Kiss brought their rock juggernaut to their hometown of New York City to play in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden Monday night. The tour, billed ``The Psycho Circus World Tour,'' is in support of Kiss' new album, ``Psycho Circus,'' the first album the original members have recorded in almost 20 years.

Setting a carnival mood with many audience members masked in Kiss-like makeup, the band opened up with the title track from ``Psycho Circus,'' and without missing a beat, moved right into ``Shout It Out Loud.''

Aside from the new album, Kiss performed songs recorded from 1974-78, like ``King of the Nite Time World,'' ``Calling Dr. Love'' and the rarely performed ``Makin' Love.''

Paul Stanley worked the crowd with his flamboyant style and gyrating antics that would make a Vegas show girl blush. Gene Simmons played his role of the mean demon, stalking about the stage with his ax-shaped base guitar. And Ace Frehley was typical Ace, looking subdued and unresponsive to the craziness around him.

The stage was big and busy even by Kiss standards, with enough pyro, smoke and flames to supply a small country's military.

With a new concept in viewing a concert, each fan was given 3D glasses for viewing three dimensional screens of the concert. The screens showed Frehley and Stanley poking their guitars at the audience and Simmons making faces, bringing the band closer to the audience.

During the song ``Love Gun,'' Stanley was taken from the mainstage via a cable rig to a smaller stage in the center of the arena to be closer to the audience.

``I've always dreamed of being up here on stage playing for a crowd. You guys have made that dream become real. Since all you guys can't come up here. I'll just have to come to you,'' Stanley told the audience before being lifted through the air.

Simmons is still doing his trademark antics like flying through the arena spitting stage blood and shooting flames to the rafters _ a trick he performs by filling his mouth with kerosene and spitting at a torch.

But with all the glitz and frills, the music is still important, and Kiss did not disappoint. Their show was well rehearsed and went off without a missed cue or wrong note.

Their encores were ``Beth,'' a ballad sung by drummer, Peter Criss, ``Detroit Rock City'' and the powerful ``Black Diamond.''

Before the encore, the band members were each presented with their 30th gold record for the sales of their new album.

Kiss certainly is still alive, and no doubt will be rocking into the millennium.

[Copyright 1998, Associated Press]

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