From: Ken

Friday, November 27, 1998
KISS - Nassau Coliseum

This is my first and probably only show on the Psycho Circus tour. However, it certainly convinced me to see the band again if they manage to make it back to the New York area. Unfortunately, I was too tied up with other things to see the other local shows this time around. It's always fun to see Kiss at MSG - the crowd is always a lot more involved.

My friend, Larry, and I had seats in the "sitting" section of the Mausoleum - section 212. That's at the back of the stadium, halfway up, for you non- locals. We were parked in our seats by 7:40 PM - we always like to catch the opening act since we paid for it! There was actually a pre-opening act - some woman in a tight black cat suit kept parading around the stadium and flashing the spectators. Eventually security escorted her out, but it certainly took them a while...

The opening band was Ozone Monday, supposedly made up of Skid Row remnants. They were actually very catchy, but pretty basic rock'n'roll. They were certainly better than a lot of the other bands I had seen open for Kiss (except for Accept back in the Vinnie days). However, the Kiss fans were an ornery lot and wanted to make sure the opening act didn't stick around long. They came on at 8:00 and were off after less than 40 minutes.

The typical Kiss spectacle started promptly at 9:00 and finished a pinch after 11:00. I never write down the set list, but I think that's been covered a few million times before. Major differences were that the band left off "Makin' Love" and "I Was Made For Lovin' You." This means that the only new songs compared to the Reunion Tour were the three songs from Psycho Circus. This was a little disappointing, but not a real big deal.

This was definitely the best sounding Kiss show I had ever seen. All the vocals were clear. Ace's guitar was nice and loud. Peter's drums were pretty clear, also. Paul sounded like Paul - a little rough in the beginning, but very solid throughout. Gene's vocals were fantastic - crystal clear, loud, and melodic. He wasn't growling - he was actually singing. Peter sounded great on "Black Diamond" (my favorite Kiss song) and was bearable on "Beth" (not my favorite). Ace sang fine and was playing fairly well. The crisp sound really made his "fumble-fingers" style more noticeable, but it's Ace and it's cool.

The 3-D is a nice effect for a little while and then becomes old. At least they provide tips for when to wear and remove the glasses - they were giving me a headache when I left them on for long periods. The live 3-D was pretty cool. The prerecorded stuff looked better, but got old fast since they would replay the same pieces. The prerecorded stuff also diverted your attention from the real show - the band playing live. The best use of the 3-D was to break up the monotony of Ace's solo. The footage used there made a useless "2001" piece in the solo a little more acceptable. Once the arena fills with smoke, the 3-D also loses its punch. If I see another show, I'll use the glasses for the first few times, then put them away.

I think I prefer the new stage to the one they used on the Reunion Tour. This one made it easier to watch the video screen while watching the live band at the same time. On the old stage, the large Kiss logo got in the way. The stage is simple, but effective. The pyro at the Mausoleum seemed light, however. The last time they played here it seemed that they blew up a lot more stuff.

Song highlights for me were basically some of my old favorites - "Black Diamond", "100,000 Years", and "Love Gun." (I had never seen the flying Paul bit, so that was cool too). I agree with most of the others that "Within" is weak live. I'm not sure if there were some odd hitches in the set, or if I was so used to the other sequence from the Reunion Tour that I got thrown off. It seemed odd to have the drum solo in "Within" - I was really confused when they jumped right into the third verse of "God Of Thunder" after the guitar solo, even though I knew from other reviews that the drum solo had moved.

I must say that it was a great show. The big highlight was how the band sounded - fantastic! The only disappointment is the worn-out set list. Hopefully they'll add some different songs the next time around...

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