From: Neil "Gido-Blaster" Gido
We ventured 3 hours south of our hometown Albuquerque by car for the Masters in Las Cruces, NM. The line to get in was massively long. The energy was so high it was already an amazing experience as the rest of the evening would soon prove. The KISSonline.com Semi was in front of the venue along with over a dozen other semi's and tour buses. All the radio stations had party busses equipped with food, booze & jams to take contest winners from Albuquerque to the show in Las Cruces.

Some people were in debate as to weather Sebastian Bach was singing for Skid Row. Too bad it wasn't him as he is such a huge KISS fan. As the Skids were on, we were getting KISS Stuff with a capital lightning bolt "S." All the tour merchandise on KISSonline.com was represented, plus a Las Cruces event shirt which mentioned this date & venue, The Pan Am Center, and also the last date KISS was in Las Cruces in '96. Also on hand were brand baby spanking new copies of KISStory II books! Both KISStory & KISStory II are 10 pound monster books which dwarf any in comparison, just like KISS does every other band!

Uncle Ted Nugent rocked the house serious & both he and Skid Row mentioned this night as being a tribute to KISS. Ted acknowledged people coming from El Paso & Albuquerque. There were no Immortals or History video pre-show intro or risers including drums, like there were in Vancouver for Y2KISS. The new stage was incredibly sleek black and chrome rock and roll militia. There were layers of lighted walls of speakers & the stairs are back!! The lights on the stairs are different but very cool! Behind the stage were the large video screens plus two giant light up KISS logos and KISS Army banners, each large enough to cover a house! There was a large mirror ball above the center of the audience which was used for the intro of "Black Diamond."

A few minutes before KISS came on, a huge new black curtain with a GIANT silver KISS logo was dropped in front of the stage. The crowd was insanely rowdy at this concert! It was intense! It was loud & it ROCKED! The crowd was on it's feet from this point on, it was a nonstop standing ovation! The intro rumble came on! The band lowered down to the stage with fists raised high in salute from the lighting scaffold! "All right Las Cruces! You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best, The Greatest Band In The World... KISS!!!!"

During the show, Paul spoke a few sentences in Spanish. He also said they were in Albuquerque & Tucson. He mistakenly said Albuquerque instead of Phoenix I believe. After the 2nd or 3rd song, Paul said, "I know it's early in the night but let me see you!" He wanted to see us, and was amazed at how crazy the audience was. He made them shine lights on the crowd. Twice during the show he had battles between the loudest side of the audience.

During Ace's guitar solo after his guitar smoking & flying, then firing rockets, he played parts of "Parasite" and "Hard Times." Ace was the only one to really use the stairs on this new stage and was jamming right above the flame throwers which was pretty brave. Peter used the stairs, but only to get up to his drums after they first came out. The band members preferred to be out front and on the sides right near the crowd.

Before the 1st encore, Paul announced that this next song was unrehearsed, and though I was hoping for "I Stole Your Love," they played one of the most kick ass rocking versions of "I Was Made For Lovin' You" I've ever heard!

Paul thanked the audience from the bottom of his heart for putting him there on stage, before making the audience scream so loud to get the needles on the video screen into the red in order to get him to go out over the audience and land at the back of the hall for "Love Gun."

Being the farewell Tour, during the course of the night Paul stressed that this was the last time & last show for us. Paul seriously said, "People, NEVER FORGET US! We will never forget you." Before the final encore, he talked about the band being accused of having hidden messages and secret meanings and such, then dismissed that notion & explained their real message to "Rock And Roll All Nite And Party Every Day." Peter was not behind the drums yet after singing "Beth" at this point to start the song. He showed up a minute later saying, "I'm here, I'm here." Paul commented saying something like, "OK let's pretend we didn't introduce that yet," then he re intro'd it and Peter kicked out the jam. Confetti belted out the entire song filling the arena with a thick confetti storm. It was awesome! Ace's new light up guitar shot spinning pinwheels of sparks during his solo in this song. At the end of the hysteria, the video screens displayed, "KISS Thanks You Las Cruces."

Gene delivered the wickedest, most sinister evil as hell bass solo/blood ritual/flying bat lizard feat I have ever seen him do! Of course he also breathed fire & flew up to the top of the lighting scaffold. Ace was on the money with his lead guitar work & Paul's voice was prime. The entire band was shining in their prime on this night! If this is any indication as to how the rest of the tour will go, it could be their best cross country excursion EVER! KISS will go out on top with honor, grace & style!

I hope to see the band one last time in June in my home town of Albuquerque. Fare Ye Well, My Fine Leathered Friends! KISS is & always will be The Greatest Band In the World! Thank You for all the great music & memories over the years!

Las Cruces 3/14/2000 Set List: Detroit Rock City, Shout It Out Loud, Deuce, I Love It Loud, Heaven's On Fire, Calling Dr Love, Shock Me, Psycho Circus, Firehouse, Do You Love Me, Let Me Go Rock 'N Roll, Cold Gin, Into The Void (Ace solo), ($immons solo) God Of Thunder, Lick It Up, 100000 Years, Love Gun, Black Diamond I Was Made For Lovin' You, Beth, Rock And Roll All Nite

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