From: Per Christian Berg
First, I have to say that the KISS concert at the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN was in one word, AWESOME ! It was by far the best concert, as well as the best KISS concert I have ever seen (much better than both the Reunion Tour and the Psycho Circus Tour) I am 34 years old, from Norway, and have been a KISS fan since 1978. I have seen KISS 8 times now, and my first KISS concert was the concert in Drammen, Norway on the 13-10-1980 ("Unmasked Tour"). Now, I travelled all the way from Norway to Knoxville, TN, for this concert on the Farewell Tour, and it was worth every money. GREAT EXPERIENCE!!!!

I arrived at the Thompson-Boling Arena about 4.00 pm, and a lot of KISS fans were already there. I got a backstage pass, and took some pictures of the Arena during the preparation for the show, talked to some of the KISS crew members, as well as some members of the staff at the Thompson-Boling Arena. KISS did not have any soundcheck in Knoxville, so at 6.10 pm, KISS arrived at the Arena directly from the Airport (they stayed in Atlanta, GA). When KISS arrived at the backstage entrance to the Arena, the place went nuts. I got some pictures of Gene and Peter on their way from the van to the Arena.

At 7.00 pm, Skid Row started to play and they played for 30 minutes, while a lot of people were in the halls of the Arena buying Kiss merchandises (Kiss Story II, a great Kiss Tour book, T-Shirts, Magazines, Posters etc....). At 7.50 pm, Ted Nugent Band entered the stage, and they played until 8.45 pm. His band was really tight, it was a big crowd please, and especially Ted Nugent and his drummmer, Tommy Aldrigde, played very well.

Now, everyone were waiting for KISS, and the Arena was packed. It was Sold-Out (18 000 people). Now it was getting close to KISS time, and at 9.00 pm, the big black KISS curtain with the grey logo on was up, and the anticipation was building. Everyone was pumped and the house was jam-packed. I had the 5 Row seat in the centre, right in front of the stage, and could feel the electrical atmosphere. At 9.10 pm, the lights went out, and the curtain dropped. Kiss entered the stage on a platform descending from the ceiling, during the opening riffs of "Detroit Rock City". KISS sounded and looked GREAT. The sound was excellent, and you could hear every details regarding all the guitars and background vocals, which was excellent (Great honour especially to Gene for all the cool harmonies). The band was in top form and they put on a powerful performance. They were all in high spirits for the sold out show in Knoxville. The energy level, the sound, the stage and the lightnings were absolutely the greatest of all time. Kiss made a lot of jokes with themselves as well with the audience, throwing pics and other things at each other, and Paul Stanley renamed Knoxville to knockersville, due to the behaviour of some ladies on the first row.

Musically, the band was very tight, and they really played their hearts out that evening. Paul`s voice was excellent all the night, his voice has never sounded better - he was incredible. I can really understand that he is capable of doing musicals. Mr Stanley is the rocks greatest frontman, and he did not stop prancing around and he worked his audience for the entire 2 1/2 hours. Amazing to hear his vocal during the first verse of "I still love You".

The background vocals and harmonies were excellent (especially Gene made a lot of nice harmonies not heard on their albums), and the chorus in every song was powerful. Gene made an excellent performance, and it was impressing to see his excellent melodic bass playing as well as the way he conducted the band rhythmically from such a short distance as the 5 Row.

Ace and Peter played also very well, and especially Peter has improved a lot since the Reunion Tour in -96. He had a very nice drumsolo in "100.000 years", and he also played the -80 songs ("I love it loud", "Heavens on Fire" and "Lick It Up") excellent, despite the fact that he is more a jazz and Rhythm and Blues kind of drummer rather than a heavy rock drummer like Eric Carr was or Eric Singer is. Peter was smiling, waving, rocking, chewing the gum, and just generally had fun on stage. His vocal also sounded great. His drumming is not the flashest, but Peter is such an important component for the KISS sound and especially his style of such songs as "100.000 years", "Firehouse" and "Let Me Go Rock`n Roll" was great.

Ace Frehley rocked that place with his cool guitar licks, especially all the solos on the -70 songs, where his style suits perfectly (that guy really rocks). His guitar playing really makes the band, and he did a great job of showmanship. His vocal on "Shock me" and "2 000 Man" has never sounded better - he has improved a lot regarding his singing during the years!! Ace`s guitar solo after "2 000 Man" was GREAT, and he played the "Almost Human" riff, riff from "Hard Times", the coolest part of the Alive II Solo from 1977, as well as the "Theme from 2001" ("Alzo Sprach Zaratustra - Strauss") He played also the songs from the 1980`s excellent, and put his own style into them, and especially his solo in "Lick It Up" was really cool.

Now a short review of the setlist in Knoxville:
1)Detroit Rock City - Great opening !!!
2)Deuce - Awesome ! - Very good performance by Gene and Ace !
3)Shout It Out Loud - Peter`s drums sounded like cannons - Great vocals by Paul.
4)I Love It Loud - Great crowd singing here - excellent Peter and Gene on vocal.
5)Shock Me - Ace was hot ! Great vocal and guitar solo - excellent background vocals
6)Firehouse - Great monitor, Paul sings the song an octave up from the original - cool new sound - Gene did firebreathing !
7)Do You Love Me - Excellent video on the monitors - Great pictures from the -70`s.
8)Calling Dr.Love - Great performance by the demon, Gene.
9)Psycho Circus - Hard song to do live, but excellent that night.
10)Heavens On Fire - Watch for the flames, They are hot !!!
11)Let Me Go Rock and Roll - Full live version, it was a total jam, and they was having a ball with this one.
12)2 000 Man - Ace did a great job on that one, nicely backing from Paul and Gene, nice guitar solo by Ace (new licks, old licks, classic KISS songs)
13)Lick It Up - cool intro by Paul, new solo by Ace, sounded GREAT.
14)God Of Thunder - rules us all!!!!! Excellent Gene performance as always.
15)Cold Gin - Gene and Ace split the lead vocal again
16)100.000 years - sounds better than ever, Peter`s short solo is great, Ace is playing excellent on this one
17)Love Gun - Paul flew out in the audience, the place went nuts, high point in the show, great solo by Ace, as well as excellent harmonies by Gene and Ace
18)I still love You - only Paul Stanley - first verse - AWESOME!!!
19)Black Diamond - Great vocal by Peter, I was impressed !
20)Beth - 18 000 fans singing Beth with Peter - it can`t go wrong!!
21)Rock and Roll all nite - GREAT FINALE with a lot of confettis, Ace had the spinning thing on his guitar during his solo, lots of pyro.

This was the best KISS concert I have ever seen, I encourage everyone to see the show. As I was walking out to the halls, on the monitor it said: "Thank You Knoxville ! We love You!!" Then "God Gave Rock And Roll to You" was playing over the PA. On the way out of the Arena, I bought the T-Shirt for this city....the best souvenir you can have....."KISS ROCKS KNOXVILLE 30-4-2000, I WAS THERE".

I hope KISS will Tour Europe one more time (the last time) in the autumn of year 2000, and be sure I will see a number of concerts.

Thanks to KISS for giving me 22 years with fantastic memories, and thanks to Paul, Gene, Ace and Peter - the KINGS of Rock and Roll. YOU GUYS RULE !!!!!!!!!!

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