From: Kingferris
Kentucky Farewell Kiss...

Kentucky's last concert by The Boys (copyright Ben Lacy 1985) was exactly what Bluegrass area Kiss fans had hoped for... Although it was bittersweet for a number of reasons, the overall vibe was more celebration and triumph, than wake. We all know thw setlist, the stage, the costumes etc so in this little piece I'll try to give a hint as to the flavor of the day for our party and the city of louisville...

After my first Kiss show (Lexington, january 18 1978) when I was 10 I have been a loyal supporter of the Kiss army, having seen them 20 times over the years, in good times and... not so good times. From Cleveland to Charleston, Evansville to Fort Wayne and all points in between... I've grown up with all the permutations of the band and despite the flaws of the various members, love this band like family (or more!). It took half a bottle of Jim Beam before it set in that there would be no more shows here...

Now, to the point. My wife (the lovely and hot,hot,hot Kelli aka "Rock Slut") and I arrived at rock star central, The Seelbach Hotel, around 3:00 and promptly went to our room to begin show prep ;). Around 5:00 we went to the bar to wait for my partner in musical crime to escape the clutches of his evil Kiss hating wife. Fortunatly we did not have to send in federal agents as he arrived soon after, ready to party and see his last Kiss show. After a beverage or two we again went upstairs to fine tune our attitudes and call us a cab... About this time on 100.5 the fox, who were broadcasting live from backstage all day, said an additional 500 seats had been released and were snatched up in minutes...COOL...so we get to freedom hall just as Ted begins and survey the sights (long lines for everything). Once at our seats the enormity of the event hit us all, as there was not an empty seat to be seen anywhere. During the intermission we met the group in front of us, a family of 6 with four kids ranging in age from 6-10. Needless to say we kept our act clean, mostly, so as to not be an evil influence on the younger generation :(. The great thing was these kids Rocked!!!! They were so into it that it sent chills up my spine. Seeing little kids doing the devil hand sign all night was awesome and they seemed to be as into it as anyone...Our seats were halfway back and it was almost as much fun watching the crowd go nuts as seeing the band. Louisville does indeed rock.The sound was excellent, the stage cool, the fire hot...It was all good. Getting to sing "happy birthday" to Ace was beyond cool, even if it wasn't really his birthday. All in all,they were great, the show kicked ass, the crowd was fucking nuts, and my wife was happy. Not a bad way to go out...

Lastly I would like to say to my long time Kiss cohort Barry, the years we've spent rockin' and rolling with Kiss have been the best years of my life. From shitty Ace gigs in front of 300 people to shitty Peter gigs in front of less. From sold out Gund arena to sold out Mesker Music Amphitheatre. From the time his dad drove us to Cinci to see Kiss and Wasp (Animalize!) at the Garden,to being in the 2nd row at the convention in Indy. It isn't always true that music brings people together but it has been the case for lots of us Kiss fans and we are lucky. Lucky to see them go out on top, and lucky to have good friends take the journey with us. It has been an excellent trip,and we will miss more than words can say those who must now ride off into the sunset. It was a rock and roll party last night in Louisville, just the way it should have been.

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