From: Benji McKay

KISS In Nashville, TN-Nashville Arena 1/2/99

Before a sold out Nashville audience, KISS showed what is meant by the words "rock and roll." Despite the bitter cold outside, the 4 masked heroes made sure the arena was "Hotter than Hell."

Let me start by saying that the Nashville Arena people are idiots. They had long lines stretching around the whole building waiting to get in. They were frisking everyone. Because the people were so slow, I missed the opening band (except one song, which didn't appeal to me.) After getting in, a friend and I stopped by the merchandise booth to pick up a few things. Let me tell you, this year's stuff is so much better than the reunion tour's items. The tour book is especially beautiful.

Now onto the show: I can't comment on the opening band because I only saw their last song. While waiting for the house lights to dim, the PA man kept telling people to get their 3D glasses. Of course, I had mine (and an extra pair too!). Soon the Psycho Circus curtain was dropped in front of and to the sides of the stage. Then the house lights went off and a familiar voice was heard: "All Right Nashville, You wanted the Best, You got the Best. The Hottest band in the WorldŠKISS." Then the intro to "Psycho Circus" started and the curtain dropped amidst pyro galore. This is a great song to open the show with because it sets the mood of the night perfectly. It was also good to hear a new song open the show. It sounds like a part is cut in the song. Right before the slow part in the middle, it sounds choppy. Overall, the playing on this song was great, except, I couldn't hear the backing vocals on the chorus. After "Psycho Circus," "Shout it Out Loud" started with the patented intro! The two lighted KISS logos got some good use in this song, with each letter being alternately lit up! It was great to hear Paul sing the 77 live version. This song went pretty much without a hitch. Then a single spotlight lighted Paul for the first talk of the night. He introduced the next song as being from the first album. He then proceeded to play the intro to "Deuce." This was the demon's first lead of the night, and he sounded great. His voice was perfect that night. This song got the audience jumping, especially during the "clown" dance near the end of the song. This was Classic KISS! After "Deuce" ended, the star-child instructed us to put on the 3D glasses. He proceeded to point into the special 3D camera to demonstrate how cool the effect was. Then he said, "I have one question for you Nashville, "Do You Love Me?"." This started the first 3D song of the evening. Paul was having fun and let the audience sing most of the chorus. It's probably because he forgot it! I don't know, but it worked. The screens alternated between live 3D footage and pre-recorded footage from the "Psycho Circus" video. It was cool seeing Peter throw drumsticks at me. That thing got tiring though. They need to get some new pre-recorded footage. I was getting sick of being pointed at and hit with stuff. Don't get me wrong though, some of it was really cool. I liked being "licked" in the face by Gene's tongue. The flying guitars on the screen were cool too, but why does Paul's Washburn blow up Ace's Gibson? The next song was "Firehouse." This was played great, and it was in 3D. That was cool. To see Gene blow fire in 3D. Then the audience was instructed to take off the 3D glasses by an image on the screens. "I don't know which album this is from, but Ace is going to sing it" introduced the next song! Ace just looked at the audience and said "happy New Year! Shock Me!" This was weird to hear without a solo in the middle. I am used to Ace rocking away in it. Ace played well all through the night. The next song was "Let Me Go, Rock and Roll." This was also played well. I think that it was in 3D as well. I seem to remember Paul shaking his ass in 3D! Has anyone noticed how the ending of this song sounds just like "Firehouse?" In addition, they did the clown dance in this song too. Paul went into his "rock and roll pneumonia" rap and told Ace to call out Dr. Love. Then Ace started playing the intro to "Calling Dr. Love" and away they went. This is one of the songs that I think they can drop from the set list. It is a good song, but I want some more diversity in the set. The next song was a very heavy version of Ace's newest song "Into the Void." This was cool! It included the patented Ace Frehley solo. There is not much added from his reunion solo. He dropped Beethoven's 5th and instead plays the song from 2001: A Space Oddessy. He did the smoking guitar effect again. Except this time, he couldn't quite get the guitar on the string. After he did, he swung the guitar back and forth across the stage. Then he appeared on his side of the stage with a new guitar. This was his "rocket-shooting" guitar. He did the same routine as on the reunion tour. Then his solo was over and the band re-appeared. Paul shouted his "Ace Frehley on lead guitar" phrase and the song ended. Paul introduced the next song by saying that it was from an album called Destroyer. It followed the horrible car crash "that sounded like this." Ace went over to his stack of amps and started the feedback that introduced "King of the Nighttime World." This song was played exactly like on the reunion tour, with the "new" ending. I think this is another song that could be dropped. After this song, the lights were blacked out and red smoke filled the stage. The strange sounds of Gene's bass solo followed. Gene's blood spiting and flying act were both the same as on the reunion tour also. It's always cool to see this! This is another song that sounds weird this time around. It sounds strange without the drum solo in the middle. This song was filled with the pyro that KISS is known by! Next, "Within" segued into "God of Thunder." You can look at this song in two different ways. One is that is was great to hear something different from the rest of the set. Alternatively, you can look at it as "this song doesn't fit." Nevertheless, it had a rocking Peter Criss drum solo in it. I don't care what some people have been saying, Peter is playing very well. His new solo rocks! The drum kit floats off the riser and comes to the front of the stage. It's a great effect. After Pete's solo, the next song was "Cold Gin." I can do without this song. I have heard this at every KISS show I've seen. This is another song that can be dropped. I know it's a KISS classic, but c'mon, I'm sick of it! The next song was one that I was waiting for: "Love Gun." This was the first time that I saw Paul fly out into the crowd. It was amazing. Of course, some moron had to ruin it. Someone threw something up on the stage and hit him. He didn't even flinch. He finished the song and flew back to the stage. The next song was another Paul Stanley extravaganza. It was "100,000 Years." This was filled with the stage flames just like the last tour. Paul's voice was in great form and he hit the notes in the middle rap perfectly. The closer of the main set was "Rock and Roll all Night." This had all of the expected elements and then some. Of course Paul broke his guitar, and confetti flew everywhere, and the whole place blew up, but there's a new effect. Ace has a pinwheel fire device on his guitar. It was amazing! They ended the show and the lights went dark. Then I saw the roadies bring out Peter's drum stool. "Beth" started and Pete threw out the roses and did the song. The next encore was "Detroit Rock City." It was the last song of the night in 3D. Near the end of the song, the screen shows a computer image of the KISS car being hit by a truck. It was awesome. The last song that was played was "Black Diamond." I thought that it was great to see KISS close with this song again. During Paul's solo for the intro to this song, it sounded like he was playing the intro to "The Oath." What was disappointing is that the cherry pickers were gone. So, Peter's drum kit rose (without the cats) and the pinwheels lit up! I was so jazzed to see the pinwheels back! Even if one didn't work, it was great!

The stage was probably about the size of the reunion tour's stage. The big KISS Army banners weren't there. The stage itself looked like a reworking of the 1979 Dynasty stage. A huge screen behind the stage, and two KISS logos flanked the stage. The pyro is no longer just the golden kind. They now use fire in all different colors! It was pretty cool to see green explosions and stuff like that.

So much for the review, I'm sorry that it's so long, but it was a great show! If you get the chance; go, go, go. You won't be disappointed. I would like to thank my friend Ashley Catoe for getting the tickets for me and for letting me crash at his house. I drove 500 miles to see KISS in Nashville. I can't wait until the next American leg starts, so that they'll hit Columbia and Atlanta. Anyway, thanks for listening and if you have a copy of this show "LET ME KNOW." Thanks. (

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