From: John B.
Well, after seeing the guys in Chattanooga I was extremely excited for
the show in my hometown of Nashville. You see, Nashville has always been
a strong city for Kiss...even in the days when some of their tours were
selling half capacity they were still selling out in Nashville. I've been lucky,
I’ve meet the guys many times, seen em' backstage, been
around them in professional and non-pro situations.
Anyway, I’ve been lucky to have worked in various stages of the business therefore I’ve been in certain situations where I’ve been around the band and this show was no different. After seeing all the guys backstage before the show (I’ll give nothing away...well, only that Paul was dressed in full leather; pants, boots, jacket and wrap around shades looking way to cool & very different...think FILTER) I made my way to the seats to enjoy Skid Row. Not bad, the sound was muddy but the guys still rock...funny, less than 6 or 7 years ago these guys could have sold 10,000 here but now many of the "younger" rock fans can't seem to remember that fact. Let's hope the Skid's try to stay around awhile and make it work again...the new singer is good but Sebastian he's not. On to Nugent...you know, Tommy Aldrige has to be the oldest drummer on the planet and the guy hasn't lost a step...this guys still a whirling bundle of energy and hair...and one of the best drummer's of all time. Nugent? Well, more political rantings and ravings...and maybe not the best thing to rip on Al Gore in his home state. Now on to the highlight...our boys. I hate rating things but when it comes to Kiss it's fun...the best Kiss show I ever attended was Dynasty in Nashville, followed by the pre-revenge (club) tour at the Center Stage in Atlanta, followed by the Revenge tour in Nashville followed by...you guessed it, 4/28/00 The Farewell Tour! The guys were absolutely ON! Sold out, packed in like sardines on the Lawn (this was an Amphitheatre) and 100% fun! I've seen the guys to many times to count and this may have been one of the best crowds I’ve ever been around...the band literally could have let the crowd sing the set...more nudity than at a strip club. It honestly was one big party.
The stage set was slightly scaled down however most of the pyro was used...only two of the flame columns were taken out. This building has no problem with the Fire Marshall and if you looked closely you could see him standing off to the side of the stage...other than the flame columns everything was used so everyone got the full effect. Now at the Chattanooga show they did hold back on the pyro and compared to this it was extremely noticeable. The show was incredible, all the guys were having a great time...the energy never dropped from the crowd or the band. Ace of course introduced "Shock Me" twice but the band just laughed and had a good time with it...Ace also missed the hook for his guitar and dropped it completely. Funny stuff. I'll tell you the crowd had a tremendous vibe and the band could feel it no doubt...just one of the great all time shows I’ve ever been to. A friend before the show asked my to head up to the Louisville show with him, I told him I’d think about it...but after this show closed down I told him no way, this show was a perfect ending for me and Kiss (live)...I honestly don’t think that this evening could be topped. For those thinking Kiss will return, forget it...this is it...the guys are simply at a point where they need to go out on top...it's like Michael Jordan hanging it up after hitting the game winning shot for one last championship...sure he could come back but what a way to go out. And for me, Kiss reached down and delivered the goods... for 2 hours time stood still, and we all realized that we just saw the greatest band of all time going out in style and what a way to go out! Thanks Ace, Peter, Eric, Bruce, VV, MSJ, Eric S...most of all, Gene and Paul. You guys kept it together from the beginning and always kept it fun...THANK YOU KISS!