From: Shannon Kelley
I just returned from Dayton, Ohio and seeing KISS for the fifth time on the Farewell Tour. Last night, Paul did something I thought was extremely thoughtful and will probably only add to the KISS lore and legend. This is the second time this tour I've seen him go above and beyond his duty as a performer. I thought people should be made aware of his actions.

Incident number one occurred during the second show at the Palace of Auburn Hills in May. I was seated in the second row on what many would consider Ace's "side" of the stage. There was a couple in front of me who had brought their five or six year old daughter with them. She was decked out in the "Starchild" makeup. Paul, Ace and Gene played to this young fan all night long. They would come over pose, make faces and gestures to elicit a smile from the young girl. As the night wore on, she was becoming visibly tired. That is when a woman came from the side of the stage into the front row to talk with the young girl's parents. She told them Paul had given them permission to take their daughter to the side of the stage where she could sit on a amp case and watch the show from there and not be sandwiched in with the crazies up front. The young girl made her parents decline by saying she would not be able to see the fireworks. I suppose what got me was the gesture. Twenty thousand screaming fans and Paul made an attempt to ensure the girl could enjoy the show to the fullest extent.

Incident number two was last evening. There was a gentlemen seated in the handicapped area roughly six to eight rows from the stage. I would guess he was a parapalegic. He seemed to enjoy the show all night long as his smiles made the show better for all that could see him smiling. I apparently was not the only one who noticed this happy member of the KISS Army. Again seated on Ace's side in the front row of the riser section, I watched Paul tell the guitar tech something during the finale, while the guitar tech was handing him the guitar to be smashed. Then the tech runs from behind the stage into the pit area between the barricade wall and the stage. Paul smashes the guitar. He hands the neck to someone in the front row and tosses the rest to the tech. I thought that was strange. Then the tech ran around the barricade, out into the audience and over to the young man to give him the souvenir. The smile on the man's face was undescribable. The gesture was simply "the best."

As critical and jaded as some fans can get, myself included, these are the moments that, we as the KISS Army, should relish in. At times some of the lines maybe scripted, but as fans of the band we know at their core the band does care and does mean what they say. More importantly, KISS gives back to their audience. The critics will say what price do the fans pay for this "caring" and I believe, and think those whom I wrote about will agree, we pay a very small price to be a part of this thing called the KISS Army.

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