From: Sam Graham

KISS
DECEMBER 19, 1998
FIVE SEASONS CENTER
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA

"BestfriendJen" and I headed for downtown upon hitting C.R. (weıre from Des Moines) and scoped out the arena. After surveying the situation, we picked our parking and got in line at 6pm.

The Five Seasons Center is one of the more poorly managed facilities in the country. One entrance is open for the show, and to get to it, you have to stand in line in a poorly lit alley between the building, the parking garage, an access road and maybe some railroad tracks. The wind tears through the alley thanks to the wind tunnel effect created by the arena and the parking garage. As if this wasnıt enough, a nearly egg processing plant makes its presence known through odor. You entertain yourself in line by watching the more desperate pee along the wall. The more shy women just hold it, or at least try to hold it, but nature eventually takes its course and denim changes color. Playing on a P.A. somewhere is a message warning people they will be searched and that anything they donıt like will be confiscated. Once you get around the building, you get in the ³snake² line. Itıs like the front counter line at Taco BellŠyou snake the length of the counter, you snake backŠIn this case, you snake the width of overhead Interstate 380, you snake backŠSix times. A nearby radio station van is blaring local dino-rocker KRNA. The air ³talent² is shouting ³Thereıs a bunch of freezing people waiting for KISS!² The crowd hollers. ³ARE YOU READY TO ROCK AND ROLL!² the jock screams. ³YEEEAAAAH!² the morons shout. ³ALLRIGHT! HEREıS SOME PINK FLOYD!²

That made a lot of sense.

At another point, somebody tried to start an ³I Love It Loud² chant in the crowd to limited success. Somebody nearby said ³I hope they play THAT tonight!² Yeah. Fat chance.

Once you finally get inside, the search Naziıs ask you to pull up your shirt so they can see your waistline. Thatıs the whole extent of the search.

Tickets taken, 3-D glasses in hand, we head to the floor. Itıs 6:45 and weı re one of the early birds so we have a choice of good seating (itıs a general admission show) or braving the floor. Our prospects for being within a couple feet of center stage are extremely good so we figure what the hell. You only live once! We begin plotting strategies with nearby mosh participants to dispose of the assholes seeking the weak. Itıll all be in vein, and we know it, but we like a good fight.

We stayed on the floor with excellent positioning all through Econoline Crush (who were well enough received for their solid version of 80ıs commerical ³punk² that the lead singer seemed genuinely surprisedŠthough somebody in the side risers was throwing Superballs onstage) and through the first three KISS songs. Then movement got heavy and we somehow ended up about halfway back in the arena. At this point Jen couldnıt see anything so we headed towards the clear space that always exists in the back. Naturally, it didnıt at this show. We headed for the seats.

The new stage was great. It was familiar, as in they recycled a lot of stuff from the reunion tour, but it had a fresh open design to it. There was a lot going on, but there was a lot less clutter. The open layout brought back memories of the ³Dynasty² and ³Asylum² tours. And it would beŠif it werenıt for the damn side screens. There didnıt seem to be any reason why they couldnıt have been hoisted up higher, above the low lighting rig, so that those watching from the side could see the stage. But they were position below, blocking any view of anything beyond Gene and Aceıs ³ramps² depending on which side you were seated. If they simply lifted these up and/or positioned them back farther, towards the rear of the stage, they would create some great visibility for seats sold as ³obscured view² and even some normally sold as good seating.

No surprises musically. No ³Makin Love² or ³I Was Made For Loving You². Drum solo was in ³Within². Peterıs drum solo was one of the highlights. The riser comes up just far enough to clear the amps lined up in front of it, then moves forward to just over the first couple of rows. The solo itself was a classic big-band ³cat club² style, just what Peter is known for, and was done very well. When the riser returns, a roadie is crouched in behind to manually guide it back into place. (Poor guy had to have quite a headache when the bombs went off at the end of the songŠHe was right in between the pots.) I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the pyro given all the complaints Iıve seen in other reviews. Sparks flew and the flames were high and hot. The only real difference is that on the last tour they had a lighting bar that ran the length of the stage front and they could use it to launch stuff and to hold Gene (he now has a rig designed just for him up forward, about four rows into the crowd if youıre looking up). On this tour, they donıt. So everything is set up from the ground. But the flame shots were much higher as a result (mushroom clouds!) and showed up in the same spots as always (during Geneıs ³God of Thunder² bit² and so on.) They alternated green and orange flames during ³100,000 Years² climaxing in SIX at once (four orange, two green) for the last blast. The flame towers were also used liberally at the end of ³Black Diamond², alternating with sparks. This was easily the most ³bombastic² KISS show I have ever attended.

Aceıs solo and the accompanying 3-D visuals were absolutely stunning. Working on a theme of ³2001², a computer animated video featured a Gibson Sunburst flying through space and into new worlds. Really well done. Easily the best of the 3-D stuff, which often relied on nothing more than band members poking their instruments at the camera (although I should note that there was some really cool animation based on Gene as well.) Aceıs ³shoot the rig² trick has been enhancedŠA full chunk of the bar with four lights appears to fall completely down to the stage and following it is a trail of chrome glitter which drifts into the crowd. Very cool.

Overall, a stellar effort. The band played solid and those who say this is the LOUDEST show theyıve ever been to are not kidding. It was great to see that Paul hates those laser pointers as much as I do (³Thereıs a kid who looks about 12 years old with his mommy up hereŠYou think youıre pretty cool with that thing donıt you? Tell you whatŠYou come up on stage and Iıll shove that thing so far up your ass itıll never come out!²) Very much worth the effort. We were ready to drive to Milwaukee to do it all over again tonightŠif only we didnıt have real jobs and such. Will definitely see this tour againŠand againŠand again. Even the ridiculous effort of getting OUT of the building didnıt dampen our enthusiasm.

The fine staff at Five Seasons seems to feel there should only be two exits out of the building, so they post staff at every stairway and block access to them. You have to go all the way to the back in narrow corridors to the ³acceptable² exits. I can think of three reasons why this would beŠ

1. Blocking access means more paid staff, which means they can justify a bigger budget.
2. In case of fire, everybody is sure to die and there will be no witnesses.
3. Itıs just one more chance to make everybody feel like cattle.

I hope those pricks are the ones who have to pick up the leftover confetti.

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