From: Finn Haakon Rodland

A Norwegian KISS in Hartford
By Finn Haakon Rodland, a member of KISS Army Norway

During the winther, you could find many rumours on the internet or in the newspapers about KISS quitting the game. And finally the news came, KISS was going to do a last tour, the Farewell Tour. But the impossible was going to happen; The tour was supposed to just be in America, they were not coming to Norway and Europe!! The thought of never seeing them live one more time was heartbreaking, and I can imagine that we weren't the only ones sitting late one night drinking some cold beers, dreaming about a last Kiss in America? In this case, it was more than just some foolish talk forgotten next day. It was real for us.

We decided to travel to New York and see KISS at Madison Square Guarden (MSG) the 10th and 11th of july. These dates were not confirmed, but we took the chance. After many hours of work, tickets to the flight was arranged, and a hotel on Manhattan was booked for six persons. The company who was going besides myself and my girlfriend Mari Sandnes, were Lars Petter Strand, Henrik Engebretsen, Gry Thorsen and Håkon Glenne.

As time went away, there never came any confirmation regarding MSG, and today you know that there is no final word concerning MSG as of yet. We instead decided to buy tickets to the concerts in Scranton the 7th of July and Hartford the 8th of July when these where put out to sale. Both Scranton and Hartford is approximately 2-3 hours of drive from New York City, and we had a rented car waiting at the airport to take us to the KISS-concerts. Everything was supposed to be in order now. Even the fact that I broke my leg a couple of weeks before the trip wasn't going to ruin this..

Unfortunately did our worst nightmare take place when we where on our way to the USA as there was some kind of a storm in Paris where we were supposed to land and switch flights, and we had to stay there for a day waiting for the weather to get better. We sat on Hard Rock Cafe in Paris that nigth, knowing that KISS was going on stage in Scranton in a few hours, and not knowing if we were going to make Heartford either. The situation was bad, and it didn't help that the frenchmen were unknown of the terms service and hospitality.

The relief and happiness amoung us was therefore considerable when we sat in the car approaching Hartford the next day, knowing that we made it after all. We missed one concert, but that was (almost) forgotten now! We were going to see KISS in America, their homeland!

The moment when I went to the box office and got the tickets was unbeliveable, handing them out to the others. It made me think about the movie Detroit Rock City, and I thought to myself; this is the real thing, we traveled all the way from Norway, spent over 1000 dollars just to get here, WE are the true KISS fans.

We soon heard Skid Row started to play on the other side of the walls, but we didn't care, it was time for shopping, and our visa-cards soon found their way to the cash-machine, that's for sure.. The dollars flew away, and instead we got KISStory II, t-shirts, programs, posters, metallprints, caps and jackets.

I have to tell you something about the amreicans. They are a strange people. They are so polite and thoughtful, it is impossible for them to even consider standing as cows in a barn like we do in Norway and Europe at the concerts. Instead, they have chairs all the way to the front of the scene, making it possible for everybody having their own area to stand on, and therefore avoiding bumping into each other. So, when an american really lets it loose on an concert, that simply means that he is actually standing on his feet and clapping. Maybe he's so cracy that he stands on the chair, but this means he is REALLY cracy.. A real nutcase. The fact that this alloves the bands to charge you a considerable amount of dollars for the best seats is of course also a part of the story, this is something Gene in particular enjoys, wouldn't you say?

Our seats was a bit behind, out on the left side. This was the best we got, we would have paid for front row if possible, but these were sold out instantly. But we was happy now, we had a clear view to the stage, and all the waiting, the travelling, the hours of work, the worrying of not making this concert was forgotten. We were ready to see KISS!!

The crowd exploded as the curtain went down, and KISS appeared on the stage, coming from above. 25 000 people gave them a warm wellcome, and they gave us a show never to be forgotten in return. They did a better job this time, compared to the Psycho Circus tour, this was it! Ace seemed fit for fight and surprised everybody with his excellent work on the guitar. The solo was especially good. Peters drumsolo was somewhat shortened, and he did ok. Gene did a masterjob during his bloodspitting, making the ugliest, most sickening face ever, and the crowd really gave a huge respons, calling out Gene-Gene-Gene. Gene just continued making the looks of his demonic alter ego as the crowd cheered even more. The God of Thunder is alive and well!! Paul did a couple of minutes of I still love you as an intro to Black Diamond, and it was a beatiful moment for the true KISS-fans.

During some of the songs, old videoshots of the band where shown on the big videoscreens, and it was just a perfect way of making a tribute to the history of the band. I'm sure that I wasn't the only one with a teardrop in the corner of my eye. Paul talked a lot more to the crowd than he usually does in Norway, probably because he knows for sure that the crowd understands his words. It was difficult getting all the words, as he spoke a little fast, and the sound wasn't the best. As for the set list, Into the void was replaced with 2000 Man, which really sounded well. They still don't play I was made for lovin you in their homecountry. Personally, I enjoyed the return of the classics I Love it Loud, Heavens on Fire and Lick it up, it was really exciting hearing these songs live again. These are great KISS songs, and deserves the credit of being played live one last time. Gene should by the way keep his mouth shut in Lick it up, as his contribution to the chorus just was annoying. It just didn't fit in.

As a last word from the concert; it is true, what we see on the KISS videoes from America. They actually stands there, all the way in front, beatiful women, taking their clothes off, showing what they got They say that KISS has their own people hired, picking out girls in the concert area, bringing them to front seats.

The show was over, and everybody agreed it had been a great concert. We managed to get some of the Kiss-confetti before the guards threw us out.. As we left the stadium, the question was this the last time? arose. New rumours that KISS was coming to Europe after all gave birth to new dreams. Hope for more KISS-concerts. But now, it was time for finding our way to the hotel on Manhatten, and the next days, we were going to walk in KISS' footprints, in the streets of New York City.

Memoribilia

You might believe that New York City could offer a variety of KISS-merchandise, but this just wasn't correct. Spencer Gifts, known for it's KISS-merchendaise, had no departement in New York City. You could find some lunchboxes, books, and magazines here and there, but nothing else of the new stuff. Henrik was of course very satisfied when he left Tower Records with the entire KISS-collection on american remastered cds in his bag.

We finally found a paradise for a KISS-fan, but you need to have loads of dollars. The place was called Old Colony, where you could find all the old stuff from the seventies. The lunchbox, the cartoons, the cards, the posters, the trashcan and so on. But it was priced very high. The big Destroyer Dolls were priced 1600 dollars for the whole set. And the lunchbox 400 dollars. Just as an example.

The last night we just happened to find a shop on Times Square, who had the new, big Love Gun dolls. Without knowing how to get these big dolls on the plane and back home, Lars Petter bought the Demon, and I bought the Starchild. This was so cool, we carried the huge boxes out of the store, took the first cab we found back to the hotel, and just sat there on the bed for an hour or so, looking at the dolls. Pushing the button on the brick the doll stood on, and listened to Love Gun and Christine Sixteen. I gotta tell you, the living room will never be the same again

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