From: Mark A
A black silk curtain falls from nowhere..giant silver letters forming the name of the band that all in the arena have come to see. KISS. The crowd roars as the anticipation that’s been building can instantly be felt. It’s tangible. The guy who’s driven from Adelaide and left his tickets at home have finally been able to get in.as if Gene and Paul would have insisted it be so. For what seems an eternity, the wait continues10 minutes, 9 minutes, 8 minutes..finally it is 9.00pm.and show time.

The unnervingly loud voice over the speakers announces what we’ve all known to be imminent. It’s the same line heard at every venue that KISS has played for the best part of three decades. Only the name of the city changes. We, in Melbourne, are fortunate enough to hear it once again. Memories of 3 years prior flood through the mind. The expectation factor is huge. The show MUST be sensational. It’s KISS. We’ll accept nothing less than the best. Hell no!v Before you can even straighten your mind and comprehend what’s about to hit you, a familiar guitar riff jumps out at you like a spitting cobra. It’s Detroit Rock City and the arena erupts. At the first explosion the curtain drops away and the immense stage is revealed. It’s KISS. Ultimate KISS.

I can’t say much more about the next two and a half hours or so.I’m still blown away by it all. Just like last time and the time before. Even more so this time. I can’t give an answer as to how they do it.how they can possibly live up to and perform at the level of expectation that I place on them just because they simply are KISS. But then, that is the answer right there. They are KISS.

I’ll not see the likes of it again, I know that much, but I take solace from the fact that I have, and shall never forget.

Special moments were, many of which have been mentioned in previous reviews, as follows:

Shout it Out Loud, Let Me Go Rock and Roll, I Love it Loud, Cold Gin, Deuce(as always), Eric’s drum solo with flaming drumsticks, Love Gun (with Paul coming out into the crowd, great stuff), Talk to Me (a nice surprise!), Ace’s smoking guitar, Gene spraying the crowd with water bottles, and the encore of I Was Made For Lovin’ You, the medley of Parasite, She, Makin’ Love and New York Groove.

The finale of Rock and Roll All Nite was the icing on the cake. No one left after that with any doubt that they had just witnessed the greatest rock and roll spectacular they could ever imagine. It was like nothing else on Earth. I just want to be there again. I can’t describe the feeling I felt during that lost song. It was simply awesome.

And yet, a sense of sadness does hit you. I know I won’t see them again. I’ve said that before, but this time it feels blatantly true. I console myself with my albums and videos from now, but one thing’s for sure, I wouldn’t feel this way if the whole experience wasn’t as good as it was. As we walk to the car we sing Beth and play Alive II as loud as possible as we drive away.

For one fleeting moment I was in the surreal and fantastic world of KISS and for that I can only be thankful. It felt as though the show would go on forever, the band playing every track from every album, and then playing them again.It was..the best.

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