From: Jim Hagerman
What a night, what a night! First of all, we got there early enough that we couyld hear KISS doing their soundcheck! We heard them run through "Psycho Circus" and "Detroit Rock City" and could hear Ace and Paul fooling around on the mikes. Very cool!
Skid Row was great. It's nice to see them back again. The new guy is pretty good ("Kicking asses in Manassas!"), people should give him a chance.
Ted Nugent was good too. I've never been a big Nuge fan, but he played great with alot of energy and is a really funny guy. He was fun to see and added greatlt to the element of rock n roll decadence in the air that night.
And, of course, there was KISS. It didn't really hit me until this morning, the morning after, that this was IT. At least for me. I've had a lump in my throat all day and have been feeling particularly wistful and been reliving all my KISS memories since I became a fan 15 years ago. It's hard to think that there will be no more tours or new studio albums to look forward to after this. I mean, didn't we all think that somehow, this would all last forever?
I won't waste space with the set-list (the same as the rest of the tour), I just want to say that they played great! They all were having a great time up there, Gene and Ace constantly giving each other high fives all night, and they all couldn't seem to stop smiling. But it was really tough to hear Paul talk about the band in the past tense.
Some personal high-lights: our seats were just 10 feet away from Paul's platform during "Love Gun". It was so unreal to be that close to a KISS member. I actually made eye contact with the man and in that fleeting moment I hope that I was able to communicate all the love and appreciation I have for KISS. It may not sound like much to others, but it is a memory I will always cherish. And you could really tell how much he loved the fans. A funny side-note: when Paul began "I Still Love You", he played a couple of notes then looked at the audience and went "Huh?". He paused for a moment and then added, "This is one of those magical nights where they give me an out of tune guitar!"Then a tech ran out and traded him guitars.
Paul, it WAS truly a magical night. I thank you and my man Gene, Ace and Peter for giving it to us. Thank you for the opportunity to say good-bye, you have no idea how much you'll be missed. And thank you for 27 years of fun, good times, anticipation, hope and wonderment and all of the kick ass music. No one can ever take your place. The KISS tattoo on my arm pledges my eternal loyalty to the KISS Army. Rock and roll forever!!!!
Oh and one last thing....I'm pretty sure some moron who just loves to find things to bitch about is going to write in and complain about something, so I just want to say to them: Fuck You. You were probably on the Internet the minute you got home last night, just dying to moan and groan about SOMETHING. Well, I waited until the night after to write in because I had something to moan and groan about too: I was having sex with my fiancee'. So, you guys, quit hiding behind your computers and jacking off and get out there and live a little. It was a great fuckin' show and instead of complaining, just love it for what it is and have a good time!