From: Jeffrey Falk

Here's my review of the opening night of the the _Psycho Circus_ tour. I'm usually ignored by the fan community, so you might not want to put this up. I realize it is lengthy; I apologize if you do not like getting such long-winded reviews. Finally, I'd like to say that I think your web site is one of the finest. Keep it up.

Kiss, Fleet Center, Boston, 11-12-98
support: Econoline Crush

They were not too bad, but certainly not very good either (especially after the first song of their set). This band is a little too electronic, though Kiss has had much worse opening acts. What happened to "no opening act"? Interestingly, none of the circus acts that I heard about were there. Also, the opening band was announced just a day or two ago. It sounds like there was a last-minute change of plans. I heard that the circus people were nothing special on Halloween, so I'm not disappointed, but Econoline Crush isn't anything to rave about either.

set list:
Psycho Circus/Shout It Out Loud/Deuce/Do You Love Me/Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll/ Shock Me/Within/Firehouse/Calling Dr. Love/Makin' Love/Cold Gin/King of the Night Time World/Into the Void-guitar solo/100,000 Years/God of Thunder-drum solo/I Was Made for Lovin' You/Love Gun/Detroit Rock City encore: Beth/Black Diamond/Rock and Roll All Nite

You'll notice there have been some major changes. The set was one song shorter than Dodger Stadium, "She" and "Nothin' to Lose" were gone, the drum solo was moved to "God of Thunder," "Makin' Love" was added (which was definitely a highlight), and the order changed completely. I would hope this is a sign of things to come, but it's probably just a fluke. As the cliche goes, you can't expect an old leopard to change its spots.

When I submitted a review to a Kiss fan web site following my first Kiss concert two years ago (Madison Square Garden, July 28, 1996), I prefaced my comments by stating that, as a Kiss fan since 1990, I was looking forward to seeing Kiss tour with a new (studio) album. (It was less important to me which particular lineup constituted Kiss, since I liked both recent lineups.) I went on to say that, even though I believed they should not have done a nostalgic, "oldies" show, that their decision to reunite was not a bad idea if the concert I had seen was any indication. Two years later, they are touring behind a new album, which is definitely a step in the right direction. However, their show is still, primarily, an "oldies" show.

Which doesn't mean it's not a good oldies show. Kiss swore they would present something better than the reunion tour, and they have kept that promise. That doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement or that they aren't making any mistakes. When I was returning from this evening's concert, though, I realized that maybe I shouldn't expect more from Kiss. (As I stated above, you can't expect a leopard to change its spots.)

The first Kiss concert in Boston represented what Kiss has long represented: throwing out more of the same, with a few new things thrown in. My biggest complaint is that only three new songs were performed; there should have been more. It was still a great show. Most (but definitely not all) of familiar songs sounded as good as ever. Musically, the band was as tight and as impressive musically as you can expect them to be. The staging, while not quite as ground-breaking as it's been hyped to be, was as spectacular as Kiss has ever been. That is all Kiss (and, I presume, most fans) are really concerned with.

The opener, "Psycho Circus" sounded fine, considering the tour has just begun and it hasn't been perfected yet. They continued with some of the familiar songs, with as much energy and competence as ever, until "Shock Me," which did not include Ace Frehley's familar guitar solo. This song was immediately followed by "Within," the second new song of the evening (and the worst new song they could have selected). The album version of this song does get better with time, but tonight's performance seemed a little sluggish, especially during the chorus. (Still, I was glad that they were playing _something_ from the new album.) It sounded a half-step or so higher than the studio version, which one would expect to be an improvement, but it might have had the opposite effect of making it sound more lifeless.

Anyway, after a dead-on version of "Firehouse" and a typical rendition of "Calling Dr. Love," one of the night's finest moments occured. Paul Stanley commented, "This afternoon, we we're thinking we should play something that we don't normally do." As someone who's always thought Kiss should shake up their set lists, I couldn't have agreed with him more. Then, in his "I don't know which album the song comes from" mode, he said, "I think this is from _Love Gun_." He looked at Ace Frehley and said, "Is this from _Love Gun_? . . . I just asked Ace if this was from _Love Gun_ and he said, "I don't know!" It goes like this . . ." He proceeded to strum the opening riff to . . . "Makin' Love." (Well, you were close Paul . . . I recently saw Billy Joel introduce a song "from the same album" as one he just played, when in fact it was from another album nine years older.) "Makin' Love" brought the house down more than almost every other song of the concert, and I was satisfied that I had seen them play at least one older song that I hadn't seen them play on the two previous occasions I've seen them live.

The festivities continued with "Cold Gin," complete with Mr. Stanley's "I don't want to preach to you, but . . ." admonishment. "King of the Night Time World" followed. I love this song, but tonight it was, for lack of a better term, half-assed. It was rushed through, and Paul sang it like he was looking at his watch waiting for the song to end. I can hardly believe I'm typing this, but if they're not going to play it better than they did tonight, they should drop it. (And please replace it with something we haven't heard a million times before.)

The song that came afterwards was another definite highlight of the set: "Into the Void." The song is a highlight of _Psycho-Circus_, and it's already a highlight of the tour. It proved that Ace Frehley is singing as well as ever, and Ace's extended solo immediately afterward proved that he is playing as well as ever. The solo was mostly the same (with smoking, not flaming, guitar flying to the lighting truss), but one new variation was "Thus Spake Zarathustra" (the theme to _2001: A Space Odyssey_), which he played well. He said something like, "a new fuckin' millenium," and I laughed, wondering if Gene and Paul would reprimand him for swearing on stage. A 3-D segment appeared on the rear screen during this bit.

Speaking of the 3-D, it wasn't that impressive. Which is OK, except that that is one part of the hype that they aren't quite living up to. Much of it consisted of the band members making silly gestures to the camera, and the images did not stand out of the screen all that much.

The guys continued with "100,000 Years" (with Paul's "Do you feel all right" rap used to great effect) and the most boring of Kiss songs, "God of Thunder." As usual, this included the drum solo, which was good enough. The drum kit levitated over the audience similar to Tommy Lee's in Motley Crue's late-eighties hey-day. Peter Criss played reasonably well, considering his age and previous aliments. In fact, he played fine all evening, although it looked like he was barely hitting the drums.

Awhile later, Paul Stanley did his flying routine, which livened up "Love Gun," a song that I'm otherwise tired of hearing. I did not see this on the last tour, so I don't know if it is the same or not. This time, Paul flew all the way to the middle of the arena, in front of the soundboard, and sang most of the song on a small stage right there. This was actually a nice touch. Yet another thing the band can say they were (one of) the first to originate.

"Detroit Rock City" closed the main set. Again, nothing new to report there; it was as good as ever. For the encore, Peter Criss came out first to sing "Beth." To me, the song never sounded better. I've never heard him sing so well. It was almost enough to forget the embarassing _Alive II_ version. An extended introduction preceded "Black Diamond" as Paul thanked Boston for being so receptive on the first night of the tour. After "Black Diamond," the show ended predictably-but-excitingly with "Rock and Roll All Nite." While the house lights failed to come on for a few minutes, I began to wonder if Kiss would finally pull out of the stops and do a surprise encore; I began envisioning "Raise Your Glasses." Alas, it was not to be (of course). Instead, the standard "Thank You Boston" message flashed on the screen, as well as a commercial for the Kiss car. Well, if a band's going to be commercial, you have to give them credit for being upfront about it.

Overall--yes, Kiss is still kicking ass. Could they be doing it better? Sure. Could they play more songs from _Psycho-Circus_? Of course. Should they? Absolutely. Could they spend a little less time with the merchandise and a little more time perfecting the music? Yes. Is it obvious that, despite all of that, they are still as entertaining, exciting, and special as they have been? Again, yes.

After reconsidering all of the things that I don't like about Kiss, I realized that those things don't diminish the aspects of Kiss that I love. I am disappointed that Kiss only found the need to play three songs (out of a twenty-one song set) from the album that this tour is named after. (I'm hoping they come to their senses and start playing "Raise Your Glasses" and "I Plede Allgeiance . . .".) I also wish that they would leave out some of the songs that are predictable and unearth others that are much better. But Kiss has rarely concerned itself with such issues, and most of their fans seem to have no problem with that. I, as usual, disagree with them, but perhaps that is my problem. As I already stated, the usual modus operandi of Kiss live can be summed up as "more of the same with a few new things thrown in." Whether or not Kiss satisfies my expectations, and whether or not Kiss's concerts could be a little better (and they can be), does not mean that they aren't top-notch. Even though Kiss have quite delivered on my terms, they certainly have on their own.

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