Photos and story by Dave LargeblokeThe lights went down, and the famous introduction was screamed out: "All right Austin! You Wanted The Best! You Got The Best! The Hottest Band In The World, KISS!"
The huge KISS curtain dropped from the lighting rig and there they were, streaming out the first few bars of Deuce. I have to say that no one on earth comes even close to putting on a show like KISS do. They are the masters of theatrical rock & roll, and even if you don't like the music, the admission price would be worth it just for the show alone.
KISS even make normally mind numbing solos interesting - Gene Simmons has always been famous for his blood spitting, and after that, he is hoisted up a couple of hundred feet to the roof of the building to sing I Love It Loud. No matter how strong the harness, I would be crapping my pants up there!
Eric Singer's drum solo has a revolving stage in which he gets each side of the arena in a cheer-off - not to mention a firework or two. Tommy Thayer hasn't taken up Ace's flaming guitar, but he shoots rockets at different parts of the stage to set off huge bombs.
It was great to hear two new songs as I haven't heard them live before. I had seen Modern Day Delilah on You Tube, but Say Yeah was a totally new experience, and I have to say that it goes down so well with the crowd singing along with the chorus. During the end of the main set closer, Rock & Roll All Nite, a confetti storm starts, and it's hard to imagine how much paper is used for it as it comes down in torrents.
It was even hard to sing along as bits of paper kept landing in my mouth. For Love Gun, Paul Stanley gets ferried to a stage at the back of the arena so he can sing out there, before coming back to do a little solo of his own as the introduction for Black Diamond.
As the last chords of Detroit Rock City were still ringing in my ear, I let the main part of the crowd get going. When a lot of them had left, it was funny to see the mess that the paper storm had left. It was inches deep in some places, and some kids were using it to throw at each other.
One thing I forgot to mention about the crowd is that it is the biggest age range in a rock crowd you will ever see - there were people there from 5 - 65, and next to me were to 15 or 16 year olds with their parents. That's some going as at that age, most kids would rather be seen dead than going out with their Mum and Dad!
Even when I got out in to the street, you could see paper blowing everywhere as it was still coming out of peoples clothing. I was so impressed by the night's show, the trip would have been worth it if that was the only one I could make. I am so lucky to have two more ahead of me, and I can't wait!
