From: Brad O'Malley
Its taken me awhile to post my review, but here it is finally. This was the best concert I've ever seen. Flat out. There are no close seconds here. I've never been wowed like this before. Their reunion concerts were awesome, psycho circus was good, but this one was amazing. First off, Skid Row was ok, but I've heard bar bands that play their songs better than they did May 24. I was never a big Skid Row fan and the Palace was nowhere near full, but they did the best they could with a few "Say hello to KISS, they're watching you!" in between songs. Weird as it may seem with me living in Michigan my whole life, I've never seen Uncle Ted live before and I have to say I was very impressed. Sure he did his usual Janet Reno's a dike and Jesse Jackson can kiss his ass routine, but the man can put on a show. He started it off by riding out on a buffalo which set the crowd rocking right off the bat. I have a couple of his cd's and I guess I never really paid attention to his guitar playing (though his songs just f'in rock hard), but the guy can play his ass off. My favorites of his Cat Scratch Fever, Stranglehold, and Fred Bear were outstanding. The crowd was really into him, of course. One thing which I should have expected was his praising of a "Michigan made guitar", which I am assuming was a Gibson that was made while they still had their factory in Michigan. At the end of his show he proudly shot his "Non-Michigan made guitar" with his flaming arrow which set it on fire. Then he came out and played Fred Bear as his last encore with the blazing guitar in front of him. Very entertaining set. Now onto the main attraction. What can I say, this was a kick ass show from KISS. I have no complaints about their performance whatsoever. From the "AAAAALLLLRIIIIGHT DEEEEEETROOOOIIIIT" to the last pieces of confetti in the air the concert was top notch. Like Gene said before they started the Reunion tour, they showed all the new bands how the big boys do it. Their opener was very appropriate, Detroit Rock City and their intro was spectacular, being lowered from the rafters. Deuce gave me chills knowing it was the last time I'd see them unite at the end of the song for their back and forth shifting. Do You Love Me was great as it had the video which brought tears to my eyes. All night long in the back of my mind I kept thinking "this is it, the last time I'll see them live" and it was right up front during this song. Ace's solo rocked and he was very playful with the crowd during the show. I was about 25 rows from the stage on the floor right by what would have been my right aisle and I was giving him a thumbs up when he pointed at me and gave it back...totally cool and I knew it was me he was giving it to because I was in the aisle and no one else was in front of me or behind me at the time. Gene's solo and blood spitting was great as it always is. God Of Thunder is just so awesome live. This was the first time I heard them play any of their 80's tunes and those were great to hear. My girlfriend and I could feel the flames from the stage they were so hot while they shot up during Heaven's On Fire. Lick It Up has always been one of my favorites so it was great to hear that one. Love Gun rocked and it was especially cool because Paul's stage was close by so I could see him really well during this song. He was the performer the whole night and Gene was well, Gene. He was very demon-like as he always is. Peter's drums sounded good too as did Beth. And playing God Gave Rock 'N Roll To You after they finished playing was very appropriate...kind of like a reminder to their fans of what its all about. Oh, there was a kid sitting next to us with his dad and security was walking around giving out picks that the band members had thrown out to the crowd. Well, this one time, this short, balding guy walked right in front of me and gave a pick to the kid. I looked at the guy again who had a suitcoat on I think, and I didn't realize it until he had already walked away, but it was Doc McGee. I looked at my girlfriend and said "holy shit, that's their manager, Doc McGee". Because I was on the aisle I had a good view of who was walking around and the next time I saw him, I said "Doc?" and he nodded his head and I put my hand out and he shook it. I got to meet Doc McGee!!! That was just icing on the cake. Back to the show now. The special effects were awesome all night long. The pyro, fireworks, lights, video screens and lighted KISS logos added a lot to the concert. The confetti during Rock 'N Roll All Nite was amazing because there was so much of it. I made sure to grab a piece of it to save as did my girlfriend. Speaking of my girlfriend, this will tell you how good of a show it was. She went with me because none of my friends are KISS fans and this includes her. She was familiar with a few of their songs before hand, but I also tried to educate her as best as I could before the show and during it. After the show I had to ask her what she thought. She said she will probably never see a concert that will be as good as the KISS concert was that night. She said it was awesome. You know, its a huge compliment to the band when non-fans walk out of their shows as fans. When you can convert someone with just one night it says a lot. Gene, Paul, Ace, and Peter have been a big part of m life and I'm going to miss them. There will never be another KISS or anything near it. A band that spans 4 decades, almost 30 years, 80 million records, 30 platinum records is something special and I'm proud I'm part of the KISS Army. A band that peaks once with the American people is great, but a band that peaks twice shows the makeup (pardon the pun) of the band. To be able to capture the attention of people like that is amazing. Which is what KISS is, amazing. Like they open their concerts, You wanted the best, you got the best. And the best they certainly are. They will always be the best to me and I'm going to miss them greatly when they take off the makeup and hang up their platform boots for good. But I'll always have my memories of them. LONG LIVE KISS!!!!

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