Issue #10:
1979 Largo, MD Dynasty Show

Welcome to the November issue of Video Spotlight. I've had a talk with Chris here at Asylum and due to my overbearing work schedule and personal life I'm going to be cutting back on Video Spotlight. Video Spotlight will now be done bi-monthly instead of every month. I hope I don't disappoint anyone with this news. I want to still do this but I can't at the rate I was doing it at. This will take effect in Jan 1999!

OK now on to what I'm attempting to accomplish here this time out. I looked at my vast Video Collection at narrowed it down to 2 videos and one of my readers was selected to pick and so now before your eyes is a review of the 1979 Largo, MD from the Dynasty Tour. Hope you enjoy it!!!

5 facts about this show
1. Actually takes place in Landover Maryland at the Capital Centre not Largo.
2. Only full show of this tour and also the only video to feature a song from each solo album.
3. Kiss had an effect for Paul to shoot a laser out of his eye but he felt it was too risky so it was scrapped.
4. This show was done early in the tour later Gene & Peter's solo songs were dropped for such songs as Let Me Go Rock & Roll, Christine 16 and Makin Love.
5. Paul Stanley designed the stage for this tour.

November Poll Results:

Favorite Song From '83 Creatures Show
Rank	Song	Votes
1.	I Love It Loud	15
2.	War Machine	9
3.	Black Diamond	8
4.	Cold Gin	5
5.	God of Thunder, Firehouse	4
7.	Calling Dr. Love, Rock & Roll All Nite	3

Member Who Gave The Best Performance
Rank	Member	Votes
1.	Gene	19
2.	Paul	12
3.	Eric	11
4.	Vinne	9

Songs You'd Like To Hear Live
Rank	Song	Votes
1.	Rock & Roll Hell	14
2.	Killer	10
3.	I Still Love You	8
4.	Keep Me Comin'	7
3.	Saint & Sinner, Danger	6

Favorite Person On The Video
Rank	Person	Votes
1.	The Singing Crying Lady	19
2.	Fans Trying To Sing Killer & I Love It Loud, The Guy With The Afro & White Tongue	10
4.	The Interviewer With The Big Nose Glasses	7
5.	The Sweaty Newscaster	5

The Show

The crowd is going wild for the "The Return of KISS" The next sound we hear is the sound of elevators rising up through the stage to feature all four members in their solo album color. The familiar intro of You Wanted the Best You Got the Best is blasted into the Pa and Ace is now center stage holding the first note for the intro number of the showä.

KING OF THE NIGHTTIME WORLD-This song is a great opener. It is performed with a lot of energy though Peter's timing is sped up a bit in parts, which the cat says is due to his adrenaline being pumped and being so geared up he naturally plays a bit quicker live. Paul's vocals are strong here as always and the band seems in good shape so farä Tons of pyro also accompanies the intro and ending of the song.

RADIOACTIVE-One of my favorites of the Demon's solo offering. This was given a few spins on this tour and dropped later in favor for another better know classic, Let Me Go Rock & Roll. Ace and Paul deliver an incredible simulation of the solo from the album doing a rare duel harmony lead only done on such songs as Detroit, Rock City, I Stole Your Love, I Want You and now Psycho Circus. Gene is in classic Demon form here. Something you all may not have noticed was the spotlight turned to red at the start of this song to let you know it was a song from Gene's solo CD.

MOVE ON-Spotlight goes to purple for same reason stated above. This one is Paul's solo spotlight. I would've preferred Wouldn't You Like To Know Me? instead but: nonetheless this is a good solid rocker. At one point in the 2nd verse Paul doesn't breathe properly when singing and forgoes the line "You listen you can hear the voices calling from above" to better prepare himself for the chorus. A mark of a smart vocalist. All is fine again until the soft part of the song before the solo where the back-up vocals are flat. I assume it's Ace. I will say this though if Ace's was flat on the vocals he sure makes up for it in the form of a ground shaking solo sure to make sweat bead on Bob Kulick's tiny bald head. Paul tries a different vocal approach for the bridge (slow part) I like it when Paul tires to stretch himself vocal wise. I've always admired that about him he never stopped growing as a performer. Ace rips out a solo from the ozone. HA! The 2nd solo is way better than the 1st.

CALLING DR LOVE-Paul's next rap kinda reminds me of a stripper as he takes of some of his clothes. Strange boy! This next song starts off rough but picks up Paul before the vocal starts is hitting some really bad chords and the camera shows Ace looking in Paul's direction as to say "What the hell are you playing?" Ace makes some funny faces as he sings the back-ups and those are really funny as well. I truly love this tour & Unmasked because of the soundman. The echo on Gene's voice is so intense especially at the end of Dr. Love when he sings "I am the Dr. of loveä yeah!" The funniest thing is Gene confirms this by nodding his head and mouthing I'm the doctor.

FIREHOUSE-Paul does a cool rap with a quick drum answer by the cat into this next song about where municipal worker's barbecue and play cards until an emergency (ex. A cat in a tree) occurs. Think about it! This song is played a bit faster that the Alive version and has it's moments. Ace's solo is changed a little well, at least the phrasing is but nonetheless it's still Ace so who cares. Gene ends this song with a massive flame blast that. Amaze-O himself would be proud of.

NEW YORK GROOVE-Paul's rap goes as followed "Here's a song about there hometown not to far from here I'm talking about New York City it's called "Baby I'm back in the New York Groove." At this point a green spotlight shines over Peter as he starts the drum intro to this 1978 hit for Ace. It's given a faithful performance he and serves as a rest break for the "Carpal Tunnel Kid" Ace sings this one very well and in key unlike some versions of this song I've heard. Also a cool added piece is during the break of the song Ace & Paul throw out names of cities in NY (42 St., Harlem & Times Square). There is a cool yet weird video effect during the solo. The picture goes red only showing the lights on Ace's light-up guitar, which by the way makes its' debut here on this tour.

I WAS MADE FOR LOVIN YOU-The big disco craze effects even Super Kiss (read Kiss & Sell by CK Lendt) They take a shot at ca$hing in on the big Studio 54 era with this little number or IWMFLY to us die-hards. =) All in all it's a good song with a fast pace to it 126 beats per minute on a drum machine. (Paul Stanley 1997 Australian Press Conference) On this version Gene & ace start the song and Peter once again misses his cue. The logo shines on each individual letter for this song. Paul shows off major vocal growth here and hits some ear shattering high notes for the bridge portion of the song. However, Paul's picking and Ace's solo are a bit sloppy re-entering the song.

LOVE GUN-Great version yet again fast paced. This song also has song cool lighting moment in the end featuring strobe lights following the drum lick of the song. A new piece of choreography is added at the end when Paul sways his arms from left to right, Peter follows his lead answering with cymbal crashes.

2,000 MAN- A cool cover of a bad Stones song, if you heard the original you'll understand why I said that. Gene's back ups are off key but a cool vocal moment is again echo related. The part where Ace sings "Understand me" is heavy on the reverb & echo. This song also leads us into Rocket Man's solo. No not Elton John! Unfortunately the illusion is ruined for the solo when ace has trouble finding the hook for the guitar to fly to the lighting truss. He does a Close Encounters piece, showing Ace possibly becoming comfortable with his space persona. Next thing you'll notice is when the octave pedal goes off in the solo so does the smoke bomb for his smoking guitar. Another fact for you is on this tour he shot 3 rockets as compared to the Reunion where only 2 went off.

TOSSIN & TURNIN- Next up here is a bone thrown to Peter off his awesome solo CD. Yes, I really do love it so don't laugh!! It's a very cool twist in the set very much of a Chuck Berry flavor given to it. Gene & Paul don't seem into it at all. Ace's solo here is fabulous. By far my favorite on this video the Move On solo being 2nd for those who care. This also is a first of Kiss performing two cover songs back to back in the set list. One really huge thing to look for in early close ups of Peter look at his eyes. They have green on them but by this song the green is gone. I guess Peter started taking his make up off before the recording of the Out Of Control CD.

GOD OF THUNDER-Gene spews a massive amount of blood which would make Dracula nuts. A new element is added here Gene flies to the lighting truss and unlike the buffoons on the past tour (Reunion) and now the PC tour we didn't see the piano wires lifting him up to the truss. The person I feel most sorry for is the woman from Hot Hero Sandwich, who cleaned his outfit. The drum solo is lacking a bit here but has a weird sound effect which sounds like a video game or an ambulance siren from a far away distance.
Some cool things of note are the spotlight (not video HA HA) is green to signify his solo LP cover. He also has raining fire coming out of his riser, which also happens to turn in different directions during the solo. As usual 3 strikes of the gong and a lame line "How bout it Peter Criss on the drums" and we're back into the song. One other noticeable point is when the camera shows the flame-throwers you see Peter's two huge cat statues. If not for that camera shot we would never have seen them. Again to finish off the song 2 deep echoed Gene YEAHH's !! Is that a great finish to a song or what?

SHOUT IT OUT LOUD-Peter misses his cue from Paul to start the song. (Again) The song itself sounds fine but, the tempo however seems a bit fast showing Peter in a bad light. I noticed his tempo going up and down all thru the video. (EX. I Was Made, DR. Love) Actually this whole video seem like a trip down the wrong alley for the cat as he misses his line in the Shout it chorus at the end of the song. God am I contradicting myself or what!

BLACK DIAMOND-Peter really proves me right here. He seems totally is not into this gig at all. His mind must've been wandering elsewhere and it unfortunately shows here and in the encore which you'll see why a few paragraphs. In this song he even does something never done before he alters the lyrics just for the sake of cursing. The lyric is "Darkness will fall on the city, it seems to follow you too, although you don't ask for pity there's no goddamn thing you can do." Last time I checked goddamn was not the correct lyric it was "nothing that you can do" but he's the cat and I forgive him unlike the one with the fly without wings on his eyes. Peter does pick up a bit and almost loses his head while hitting the cymbals in a spastic motion like a maniac or Joe Cocker but, this causes him to lose his stamina on the Ace solo portion when Ace goes to his knees. Peter really seems exhausted and wanting to get offstage. There is however one real gross Gene part he when the song returns from the solo Gene and Ace share a mike for the background vocal "Out on the streets for a livin" which Gene then projects a large drool line on the mike. Of all shots that the editing team had to miss it was that one UGH! As for the end of the song, Peter rises 30 ft in the air as 7 pyro blasts go off the 8th was possibly not loaded correctly and did not detonate. To finish off pyro spinwheels go off displaying a very cool effect never used again after this tour to my knowledge.

DETROIT ROCK CITY-Paul invites "Largo" to come along on a trip and close their eyes as they head for this city where most American cars are made. Here is another version sped up a bit. Last song I said Peter looked tired but now he's up and playing like it was the beginning of the show. The performance is on and I see no flaws in this version.

BETH-This is the worst version of Beth ever, not vocal wise but performance-wise. Peter showed a lack of professionalism to KISS & the fans not because he forgot the lyrics but because he laughed about it. We find the cat GUILTY!! He was really out of control here.

ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE- Strong version of this song. A very cool shot of the mirror disco ball as it opens & releases the confetti on the crowd. To finish there is pyro & Paul breaks his guitar. After the song the credit come on YES KISS FANS CREDITS!!! meaning this was to have been used for something a TV show, HBO, or home video one will never know. We can only we can guess what plans were made for it. If anyone has any idea e-mail me and I will be more than happy to relay it on next month on the last monthly Video Spotlight.

RATING OF LANDOVER (LARGO) MD
For overall performance & quality I'll give it an 8 spacebears. This copy I have is a KISSVISION upgrade. Some copies out there have lines and red flashes running thru it. I would recommend people to find this upgrade by ways I mention of the front page. This show is worth having but track down the Tomorrow Show first that is a must!

Special Thanks to:
Ron-as usual thanks for advice and noticing more that I do on these videos. Good Job now give me the templates RAMSEYAHH !!!
And last but not least to:
Pete Madison Pete Madison & Pete Madison
Why 3 times you ask? Well, that how many times I wrote a Spotlight and forgot to thank him for help he has given. (Pete that's $5.00 for the mention) LOL!!!

Until next month
This is your chubby little video reviewer saying'
See Ya & Happy Gobble Gobble Day!

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