Well, I got more than I bargained for when I got to my broadcast location on Friday afternoon. As I walked in, I looked to the left and saw a stage being built on the concourse. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I found out soon enough. Normally, the KISS V.I.P. experience thing happens on the actual stage. The problem Friday was that the crew got in late, and that stage takes a major effort to complete. The stage was still being built, so they decided to put the V.I.P. show on the concourse.
Lucky me! About 300-400 fans filled in the area in front of the stage. Just after 5 p.m., KISS was on that stage! Gene, Paul, Tommy, and Eric. They went through five songs for the fans in attendance. Opening with the classic “Plaster Caster” then going into “Hotter Than Hell”, followed by “Shock Me”, “Parasite” and wrapping it up with “She”. Really cool!
After that finished, we waited for the doors to open, only to be pushed back because the stage and floor were still not ready. Paul Stanely’s son’s band was supposed to go on at 7:30 but was pushed back to almost 8.
KISS went on around 9 p.m., and it was AWESOME! Opening with “Detroit Rock City” and blasting through hit after hit spanning their whole legendary career. All the eras were hit on, and all the usual KISS Staples were also. Paul flying to the back of the arena. Gene singing “God Of Thunder” about 5o feet above the stage as blood dripped from his mouth. On and on. It was your tyipcal KISS show, but is any KISS show really typical? No. It’s a bombastic, loud, fire-filled, spectacle that is hard to top.
Check out some pictures from the concourse show and the concert below, that RIFF photog, Alec Robinson took.
-Meltdown
