From: Jim Fancher
We had pre-cana all day Saturday, from 9am to 6pm, so my buddy Jeff arrived promptly at the Church and away we went headed for Louisville. How ironic, from pre-cana to a Kiss concert. We had to park pretty far away from Freedom Hall due to our tardiness, we finally got inside Freedom Hall about 8:30. It was really cool for me to go to see Kiss again at Freedom Hall as my friend Kevin and I saw our first reunion tour show in Louisville in 1996. The show was packed as it reportedly sold out in 47 minutes.

We walked in and Ted Nugent was onstage, wrapping up the "Kiss My Ass" opus. Ironically, Nugent's tirade against immigrants I was hoping to avoid for my latina fiance's sake was the first thing we heard when we walked in, as we heard Nugent' scream "Get the fuck out of America." We headed to our seats that were on Ace's side, about 10 rows back from the stage, and 16 rows up from the floor. They were awesome! We heard "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Stranglehold," the latter of which was extended into a cool jamming epic. About 8:40 Nugent was off and the waiting began.

As usual, The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" resulted in the curtain dropping with Daultrey's famous scream, and we were pumped. For some reason, Kiss did not go on as that song ended, as the curtain remained dropped and I think like 4 Sammy Hagar songs were played. Finally, at 9:30 the lights went down........ Detroit Rock City - The front three of Kiss descended from the celing on a platform (similar to the end of the Animalize Live Uncensored video) playing the intro to DRC, as Peter descended also on his drum kit. This looked awesome, with lots of firework and smoke. Paul's singing voice sounds a bit more trained now, I guess his run i opera changed his approach some; nothing drastic but if you've heard Paul live for 14 shows like I have, you'll notice, haha.

Deuce - DRC went right into Deuce, which is a great second song. The tempo of the song was noticeably slower than on the last two tours. I'd been listening to Alive 3 lately so it sounded pretty slow to me, but still heavy and good. The sound was mixed perfectly for this show and the bass was heavy. As my favorite Kiss song, it's ironic that this was the only song that Guisselle did not like!

Shout it Out Loud - Paul finally talks to us before the song. He was really mobile and was all over the place, just overflowing with enthusiasm. Motivated by retirement money or whatever, he was really excited and continuously thanked us over and over through out the night for supporting Kiss for 27 years. Cool fireworks.

I Love it Loud - Peter's miked drums sounded way cool on this tune, and the crowd participation was only surpassed later on by RARAN. Ace played the solo, it was very strange to see. They sounded really good.

Shock Me - Sounded good and heavy. Ace was often missing from the stage, and he'd come walking out from below as the song was starting. Ace nailed the solo, and cool drumming from Peter. Peter's playing has gotten even better since the Psycho Circus tour, he was pretty animated.

Firehouse - Nothing out of the ordinary, just like last two tours but with reunion-era enthusiasm; lots of lights, sirens, and of course Gene breathed fire.

Do You Love Me? - This was cool. During the song, they played video footage from throughout Kiss' career. I love this song and the footage was the first time you really realized that this is the last Kiss tour. They still do the cool instrumental ending like the last tour.

Dr. Love - Just like the last tour. Ace nailed the solo which I think is one of his best.

Psycho Circus - A strong vocal performance by Paul, though as a band they still have trouble with the harmonies in the chorus. They had videogame-like footage on the big screen during the song, it looked like they recorded someone playing that new Kiss videogame (it's a "Doom" formated game). It gave the song a cool edge.

Heaven's On Fire - Very strange to see Kiss play this in makeup. It got very hot during this one because EVERY time Kiss sang the chorus, there were huge fire pillars (a' la 100,000 Years) that shot up during the word "fire." Paul got the audience to sing the intro a few times before he finally did it himself. It was ironic that the 80's songs got some of the best crowd responses.

Let Me Go Rock And Roll - Just like last tour. Gene got pissed about the sound during the song because he slammed his hand on the mike several times after his verses and ripped off the foam mike cover. I have no clue what he was pissed about. Maybe somebody decided not to buy a Kisstory book!

2000 Man (Ace Solo) - Ace walked up to the mike and intro'd Paul as "Mr. Wonderful," and Paul spat out his water he was drinking b/c of laughing. Must be some kind of inside joke, I guess. The song sounded really thick and the vocals great. Ace has slimmed down considerably, played very well, but was not that animated. He did his solo during this song, just like last tour except now he shoots a rocket out over the audience in addition to all the other stuff we always see.

Lick It up - Again very strange to see. Paul warmed the audience up to the chorus, and got a great response. New solo by Ace.

God of Thunder - His blood routine was more animated and more like the 70's, as opposed to just standing there and drooling. Like before, Gene flew to the top of the rafters. Lots of fire & pyro.

Cold Gin - Same as last year, but sounded cool.

100,000 Years - Paul was ripping vocally on this one! Great audience participation and fire columns, a little different than before. Ace sounded great on this solo, and Peter did a quick 2 minute drum solo. I noticed not all of the fire pillars worked each time.

Love Gun - Paul flew out to the middle, and gave another strong performance. Does he ever stop moving? More fireworks.

I still love you/Black Diamond - Paul played the first verse of the ballad "I Still Love You," and he carried the notes beautifully. I was pissed when he stopped the song and went into the Black Diamond intro. Peter sounded awesome vocally and his kit went to the ceiling, complete with exploding pyro.

Beth - Uneventful. You'd think Beth would get tired of calling night after friggin' night.

Rock n' Roll All Night - It was Ace's birthday, and the band led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to him. It was cool because you see this sort of thing on the videos. Paul once again thanked us for supporting the band, and told us to never forget them and launched into the song. Remember the last tour with all the confetti? That was a lot, but believe it or not this was with even more confetti. Ace's guitar flamed. Gene and Ace went up high on big risers again, and Peter's kit went up with them as Paul smashed his guitar amid explosions everywhere. Paul screamed "Don't ever forget us!" as the last pyro exploded and the arena went dark. The lights went up and we all left to "God Gave Rock and Roll To You" over the P.A.

Awesome show. It's a lot of re-hash but the band was musically tighter, in better shape, and is more enthusiastic than the Psycho Circus tour. Even though I'm a bit jaded it's still a great live show and I absolutely loved it, and I cannot wait for my third row seats here in Cincinnati!

Hope you didn't fall asleep and enjoyed it!

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