From: Cwboylarry@aol.com

Great to read different opinions on the show. Unfortunately, too many people think that a concert review is telling everybody what happened during the show and not an assessment of the show. I have to agree with "Dave's" and "Badseeder's" reviews. The show, although great, left a lot to be desired. I attended this show with my two brothers as we flew to see the show together for the second year in a row. As you can imagine when you put this much effort into seeing the hottest band in the world you have great expectations (pun intended). This show is exactly the reason I do not like to go see stadium shows and it will probably be my last. You just cannot experience the full force of the show when your sitting almost a quarter mile from the stage (I'm assuming it is about 400+ feet to center field plus the rows of seating). It is a very big task to pull off a show of this magnitude to include the entire crowd and not just the people on the field. But if anyone could pull it off I figured it would be KISS. From reading the other reviews, everybody that thought the show was AWESOME was very close up. If you didn't have these prime seats you found yourself watching the screens for a majority of the show instead of the performers. Despite what I have read the crowd was pretty much into the show and it was practically a sell out. The seats that were empty were in pretty crappy sections but I am sure they would have sold tickets for them if they could have.

I saw KISS last year at the Forum and in San Jose and I thoroughly enjoyed those shows. Of course, I was in KISS heaven and I was seeing the band live in make-up for the first time in my life. This year, seeing them for the third time in make-up, I was expecting a new show to go along with their new album (which I am growing to like more and more everyday). I was expecting a completely new show but some things that would catch me by surprise. Instead we got last year's show rehashed with fireworks and some 3-D effects which wasn't all that bad considering how hard it is take make this technology work on such a grand scale. The rehashed Love Gun tour last year was a unique situation and I do not think anyone minded seeing the exact same show from 20 years ago. But this show should have pushed the limit a little more like the new album did. I didn't mind the glitches in the show like the malfunctioning guitar or being off key because those things are to be expected in a live show, much less the first show of the tour. As a matter of fact, those are the reasons we go to see live shows because we do not want a polished act and we want to hear a variety of songs. Instead, we pretty much got the same song lineup from last year give or take a couple of songs. I heard pretty much all the songs I expected to hear from the new album and was grateful for that. Despite the other reviews, I liked Within and I really like that song on the album, but everybody has different tastes. You Wanted the Best was mysteriously missing from the set as many people have mentioned in their reviews and I have to admit that I was fully expecting to hear that song. I am sure that it is a pretty tough song to play live but it sure would have sounded good as another encore.

Now don't get me wrong, overall the show still rocked and I think it will go over even better when it moves to inside venues. I do not think they will be able to have the circus act at every show though. This perk was probably reserved for this event and maybe the New Years show too. It takes a lot of work and coordination to pull that off and it worked quite nicely in all it's campiness. Now for the big question. Will I go see KISS again when they come to my hometown? HELL YEAH! I will see them as many times as I have a chance. As I said earlier, I had to wait 20 years for this opportunity and I'm not going to wait another 20 years. After all, I am a total KISSAHOLIC and one average show is to be expected every now and then. Keep up the good work guys and see you on your next stop on tour.

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