You wanted the best, You got the best! The hottest band in the world…
The night couldn’t have started worse for me when I left work to find the main motorway home close due to an accident. A 20 mile detour later and buses down to the venue are blocked due to football traffic so a few mile sprint was required. But that doesn’t matter because I made it to the venue and still found myself on the front barrier. Not able to photo this one meant I had to put up with my compact camera which I had never used for a gig before.
2 hours after doors opened it was nearly time for KISS to hit the stage as their customary soundtrack of AC/DC was pumped out of the PA system. In order to make up for the scale of the band including the 20ft Kiss logo which pretty much filled the back wall, the stage had been extended out by a meter reducing the photopit to a very narrow aisle. The togs that were there pretty much had to pick a spot and stick to it.
When the lights finally dim, we are all expecting the standard “You wanted the best…..” intro when suddenly they are on stage without even a word. Hi Kiss.
The band was in good spirits throughout and looked like they were thoroughly enjoying the return to the small stage. The big KISS sign behind the band was all kinds of eye destroying light and a wall of amplifiers dominated the stage. The three members out front continuously swapped sides and pulled out every pose from the book and even in their old age managed a few scissor kicks. “Love Gun” was probably the highlight of the set before the awesome “Rock and Roll All Nite” as always closed the main part or the set with a blizzard of confetti lasting the whole song.
The actual setlist they played was this….
Modern Day Delilah
Cold Gin
Let Me Go Rock And Roll
Say Yeah
Calling Dr. Love
Got To Choose
I Love It Loud
100,000 Years
Love Gun
Black Diamond
Rock And Roll All Nite
——————-
Detroit Rock City
….but should have included “Deuce”, “Shout It Out Loud” & “Lick It Up” in the encore.
News reported today said that the band nearly fainted after “Rock and Roll All Nite” due to the amount of CO2 pumped onto the stage from the confetti cannons. It may be true…. But I just can’t believe it as the cannon was pretty much going off in my face for 3 minutes and I, and the people around me, were all fine.
So despite the weird ending to the evening, it was still a great night at what would have been the venues biggest ever gig. The sound was great and the lights were amazing… and although my compact camera did me proud, I would have still loved the chance to photo them properly, but then that would have also meant not being able to spend the night clinging to the front barrier.
Dan for a compact camera you did DAMN good there, there and I’d like to know what compact you have!!?? In all honesty, sounds like you had a much better place than the togs!