From: Stephen Gurr
After a shakey start, this one ended strong.

The guys looked pretty good, not quite as puffy as some of the PC-tour footage I've seen. This was their first trip to Atlanta since 1996, and the sold-out crowd at the new 18,000-seat Philips Arena was hyped up to see 'em.

Unfortunately, there were some early problems with the show. "DRC" was OK if a bit uninspired, and "Shout it Out Loud" got the crowd rocking. "Deuce" was excellent. Then it came Ace's turn to take the mike, and boy, did he blow it! Mr. Frehley ambled up to the microphone after the opening cords of "Shock Me," and promptly forgot the lyrics to the first verse! Paul had to sidle up to him at the mike and help him out. How in the world can Ace forget the words to this song? He's only sang it what - about a million times? Quite honestly, the Space Ace looked out of it at times, and played sloppily throughout much of the first half of the show. I'm not sure he isn't back into indulging in something ...

Trotting out the non-original numbers like "Lick It Up" and "Heaven's On Fire" was a waste, I thought, but oh well, it is their so-called Farewell Tour (I'm pretty sure it will be), so might as well have a somewhat retrospective set list. No offense to other Kiss fans, but thank God they didn't delve into any post-Animalize material. "I Love It Loud" was good, but made me painfully aware that Peter Criss is not the drummer Eric Carr was.

Minor nit-pick: one of the pyros was out for almost all of Heaven's on Fire, but they got it fixed by the end of the song.

Most of the last half of the show, after Psycho Circus, was a repeat of the Alive Worldwide set list. I agree with other fans that "Psycho Circus" isn't a great live song, and why did they have to recycle the (non) 3-D video footage from the last tour? On the other hand, the oldie footage for "Do You Love Me" and the 3-minute ad for their video game during "2,000 Man" was pretty cool. Ace didn't screw that song up, either, thankfully.

Peter Criss had a few missed beats during the show, and messed up the band's timing on more than one occassion. The 52-year-old Catman was hardly a dynamo behind the drums, and looked like he was playing along to one of his oldie jazz favorites. They must have those drums miked to hell and back!

"Black Diamond", "100,000 Years", "Calling Dr. Love," were all excellent. Complaint: What's with the "Larger Than Life" teaser before "Let Me Go Rock 'n Roll"? I hate teasers! (Even worse was Tony Iommi's teaser of "Supernaut" during Sabbath's reunion tour). Either play the damn song or don't! Paul also sang the first verse of "I Still Love You" during the intro to "Black Diamond," but I was actually glad he didn't do that number in its entirety. It might have put the crowd to sleep.

"Beth" and "Rock n Roll All Night" were predictable show closers - there's no way the band can get out of it. The pyros and Ace's guitar for RNRAL were spectacular!

In all, a good show, but it didn't have near the energy or excitement of the Oct. 1996 Omni show. And, really, I don't blame the band there. They've done a ton of shows since then. I think the touring is finally wearing on these guys, and they are starting to slip a few notches. It's good they're hanging it up now, before they really embarass themselves.

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