From: Greg Swann

KISS ROCKS NASHVILLE January 2, 1999

KISS put on a amazing show at the Nashville Arena on Saturday night Jan 2. I never thought I would be saying this, but it was better than the Reunion Tour to me, but thats my humble opinion. More pyro, the guys seemed to be more in synch with each other, etc. I could go on and on.

I had read that Caroline Spines would be opening the last part of the Tour, so thats who I expected to play but we were given a surprise when Ozone Monday was introduced! They played for 25 minutes, they were a pretty good band, but I bet everyone was relieved when they were finished.

Finally the lights went down...ALRIGHT NASHVILLE!!!! YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST, THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD!!! KISS! The Curtain dropped and they ripped into "Psycho Circus" I totally lost control! The stage was smaller than the last tour, the lighting rig was not as elaborate, but the two KISS signs made up for it, and when they were at full force they were blinding!! Paul was Paul the entire night, going all over the stage, shaking his butt at a few select female fans in the front row and one point of the show bending over to kiss one of them. The ultimate performer! Gene was his usual animated self, he looked so huge this time around because of his outfit. Ace probably had the worst night of the four (will explain later), but he played with power and was having a good time up there. I was impressed with Peter's playing this time around, he has gotten so much better. He was having a good time as well, smiling constantly.

The second song, "Shout It Out Loud" brought the crowd into it more! Let me say this about the crowd, Nashville is the country music capital, but both times I have seen KISS here, it seemed to me to be the Rock and Roll Capital! The crowd was awesome!!!!!! I say about 15, 000 were there, the only empty seats I saw were up top, straight back and it looked like only a 100 or so. The band feeds off the crowd, and the earlier reviews I have read from shows where people have said KISS were going through the motions. Not tonight!! When the crowd is into it, KISS gets even better.

"Deuce" was the third song, and right when Paul started the intro, I looked over and Ace was laying over the moniters! He had fallen down! It was funny, but hey he kept on playing like nothing happened. This song rocked as well. The 3-D started on "Do You Love Me" and let me tell you I loved it! None of it was lame at all! It was cool to see 15,000 people with glasses on. "Firehouse", "Shock Me", Let Me Go, Rock and Roll" followed, and they were great! Gene got the lyrics for Let Me Go mixed up, but hey its ok! "Dr Love" was great as well! Ace followed with "Into the Void" and his solo was awesome! When he went to put his guitar on the hook, he had trouble and it took four tries until he got it hooked and it went up into the lights. After Ace's solo, they did "King of the Nighttime World". The it was Gene's turn, and it was so much better than the last tour. The smoke filled the entire stage this time, and his background lighting was red instead of green. Seemed more evil to me. And after he flew to the platform, he wanted his name chanted louder and louder! "God of Thunder" rocked! They brought out the old flashpots for this tour, and the flames went 12 feet up in the air!. "Within" followed, and it was great as well! The new songs sounded great live. Time for Peter's solo, the drum riser was suspended in the air with cables from the lights, and it came out over the audience. His solo was much faster and mor exciting this time! The band followed with "Cold Gin" and then it was time for Paul to fly. This is my favorite part of the show. Paul is so awesome during "Love Gun" and he was going nuts on his platform in the middle of the arena. During the solo of the song, he got off of the platform and started slapping high fives with the crowd around him. It was so cool! "100,000 Years" followed, and the show ended with "Rock and Roll All Night" You have to see Ace's two new effects during this song! Peter came out and sounded great singing "Beth" and even put on his platform boots to do it. KISS took their bows, and then proceded to sing "Detroit Rock City" TIme to finish up with a bang. Paul did the intro to "Black Diamond" and the band played this one great. Ace screwed up the last solo of the song, I think he got a beat behind, and kept looking at what Gene and Paul were playing to catch back up, but he caught up and the song ended wildly. Paul kept making the crew fire off more and more fire to end the song with. It was awesome to say the least.

The the wild ride was over! They played 2 hours and 15 minutes. I enjoyed every minute of it! Paul said the band would not be playing in an arena for about 8 weeks, and he didnt say anything about playing the Super Bowl. They will probably be back in late April and May for more U.S. dates after they return from Europe. I want to see it again and again!

Thanks to Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter for an incredible show! They gave me my money's worth! What a way to start 1999!!!

KISS ASYLUM -- KISS Museum News Archive Features Tour Dates Photos