From: Clif70@aol.com

Ok, I made a promise to myself at the end of the reunion tour that I would send in my own review the next time I saw KISS. Let me first say that I am a huge fan, going way back to 6th grade (I'm 31 now) and this band has always been much more than a rock band to me, more like real-life super heroes. Alright, now for the review: It's 1:42 a.m. and I just got back from the show at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. As when I saw them twice in D.C. and Baltimore on the reunion tour, I paid an arm and a leg from an "alternate" ticket agency for 6th row tickets and it was every penny. When the curtain drops during the P.A. music, everyone knew the start of the show was only minutes away and all the seats filled up quickly. Unlike the black curtain on the reunion tour, this "Circus" themed curtain is quite trasparent and I could see what was going on in the final minutes before the band came on. Two crew members were standing there, one with Gene's bass and one with Paul's guitar. I remember wondering to myself if those two crewmembers had any idea how lucky they were to be in that position, or if it was "just another band on just another tour" to them. So the guys come out and the roadies hand them their instruments as Peter climbs into his drum kit. I couldn't see Ace, I guess he was too far on his side of the stage. Of course what came next was the part that makes any die-hard fan's eyes water: "Alright Washington D.C.....YWTB, YGTB..." Everyone started going nuts, yelling it right along with the announcer. The first song of course was Psycho Circus and they just killed! Tons and tons of bombs and smoke. During the soft part in the middle of the song (sorry, I don't know the correct terminology, the bridge of the song, maybe?) when Paul yells "Stand up!", these very cool rockets shot up to the ceiling and everyone went nuts. Then was Shout It Out Loud without a break, then Paul announces that they're gonna do a song from the first album that "started it all", this song being Deuce. This was a great, great song, with all the guys still running around, jumping up and down, and of course that part of the song where they all line up and rock back and forth in unison. That part drove everyone nuts again and you see that the band is having the time of their lives and really appreciating what's going on. By now everyone knows the rest of the song list, so I'll just throw in a few observations here and there. Paul asked if there were any people out there that have Rock and Roll Over, and the next song was called Making Love. This has been a favorite song of mine off of the Alive 2 album forever because it is the heaviest song they do and has a blistering solo by Ace. They nailed this song perfectly and my only disappointment was that Ace did the lead solo from his platform, facing the people on the side of the arena, so I couldn't see his fingers moving on the guitar (I was on Gene's side of the stage, by the way). Before King of the Nighttime World, Paul talked about how hard the band worked on the first three albums and that they really didn't start selling until Alive came out. After Alive, they knew the next album would have to be really good and of course, it was Destroyer. So, he introduced the song as being the second song on the album and they did a great version of the song. One thing I noticed on Let Me Go, Rock and Roll: during the part where Peter usually says "KISS loves you, Rock and Roll!", Peter's drum tech swung his mic around in front of him to say it, but Peter got this aggravated look on his face and swung it back around, away from him. So Paul says "D.C., who loves you? Rock and Roll!" Sounded cool, but I was expecting Peter to say it. After Gene's blood spitting (which was very, very cool and yucky), it came time for him to fly up to his spot near the ceiling. He spread his arms out and motioned upward, but nothing happened. He did this two ar three times before he started going up. Peter's drum solo on Within (which sounds much heavier live) was fantastic. He was really smashing his drums hard the entire night. Maybe he's over that problem he developed in his arms on the reunion tour. The last song before the encore was Rock and Roll All Night and it was great. The effect of Ace's sparkler at the end of his guitar neck is wild; it spins clockwise in one color, then counter-clockwise in another color. One thing I must mention about Paul smashing his guitar: OK, everyone knows by now that he uses cheap, breakaway guitars for this routine, but it's still great. Right after the roady hands it to him, he holds it with both hands, then tosses it a few feet in the air and tries to catch it. He fumbles the guitar and it falls to the floor and breaks, much too early. He picked it up and looked at Ace and they both got huge smiles on their faces. That was VERY, VERY cool! So Paul goes over to Peter with the broken guitar and Peter is laughing at him, and Paul bangs it a few times on the drum platform while the bombs go off on stage. Of course, they do the encore after that, ending with Black Diamond. To sum this show up, it is simply the greatest show on earth. The guys are really relaxed, smiling and laughing at each other, slapping each other, having an obvious great time. A great, great show by the greatest band ever.

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