awesome! Seriously the best KISS stuff was released in the '80s! Animalize, Asylum, Crazy Nights, Hot In The Shade, great albums!

Tears Are Falling is a great song hehe.
 
Asylum is better than Animalize. They should have taken 1984 off to give Gene time for all his outside projects, then combined those two albums and chopped out all the filler to make one real classic that would follow on from Lick It Up.

W
 
That would've been good Wrathy. Most of the filler is just Gene's songs though. And you can get rid of "Under The Gun". But yeah Asylum is the better album of the two.