News Archive March 2011
From: KISSasylum.com
by Neil "Gido-Blaster" Gido (photos by Ames Williams
Posted: April 2, 2011
When my German friend Roman Schwartz planned to come to the USA to visit, little did we know this expo would soon be scheduled during his time here. We quickly arranged to make the road trip & also brought along my local Chattanooga area friend Ames Williams. Ames & I are no strangers to road trips as we had made the trip by car together all the way from Chattanooga to the New Jersey KISS Store #1 last April, plus we'd been to Nashville, Atlanta, & Birmingham together for the Alive 35 & Hottest Show On Earth tours recently, so it was our pleasure to host our German buddy Roman on this adventure. Plus we had helped Peter from KISSAsylum & KISSMuseum before, and I had assisted him a few times for lots of great KISS memories while selling the "Hottest Merchandise On Earth!" Peter, thanks so much for having us assist you, it's always a true pleasure!
It took about 6 hours to get there on Friday and in the hotel lobby was many KISS fans sporting KISS battle wear a.k.a. KISS T-shirts, handbags, mugs, Cherry Dr. Peppers, etc. We explored the hotel and found the large ballroom where the expo would be held the next day where the Mr. Speed stage equipped with light-up stairs and logo plus walls of Marshall stacks was already set up along with many dealer booths. We schmoozed a little in there and found where Peter's tables we would be assisting with were located. We touched base with Peter who was still on his long 12 hour drive into town bringing all the goodies! By the way we were all very pleased to see Alice Cooper was featured later that night on the Tonight Show performing "School's Out" to promote his new box set celebrating his way long overdue induction into Cleveland's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Alice, though Singer could not play drums with him for the last few years, never disappoints. He is the Godfather of twisted thinking and outstanding rock innovation. I remember him saying on the Brutal Planet tour which did feature Eric Singer on drums, that he saw all the T-shirts in the audience of KISS, W.A.S.P. Marilyn Manson, Bowie, Ozzy, Slipnot, etc who were all his illegitimate step-children. What a class act.
Saturday was the big event and we awoke early for the festivities, hooked up with Peter and set up the booth for the show. It was great catching up and throughout the day profiling the Expo attendees and discussing past KISS Conventions throughout the years and how the demographics have morphed throughout the years from the very early 90s where there were many single fans there to also party and collect big ticket items, to now the present where it includes a lot of families collecting a wide variety of the little KISS trinkets and goodies, and truly a new generation of fans whole-heartedly into the band has arisen.
The crowd was enormous. Apparently 400 VIP tickets were sold in advance and double perhaps triple that in KISS fans turned out for the festivities. It was incredible. I would say it was the best Expo I had been to since the 90s. My friend from Cleveland, Bryan Krieger hung out and played some incredible KISS demos for me! You ROCK! Also I apologize I forget the name, (please place it here if you know it) the guy who introduced the band in the 1970s stopped by and showed us a nice gold watch KISS gave him which they had customized for him on the back dated 1977.
Big thanks to Steve Steirwalt for organizing such a fun event. Young drummer Logan rocked the house & the costume contest was fun and even included a Gene with armor helmet with make-up painted on it which went good with the armor costume, as well as female SpaceWoman, Family Jewels Gene featuring I believe real helmet hair, among others. Roman Skped in Gerhard in Germany to take a look at the event as it happened. Plus kudos to the best KISS tribute band out there in my opinion, the boys from Cleveland Rock City, Mr. Speed. If Cold Gin featuring Tommy were still active who I've seen, they would be up there too, though I commend all who make the gallant effort paying homage to the masters who are KISS. The highlight for me from Mr. Speed's set was, "All American Man." The real KISS should bring that into the set with verses sung correctly, and while they're at it, how about, "Nowhere To Run," "It's My Life," "Mr. Speed," "Magic Touch," "The Oath," "Got Love For Sale," "Hot & Cold," "Easy As It Seems," "Rockin' In The USA," "Master And Slave," "We are One," "Stand," "Do You Remember Rock N' Roll Radio," "A Million To One," "Live To Win," "Asshole," "Save Your Love," "I'll Fight Hell To Hold You," "Trial By Fire," etc...the KISS catalog is filled with killer jams, crank them out! We spoke with Mr. Speed's guitarist on the way down the elevator & on into the event and had a nice chat about guitars and how great the Epiphones are. Also thanks to Lydia Criss, KISS Army founder Bill Starkey, Creatures Of The South / Phil Elliott & wife, KISS magazine officianado, Rick Reece & chica (you guys are a lot of fun,) and every KISSoholic we spoke with that I may have forgot to mention here.
The biggest thanks of all goes to the man of the hour, or should I say for several hours in which he dedicated his time to the loyal KISS fans including local news anchor, Susan Dinkel, with News 10, WTHI - CBS. I'm talking about of course the 21st Century Catman, skin basher extraordinaire, Eric Singer! Eric arrived very early on and signed autographs & took photographs the entire day as many as people wanted. He sported local team the Indiana Pacers shirt and went way above and beyond with his fans and the super long line circled the room all day. The man is a gentleman and a scholar. I had him sign my Pearl Eric Singer signature snare drum, and he even offered the idea to take off the drum head so he could sign the inside so it would last longer, and suggested we borrow the drummer from Mr. Speed's drum key to do so. Since Eric who has the longest combined tenure in the band besides Gene & Paul had this idea, of course I abided, and now my drum is the coolest in the world featuring his signature on the outside & on the inside shell personalized to me. Thanks so much Eric... you are the BEST!
Best Chordz KISSAsylum readers!
Neil Gido-Blaster
