From: Clint Gascoyne

My first of two nights with Kiss was everything I expected, and then some. We got to the Meadowlands (I refuse to call it the C-word Airlines Arena) early enough to catch Ozone Monday, the opening act. They feature the three guitarists from Skid Row (Snake, Scotti and Rachel) along with the singer/guitarist from (little-known but awesome) Mars Needs Women, Shawn McCabe. As usual, the Kiss crowd was not too receptive at first, but by the end of their set, the crowd was polite and even went so far as to cheer for these "underdogs". Congrats, you guys! Killer set!

I passed on the reunion tour (I'd seen them in 79 (my very first concert) and didn't think anything could top that) but I was surprised to find how excited I was when the lights finally went down and the announcer spoke those familiar words..."You wanted the best..." I felt like a kid again!!!

The set has apparently been the same since the first official show last week (the Dodger Stadium set minus She and Nothin To Lose, but plus Makin Love). It may well have been the Dynasty tour all over again! To be honest, I'd rather have heard She and Nothin To Lose, but I'm not complaining. As a result, Peter wasn't featured much vocally, and to be honest I've always loved his voice. All the fx went off without a hitch; fireworks, flames, blood, the works. The 3-D stuff was pretty cool, but got old after the first 10 times the guys pointed their guitars at ya. The live shots in 3-D were very impressive, though. Paul took a ride out to the middle of the audience, was dropped off on a platform right by the soundboard, and gave the crowd out there a front row seat for Love Gun. It kinda makes you wish Kiss would do a tour "in the round".

Some musical highlights were Do You Love Me, with the extended ending; Shock Me, which everyone expected to be Ace's solo; when Paul was introducing the song, he mentioned Ace was gonna sing a song, and Ace walked over and gave Paul a little shove, and Paul said "See, he hit me! That's proof that we're not getting along!" Hilarious! It is so obvious that they're having the time of their lives, and they let us know every chance they got; Gene and Ace must have high-fived each other a dozen times. Not getting along, my ass! Calling Dr. Love, for no particular reason, and I didn't expect to enjoy it so much, but it kicked; God of Thunder, a little slower than the original version, but that just added to the demonic feel of the tune; and of course, Rock and Roll All Nite, with more confetti than I've ever seen (some of it even reached us up in the boonies). After Beth, Peter blessed us all and made a comment about the jerks with the laser pointers. Paul took his lead and got the crowd's attention. "Any of you with those laser things, if you wanna come up and meet me, I will personally take that thing and shove it up your ass!" The crowd went nuts! "It's OK to bring it to your 6th grade class (obviously insulting the childish mentality of these nitwits) but leave 'em home when you come to a show!" The whole episode even made news radio this morning! Kiss is still stirring up controversy!

As has been mentioned in earlier reviews, the encores seem a bit anti-climactic after the spectacle of R&RAN, but to tell you the truth, I think Black Diamond is one of the most overlooked rock anthems of our time, and the people I was with (some of whom have been waiting 20 years to see Kiss in costume) loved every minute of it. It worked out for us, because so many people left after R&RAN, the traffic was light for all the die-hard fans.

I'm going to the show at Nassau Coliseum (no corporate sponsor there!) on Friday, and I don't care if it's the same set; I don't even care if all the between-song banter is the same; it's Kiss, in all their glory. They're having fun... and that's what rock and roll is all about! Thanks, guys!

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