From: Chris
KISS rocked the New World Music Theater outside Chicago last night with a superb show. When you have an outdoor show in Chicago on September 30, well, all bets are off regarding how the weather would be. Lucky us, it turned out to be a perfect early fall evening.

As Skid Row was getting ready to start the show, I was going to not watch them having seen them numerous times on this tour. At the last minute, I decided to check them out since they'd have a longer set, and I was not disappointed. They did a great job. Heck, any band that rocks and has a vocalist who actually sings instead of raps is ok in my book.

Onto KISS. They came tearing out to DRC descending from the rafters, and they never looked back. Paul announced the attendance as 8,000, but I have to disagree with him. The pavilion was packed from my vantage point. No lawn seats sold for this event, but I'd guess the crowd was closer to 12,000.

Everyone was in fine form this night. The stage at the World basically extends right to the front row, so there was a lot of great interplay between the band and those lucky enough to be up front. At one point, Paul actually sat at the edge of the stage with his feet dangling into the crowd. Gene helped a woman almost entirely up onto the stage. Let's just say her head reached up to his codpiece! There was also a young boy who had to be maybe 3 or 4 years old who was held up to both Paul and Gene. I thought they would KISS the little guy like a politician, but they handed him picks instead! Lucky little bugger! I'm sure his dad let him keep those!!

I continue to be more and more impressed by Peter. He will never recapture his maniacal style from 75-76, but his playing is just great. Like Ringo Starr, he always adds just what a song needs. Nothing more or less. Peter, though, is really using his entire kit and is having a ball doing it. I'm sorry, but you can't fake the enthusiasm he showed all night.

A couple funny moments. The hook that's supposed to take Ace's guitar up to the rafters never showed up. Ace just cracked up and made light of the situation. "It was supposed to fly", he said. "It's only 3 years old so it shouldn't be smoking", he added.

We did not get the medley of songs but just before RARAN, Ace was noodling around on his guitar. They all then joined in and played a little country and western song that would have made Willie Nelson proud...maybe.

Paul's flying rig was different than for indoor arenas. This thing literally rocketed him out to the mini stage, which was raised on a platform in the middle of the pavilion.

The split screen shot of Ace and Peter at the beginning and end of "Cold Gin" is priceless. The camera shots during this song were phenomenal.

Lots of pyro and fireworks, tons of confetti. It was a windy night and as we exited the pavilion, the confetti was actually falling out of the sky on us! Pretty fitting.

I've been saying this pretty much after each show I've seen on this tour, but reality tells me this REALLY was my last KISS show. While there was sadness, all my years of KISS fandom kind of flashed before my eyes this night. I had that feeling I had years ago when I was a young kid and KISS made it seem like all things were possible. It's nice to be able to return to that place again.

Thanks KISS. How could we ever forget you?!

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