From: Dean Weir
Review of KISS Farewell Concert - Perth, WA, Australia (29/3/2001)

One word - AWESOME !!!

I got there around 6pm to soak up the atmosphere, walked around the Burswood Dome (15,000 capacity) a few times, checked out the t-shirts (A$45), programmes ($40), signed Ace pictures ($45), caps and stuff. Pretty cool. People were starting to show up, some in make up (about 30%), most in various KISS t-shirts, and quite a few in costume, even kids 9 or 10 years old in full makeup and regalia - sensational. As you would expect a big age range from kids to people in their 50's. Great mood, everyone smiling, getting into the groove anticipating a great night. I didn't realise so many good looking women in Perth liked KISS!

I then decided to take the plunge. At each entrance there were people doing face painting for $6 - so I jumped in a chair as plain old Deano and emerged as the Starchild - felt great, haven't done it since donning an Ace face in 1980 - in make up the 1st time I saw them, and the last time I'll see them !!

Meet my friends (who almost didn't recognise me) and walked straight in at 6.50pm. Screaming Jets came on at 7.00pm sharp and played until 7.35pm Good show, played well and ended with 'Better' which went down well with the crowd. Dave Gleeson chatted to the crowd during the set and said how privileged he felt to be able to share a stage with KISS and that we were about to see the greatest f...... rock and roll band in the world (as if we didn't know that), which was nice and was the first of many goosebumps feelings for the night.

The crowd was a bit disappointing (about 9,000) and they had curtained off the back third of the Dome, but boy did we make come noise!! The stage was huge with the big screen back and centre with the logos each side. Off to the side of the stage they had two huge KISS Army flags with more big screens on each side. During the break they played Bon Scott AC/DC and The Who, during which the huge black curtain with the silver KISS logo dropped to hide the stage. The lights went down at exactly 8pm and at 8.03pm AWWWLRIGHT PERTH, YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST ...... The curtain went down and there they were on a riser in the middle of the stage ripping into Detroit RC. with appropriate close ups and car graphics on the big screen. The Destroyer costumes looked great and the force and excitement hit me, the boys are back !!!

Here is the rest of the set list in order (with associated comments)

Deuce - Great rendition, Gene is in fine voice, G, P & A did the choreographed thing, (another goose bump moment)

Shout it out Loud - between songs Paul mentions they're pleased to be in Perth and have just come from Sydney and some bozo's boo (don't know why) and he smiled and said that it good to be proud of where we come from. Asks did we wanna have a R&R Party and then introduces Ace with a surprise.v Talk to Me (nice surprise instead of 2,000 Man or New York Groove) Ace is in fine form, voice sounds strong and great and looks like he is really into it and enjoying himself, smiling a lot. A lot of the crowd got into it (I guess cause Unmasked was so big here in 1980)

I Love it Loud - with the obligatory 'hey yeah e yeah yeah' crowd response, Gene doing his usual King Kong impression with the chest beating fists.

Firehouse - Paul didn't don his Fire hat for a change. Gene did his fire breathing thing which always goes down well.

Do you love me - Paul was his usual showman self asking the crowd the obvious question, He looks in fantastic shape for 50+, even fitter than the reunion tour I think. The big screens showed old clips from their 28 year career, a nice touch and another goose bump moment. I keep looking at Eric, he's doing a great job but almost a Peter Criss impression with the bobbing head, he has his double kick drum and is using it to great effect.

Calling Dr Love - Classic, they seemed to have strong air flow at the front of the stage to cool them down, Paul puts a red g-string that has been thrown on stage in his mouth and then leans down and lets it blow back over his face!

Heavens on Fire - wasn't much response from the crowd when he announced they were doing a song from Animalize, but declared the intro as the mating call for the evening. The heat from the flame throwers on stage could be felt from where we were (about 50m back a bit, Gene's side) so hate to think how hot it must have been for the boys.

Let me go, R&R - my highlight of the evening, a great tune, it kicked, they played tight and fast, Eric blitzed and I sang my guts out, people in front kept looking around (sorry). It was an extended version with a bit of byplay between the boys.

Shock Me - great song and Ace more than did it justice, with his solo at the end with flying, smoking guitar (he used his sunburst Les Paul up to this point). Got another one and proceeded to shoot the bejesus out of the roof. Now I know that the light truss is supposed to break and hang from the ceiling, but it actually crashed to the stage and just missed Ace, he jumped back a bit and smiled nervously, either he's a good actor or that wasn't supposed to happen. You guys in Melbourne and Sydney can let me know what happens next week.

Psycho Circus - Paul has a chat and mentions that the next song was from the album they recorded in 97/98. The big screen showed the intro to the film clip and then they're off. I must admit, this was a low point for me, I was really looking forward to seeing/hearing them play some Psycho Circus stuff (this turned out to be it) but they seemed to rush it. They sang the chorus different to the album and the playing was too loose and just didn't do the album version justice. No biggie really. Gene used his Axe bass for the first time and kept it until Black Diamond.

Lick it Up - Paul introduces the song as about putting something in your mouth, good rendition, Ace seems to be enjoying playing the 80's stuff.

God of Thunder - Gene does the blood thing in the green light, no matter how many times you see it, it still looks great. These guys are showbiz and certainly know how to work a crowd. He then flys to the top of the stage (had to signal to someone to move him up and forward a bit to hit the platform) and then does the arms folded, lord of my domain pose with the obligatory "Oh Yeah" , "Oh Yeah", "Oh Yeah", "Alright". Mr casual Ace was late back on stage for GoT, but it was the Gene show anyway. Eric then ripped into a very impressive solo, using his double kick drums to great effect and getting the tribal beat happening, he finished with flaming drum sticks which he twirls and then finishes his solo with before blowing them out like a couple of birthday candles, another great moment.

Cold Gin - Paul does the usual intro about when you're feeling down and want something to lift you upppp. Ace actually sings the second verse which was cool. Gene did the usual tongue in Ace's ear thing but then proceeds to give Ace's old fella a quick grope much to Ace and Paul's amusement.

100,000 Years - Paul thanks us for being a great crowd and wants to reward us. He then proceeds to shoot t-shirts out of a t-shirt gun into the crowd, I think he fired off 3 or 4 and threw some others down front of the stage. Light logos either side not getting much of a workout, maybe a problem.

Love Gun - Before flying out to a stage in the crowd he asks us to push the voice meter to the max. which we manage to do. I'm amazed at how nimble he is for his age and with the heels on, he was on and off the foot trapeze in a flash and danced like mad during the song. Stage in the crowd was quite low so we can only see from knees up, which is great cause he looks like his is really part of the crowd.

I still Love You - Just Paul on stage, another goose bump moment especially seeing the recent announcement of his separation from his wife. He actually starts with I Want You and when the crowd responds with "IS", he stops and breaks into the intro to I still Love you. I just love this guys voice, you forget how good it is until it's just him and a guitar - sensational. He sings until the chorus and then stops again and mentions that a fan on radio the other day requested a song and he needs a another guitar, acoustic electric and what else but Shandi (the crowd goes nuts, again the 1980 Tour and Unmasked thing I guess) and he did the song justice, actually better that the version he did 4 years ago I think. This man can sing!!!

Black Diamond - great version, Eric's microphone man (imagine that blokes job description!!) was working overtime and Mr Singer did a great job.

Encore Time

I was made for loving you - all 4 boys came out to the front of the stage and threw stuff to the audience, more picks, drum sticks, Ace's arm bands and then did the four man bow at the front (another goose bump moment). Paul asked what we thought of Eric's job and we cheered our approval. Anyone that had any doubts about this blokes ability, go home, he's a legend in his own right. You could tell it wasn't Peter but it didn't really look like Eric either, a strange feeling but he did a great job and to his credit was true to the image. Great version of the song, flash pots failed a couple of times - noise but no fireworks!

Parasite - Paul mentioned how they always get asked to play some obscure stuff and the reason they don't is some people don't recognise it. He said that they had a bit of a treat in store as a compromise and they proceeded to play a 3 song medley. 3/4 of Parasite, She and Makin' Love (another favourite of mine - the riff at the beginning kicks)

Rock and Roll All Night - Paul thanks us again and for a change breaks away from usual lines and says a heartfelt thankyou to all the fans that made it possible for 28 years and they feel like Australia is a second home to them cause it feels so familiar. Nice touch and the crowd loved it. The song was classic, vintage KISS with more confetti than I've ever seen in my life. Got a standing ovation from the entire Arena and then at 10.25pm it was all over.

As we were walking out and they played God Gave R&R over the loud speakers, my overwhelmiing feeling at the end was unusual, I felt the usual exhilaration of the come down from an huge adrenalin buzz but also a touch of sadness. I have been lucky enough to see, quoting Mr Gleeson "the greatest f...... rock and roll band in the world" 4 times but now for me that was it. Never again would I experience the feelings I have described above. These guys who have been heroes of mine for 21 years are calling it quits and things will never be quite the same. Thankyou Paul, Gene, Ace, Peter, Eric, Eric Carr (RIP) and Bruce. We won't forget!!

To those of you going to the remaining concerts in the Farewell Tour I have this advice, for 3 hours shut everything thing else out, soak it up, appreciate your good fortune to be a part of it, enjoy and to paraphrase a popular saying "Rock and Roll like no one is watching"

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