Each time these players came to the plate they were introduced via their Kiss name and the song was played as they approached the plate. This went over very well with not only the Kiss fans, but all of the fans and our players as well. In a few years when a couple of these guys make the Big Leagues they will always be remembered as participants in the first ever Kiss Tribute Night!

During the game we arranged all of our promotions towards various Kiss Themes. We played the following songs during the game: King of the Nighttime World, Move On, Deuce, Firehouse, Baby Driver, Dr. Love, Detroit Rock City, Christine 16, Rock 'N Roll All Night, Strutter, Shout It Out Loud, Crazy Nights.

We played the following videos: I Love It Loud, Custom Video by Asylum Fan Mark Thorn, Clip From Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park, Got To Choose Unplugged.

Some of the cool promotions we did was have the guys in Mr. Speed ride on the back of a fire truck and throw Hershey Kisses to the crowd. This was an extension of an idea e-mailed to me by a KISS Asylum reader. We also gave a dozen roses to a Gene Simmons and let him walk around the stands to find a suitable female to give them too. Of course Dr. Love was played during this time. We played "Rock N Roll All Nite" during the 7th inning stretch. We conducted a sing-a-long with it and it went great! We did a bunch of other Kiss related things during the game as well.

A highlight was Bruce and John playing "Beth" on top of the visitors dugout. They did a fabulous version and again brought the house down.

The fireworks show was phenomenal and was accompanied by a great Kiss mix tape from Mark Thorn. We won 13-5 and it was a great event!

The only negative was a damn 90 minute rain delay during the 5th inning. A bunch of people left at that time and missed the rest of the game. However of the 1,500 people or so that remained the majority were wearing Kiss shirts!

We sold every game worn jersey via a silent auction and the special merchandise was a huge hit. We had T-shirts, hats, and a special baseball. We also had a special Kiss line of concession items as well that were a lot of fun.

Bruce and John were wonderful and signed autographs for everybody. They were very giving with their time, enjoyed the game, and added a wonderful touch to the evening. Keith Leroux and Peter Arquette had merchandise tables and we brought in a local Art School to paint peoples faces. They were painting faces all night! A bunch of our game day employees wore make up as well adding to the flavor of the evening.

When I sit back and think of the event after three days have passed I cannot express how good I feel about hosting this event. I met a bunch of wonderful people from across the country, the staff and the players of the Cannons had a wonderful time participating, the owner of the team enjoyed himself, and I got to spend some time with Bruce Kulick which was a real thrill. I just want to express my thanks to the Kiss Army and Kiss Asylum communities who played a big part in making the event such a success. I had numerous people come up to me during the game asking me to do this again next season! I certainly plan on making this work again!

And as they say imitation is the highest compliment anybody can pay you, I have received calls from a minor league hockey team and an NBA team who are interested in getting ideas for holding their own Kiss nights in the future!! Just remember who did it first!

Thanks,
Pat

[KA Note: Pat Filippone, Vice President/General Manager of the Prine William Cannons, is a 32 year old native of Reston, Virginia who is beginning his 8th season with the Cannons. He graduated with a BS degree in Business Administration from Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA in 1988. He also is a 1984 graduate of South Lakes High School in Reston, Virginia.]

From: Gary Garbett, editor KISSIN' Time, USA fanzine,
Returned recently from a long 1300 mile KISS weekend. Below is a small review.

On Friday, my children and I attended the KISS night at the Prince William Cannons baseball game in Woodbridge, VA.. The Cannons GM, Pat Filippone did an outstanding job putting this together. Come game time, the park was filled with KISS and baseball fans, the stadium was decorated with KISS images and merchandise, KISS dealers were in the concourse and visitors as well as staff were donning the make-up of familiar icons. We arrived at the ball park mid-afternoon and immediately spoke with John Corabi and soon thereafter with Bruce Kulick. The guys were in great spirits and both are really happy with the fan reaction to the cd and spoke anxiously about getting back on the road with Union real soon. They also spoke about working with Eric Singer on his upcoming cd of cover songs, possibly to be called ESP for Eric Singer Project. Before the game Pittsburgh's KISS tribute Mr Speed did about a 45 minute set. Aside from some technical difficulties the concert was a blast and a real treat for my children who had never seen a live KISS act before, but know all the moves and lyrics form the videos and the cds.

Prior to the game, Bruce played the National Anthem and along with Mr Speed, assisted in throwing the first pitch. During the game, the traditional "ballpark" tunes were missing and replaced with KISS songs. The weather insisted on dampening the spirits and caused a delay. About this time we decided to leave so we could get a head start on the road to Detroit for Sunday's convention.

The convention was a blast and totally packed with fans. My hats off to Joe Marshall for doing such a great job in this new location. This was the first time the Detroit convention had been held in Novi, an area outside Detroit, and it was top notch. There were dealers from all over the country with anything you wanted. We caught up with Bruce and John again and Eric Singer was the special guest. One of the highlights was when Eric and Bruce joined the stage with War Machine to play on a few numbers. Bruce and Eric were in prime form and sounded incredible. After covering Strutter, Detroit Rock City and Black Diamond with Singer on lead vocals, Corabi joined the stage and added vocals for Honky Tonk Woman, Led Zep's Rock and Roll and Highway to Hell. All I can say is outstanding!!

My children sported their rock and roll fashions for the weekend and were mobbed for photos and interviews. They had such a fun time and in the midst of the rock and roll madness as Erin and I are harmonizing at the top of our lungs to Detroit Rock City, a guy walked by, smiled and shook my hand and replied, "What a great way to raise your kids, man! That is so cool." My thoughts were,.... I agree.

Gary Garbett, editor KISSIN' Time, USA fanzine,
http://kissasylum.com/ktusa/

From: Dave
Click Here For Pictures
Just wanted to drop you a quick note regarding the Prince William Cannons: KISS Night at the Ballpark. What a fun time! It was great to walk into the stadium (which was a sold out crowd of 6,000) and see KISS decorations at every turn-including commemorative KISS shirts for the night! Mr. Speed provided a Classic KISS live touch, while John and Bruce and the entire staff of the PW Cannons made the night fun.

The night was full of KISS: Music, Merchandise, Fans, and Fun!!!

Upon fist entering, who else would be there but John Corabi from Union talking with the owner of the team!? If you ever get a chance to meet him do!!! He is the most unpretentious person (I have met a ton of famous people: Mike Tyson, Robert Duvall, Ace, Brad Whitford, Dexter Manley) I have ever met. He really is like the guy next door. For such an imposing guy with his tattoos and such, he signed autographs for 5-10 year olds and took the time to ask their name and made each one special. It was really cool to see that. John was all around the stadium tonight and was great to everyone. I spoke to him for about 5 minutes regarding cancelled dates of the East Coast Union Tour and the lack of availability of the CD in our local market. He was cool and said, "please pass this information along to Bruce. We want to be available to everyone." He was all over the stadium and was very accessible to all. Very cool!

Mr. Speed provided the live music for the 300 or so folks that waited for the game to begin. The Pittsburgh quartet was hampered by sound problems and their regular "Ace" was on vacation but was joined by the "Ace" from "Love Gun" in Baltimore, MD. They did a good job with kudos going to Paul--Rich Kosak. (email: rgkosak@unistudios.com) for being the most convincing "Paul" I have seen. "Ace" did a wonderful job and had all the moves down right. If "Love Gun" from Baltimore is half as good as their "Ace"-go see them. He was very cool and musically on-despite some sound problems. Their "Peter" was good as well-smiling and having a good time. The "Gene" spit fire and was very good vocally for the band. These guys were all huge KISS fans and it was great to talk to them regarding how they made their costumes and KISS in general.

In addition, prizes were handed out for the person that traveled the farthest. The guy that won came all the way from: ENGLAND!!!! Just to watch a game!!! He also won the longest tongue contest. Way to go!

Moving onto the National Anthem and watching Bruce work his guitar magic was great. What a true professional. He was superb. In addition, he also helped throw out the first pitch with Mr. Speed to officially start the game.

During the 4th inning, Mr. Speed recreated classic KISS at the ballgame and rode a Fire Truck through the stadium and threw Hershey's Kiss's to the aproving crowd. They appeared to be having a good time and the crowd seemed to enjoy it as well.

The night was full of extra activities and music: Go Cart racing around the bases to the tune of "Detroit Rock City" blared through the sound system followed by a run around the bases for the PW Cannons Mascot "Big Shot." Unfortunately, he was stopped and had the crap knocked out of him by Mr. Speed and the 6 year old who was suppose to beat him to home plate, won with ease. It was too funny watching their mascot get his fanny kicked by these guys in KISS makeup!!!

During the top of the 5th inning, John and Bruce sang "Beth." Despite some sound problems they did a great job. Bruce and John played very well and vocally John had the raspy quality of Peter Criss to make the song true to form.

Unfortunately, here is where the fun got wetŠ

There was and hour and a half rain delay. Most of the people were in the bottom, covered part of the stadium-a very tight squeeze. Some left, but most did not. During this time fans were talking with Bruce and John at the Peter Arquette (email: deveraux@usit.net) merchandise booth signing autographs. Although it was wet and muggy, Bruce and John were both very gracious and let fans take pictures and sign memorabilia. I got a chance to tell Bruce that Mayhem needs to promote this record more on the east coast and that it has been hard to find. He said he would try to get on them and signed my CD. For those of you who have not bought it, I am on my 4th spin of this CD and it is great!!! Go out and by this CD. There is not a shit song on the whole thing.

It was a fun night and we look forward to Union coming to Northern Virginia to play!!!!

We left at this point because the rain was so strong, we thought that it would not stop. However, it did and the Cannons won 13-5!

Twiggy29a and I (DRSIV) would like to thank Pat Fillipone, VP and General Manager of the PW Cannons, for letting us take pictures for the KISS/Union Asylum. Pat and his staff did a marvelous job and if you ever get a chance to see a game here, it does meet up with their motto: "Real Baseball, Real Close."

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