Kiss shows:
At the Kewadin Casino in Sault St. Marie, Michigan 7/20/07,

Cisco Networking (private show) in San Juan Capistrano, California 7/25/07

Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California 7/27/07

I attended three out of 4 Kiss shows (the Cisco Networking show was private) on their recent Hit n’ Run tour. The first one I traveled over 9 hours by car to attend. It was a very special event in the town of Sault St. Marie as most marquees outside the hotels said “Welcome Kiss Fans!” It was said in the local paper that this was the single biggest event that the town ever had (compared it to a snowmobile championship race once held there). We were lucky enough to run into Paul, Tommy, and Eric in the hotel bar the night before the show which was a surprise and cool! The next morning was the highlight of the trip for me as I got to watch almost the entire soundcheck (missed only the first song). I witnessed 40+ Kiss shows and this was my first personal experience watching a soundcheck. Kiss ran through 11 songs during the soundcheck including the highly anticipated “All American Man” that the fans voted on Kissonline to have the band perfom. The band was presented the key to the city before the show (unfortunately we did not have access to cover that event as it was done during their meet and greet). Kiss took the stage to a nearly sold out crowd of 10,000 people at 10:00pm. They played about an hour and a half and opened up with “Detroit Rock City.” “All American Man” was the third song of the night and sounded awesome! Paul Stanley, who has one of the finer voices in rock, struggled with the high notes for almost the entire night. Nonetheless, Paul and his bandmates showed the city of Sault St. Marie what they have been missing all of these years, a real rock band to play their town. It was great to see the band dust off and play the classics “Got to Choose,” “Hotter then Hell,” and “C’mon and Love Me.” During “God of Thunder,” for possibly the first time ever with makeup, Gene did not spit blood during his bass solo! It was weird to see actually. If you have been to a Kiss show previously, then you would be accustomed to seeing it as routine. Eric was a monster behind the kit and lended his vocals to the last song (before the encores) “Black Diamond.” Kiss used risers during “Rock and Roll All Nite” and much pyro and effects were used throughout the entire show. Kiss ran through 20 songs and left many people wanting more as it was obvious this Rock and Roll Circus made an impressionable stop in this quaint town!

The private show that was held for the company Cisco Networkers, was a special event to be a part of as it was not a public event. This event was held at the Glenheim Equestrian Center on an open field and was set up as some sort of carnival type of atmosphere. They had interactive games, amazing cuisine, and beverage stations set up all throughout the grounds. There was no reserved seating for this show and I was able to secure a spot directly in front of Gene. Kiss took the stage at 9:15 to about 5,000 people. Kiss again opened up with “Detroit Rock City” and stayed true to the setlist they had the first night minus three songs. After a couple of songs Paul joked that the band was available for weddings and bar mitzvah’s. The band sounded tight and was having a great time performing for a crowd that probably doesn’t get to see to many concerts (as for most of the people I talked to on the ride over.) Gene was back to spitting blood during “God of Thunder” but did not use the risers or as much pyro and effects for this show.

The 4th show on Kiss’ itinerary and my third was the show that will go down as the most bizarre in Kiss” 34 year history. Paul Stanley fell ill during the bands soundcheck. His heartbeat went to over 190 beats per minute and the paramedics had to give him an injection to temporarily stop his heart so they could get it back to a normal beating pattern. The doctors ordered him not to perform! Kiss was to go on at 8pm but at almost 9pm, Doc McGhee came out to address the crowd that Paul fell ill and was told not to perform tonight show. He called the band to come out which Gene took the microphone and said “That as Paul was being carried on a stretcher, he wanted to make sure that the fans were not let down.” “You have come too far and you mean so much to us, without you we are nothing!” He wanted the fans to see if they echoed Paul’s sentiments. It was very moving how the crowd responded as they did so with an overwhelming yes! Gene said “We need you guys to help us out as were are entering unchartered waters.” Gene handled all the frontman duties the entire show. It was a very emotional show not only for the members of Kiss, but the fans themselves. Most of the show was improvised as Gene called out songs and the band perfomed them. Tommy cued Eric at one point to do a drum solo that Eric extended a little to give Gene and Tommy a break. During the song “Christine Sixteen,” Gene said “Tommy will call 5 girls up and I’ll call five guys up here to help us sing it!” Well about 7 girls and five guys joined them onstage and helped sing the chorus to the song. This didn’t turn out so great but hey you have to pull out all the stops when faced with adversity and this was the only song of the entire night that didn’t measure up. Kiss did a very commendable job performing as the professionals they are! The set list was changed entirely from the previous nights due to the circumstances. Gene made numerous references to Paul by calling him “The greatest front man in Rock and Roll!” Also said that “Paul Stanley is the real deal and the wanna-bees out there can learn a thing a two from what a real rock star is!” Some songs that they performed that they haven’t done in awhile were “Goin Blind,” “Parasite,” and “She.” Eric handled all the vocals on “Nothing to Lose” and “Black Diamond.” Tommy handled all rhythm and lead guitar for the night. Paul is said to be doing better and posted a message to his fans on www.PaulStanley.com regarding what happened.

I want to give thanks to Melissa Madden for helping for our media coverage. I should also mention that the Gene Simmons Family Jewels T.V. show were filming during the Soboba Casino show and that Shannon, Nick, and Sophie were walking around the crowd before the show started.

I will post more photos in the next few days.