From: Gene Platinum
"Alright, Anaheim!" Remember that? Being from NY and growing up watching the great "Kiss Destroys Anahiem" video bootleg, I always fantasized what it was like to be at a Kiss show in California (as Paul said, "The Capital of sun and sin!"). And though it wasn't Anaheim Stadium, watching Kiss in their Destroyer costumes playing just a stones throw away from the sight of that legendary show with Flo & Eddie was special. Let me start by saying I was at some of the great reunion shows and I had reservations when I heard about some of the new stuff in the set (and lack of Ace or Peter stuff, but we'll go there later), and based on the VH1 performance, I thought the band would be kind of lethargic. But that's not the way it was. Those who were in Anaheim witnessed a classic show, and probably one of the best sounding concerts they ever heard. From the opening "Detroit Rock City," to the closing "Rock & Roll All Night," the band was spot on and the bombastics were deafening. Kiss' new streamlined set brings back the glory of love gun while taking us into the future. A ton more explosions, pinwheels, and smoke pouring out of every level of Marshal stacks made the mood. Friends and I commented how we felt as if we were right inside a new Kiss pinball machine! As I said I was hesitant because I was nervous that Kiss were going to drop too many classics, but they shined. "Let Me Go R&R" was amazing and Ace just smoked. Paul went Motown on us with "Do you Love Me," and Ace's "2000 Man" was incredible. You would think that the fuck ups would happen with Ace or Peter but it was the technical crew messing up Paul and Gene's effects that marked this night a historic one (Ace's Smoking Les Paul was perfect and if you watched the monitor, it was a flashback to 76'). I don't think anyone has ever witnessed Paul singing a Gene Song, and Gene singing a Paul song in one night. That's what happened when Gene couldn't come down for the last verse of "God of Thunder," and Paul sang it. It was cosmic, because as you know, Paul wrote it for Gene in the first place and he knew the words. What about Paul not getting to come out to "visit the crowd," and getting stuck on his cable dangling over the lip of the audience. Too far from the center of the crowd and too far from his mic up on stage. Gene had to start singing "Love Gun," but unfortunatley for him he wasn't as versed in the lyrics, so he was making them up. Very Fun! It was visable that Paul and Gene weren't happy with the crew, but they didn't take it out on the crowd (or maybe they did as we were deprived another encore) because they just kept rocking. It's obvious that the crew will be seeing a lot of PINK after the show as there are plenty of slips to go around.

Another impressive note about the show is how "Psycho Circus" has turned into a great staple of the set, the dynamics of that song live is remarkable. Also, "Heavens on Fire," "I Love It Loud," and "Lick It Up," sounded like classic Kiss. My brother and I used to fantasize about what it would be like if Ace and Peter stayed and they had to play these songs, well we got it, and let me tell you they were great. I was 21st row and let me tell you the confeti during "R&R All Nite" was amazing. A sea of colors from the front all the way to the back, you couldn't open your mouth without paper flying in. It was like the record sleeves from Alive II, or being inside the set of Detroit Rock City, I swear it was that special.

I honestly can't wait for the bootlegs to come out because musically this show was awesome, I mean Peter played better than ever, the band were just badass, and their wasn't an ounce of lethargy. Despite my nervousness, the Arrowhead Pond show will go down in Kisstory! P.S. even though the show was great I still have some concerns and hope they get recognized by all the other die-hards and the band themself. As amazing as they are I think Paul and Gene forgot that "Unplugged" spirit, that feeling that they got when they recognized that it was the FOUR of them that made up Kiss and that them reuniting would pay more respect to all of them. If they wanted to have classic sets, they would let Peter sing as much as he did in the 70's, I mean they told us a while ago that they were kind of replicating the Love Gun set, but where's "Hoolagin?" Peter is singing even less now than he used to. They dropped the amazing early classic "Nothin' to Lose," and they never played hard luck woman, which if we all face it was one of the reasons they got back together in the first place. It was Garth Brooks performance on Kiss My Ass that led to the band reissuing the song as a single, which led to the band playing on all the lete night shows, which led to the band having an unplugged set at conventions, which led to Peter joining the band for a set, which led to Ace joining the band for the MTV Unplugged set, which led to the whole damn tour. But what do they do? they forget. Paul and Gene are always forgetting. It's like Paul has to get his rocks off for the last time, and Gene is too busy handling the business to even insist that he plays more of his own classics. Paul unfairly dominates the set. Instead, they should be doing more Peter and Ace Songs ("Baby Driver," "Getaway" (an Ace Song written for Peter). By putting on the make-up Kiss were were saying that it was the make-up years that were most important, and that they did so because we are their bosses and we demanded it. Well if you listen to your employers guys, you would know that what we really want is for you to pull out the old songs, I mean really pull! Ace commented on rehearsing tons of old songs, but what do you do, you pull shit off of Animalize. Though it sounds good, it's disrespectful, to the classic catalog. If this is the farewell tour, don't cater to the fans (new Kiss)who you were disregarding when you kicked out Bruce Kulick, own up to the fans who were with you from day one! If you drop a song from the set, it sould be replaced by another old school staple, or an old song that was never ever played. That's what we really want. Am I wrong? I mean forgetting about the Ace and Peter songs that should be heard, what about all the Gene songs that need play. "Ladies Room," used to be a standard, "Ladies in Waiting," "Almost Human," I mean the list is endless. Before pulling out fucking "Forever," or "Ugh! All Night" (which doesn't seem unlikley if Paul has his way)the band should respect the REAL Kiss catalog!

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