From: Jeff Lupus
I wanted the best, and I got the best!!!! That's right, KISS rolled into Salt Lake City late sunday night with all of their stageset and costumes in tow.

Before I get into the show, let me divulge the oppertunity that I got on monday afternoon - the day of the show. Shortly after I got done working around noon, I thought to myself how cool it would be if I could somehow sneak into to E CENTER to watch the crew setup the stage. I knew that security would be tight, so I was cautious. Before going out to the E CENTER, I went to the store and bought one of those disposable cameras so that if I got in, I would be able to hopefully snap some pictures. And, if I got caught, the only thing I would lose is the $5.00 camera and nothing else.

I arrived at the E CENTER around 1:00pm. As I drove into the empty parking lot, I immediately saw the giant KISSONLINE diesel parked out in the front of the building. I got out of my truck and took a couple of pictures of it, then parked my vehicle next to it and preceded to walk into the building. I opened the front door to the E CENTER, walked in, and was immeditely stopped by security. He asked me what I was doing here, and as I flashed out one of my business cards and showed it to him, I told him that I was heading down to the maintenance department of the building to talk to them about setting them up with nuts and bolts for the facilities needs. I thought he would throw me out right there and then, but to my pleasant surprise, he told me to go ahead!! I couldn't believe it!! So, I walked up the stairs and all of the doors to the arena were wide open, so I walked in, and on the floor, right in front of me was the stage, including the stairs!! The crew was working on the stage, and right in back of it, on the opposite end of the arena, another crew was putting together the light trusses, It was unbelievable!! I couldn't believe that I was there! My heart was beating a thousand miles per hour!

I walked around the top of the arena, then went down to the floor level, where I snapped about 3 pictures of the stage - 2 from the front and 1 from the side. Then as I went around the stage and towards the light trusses, an amazing sight was before me - PETER CRISS'S drum kit was sitting in the middle of the arena, all by itself!! It was gorgeous! There were a couple of employees close to where I was, so I asked them if they minded if I walked aross the floor to get to the other side. They said,"No problem." So I got onto the floor and was literally no more than 5 feet away from Peter's drum kit, so as I was walking, I quickly stopped and took about 4 pictures up close! Then as I reached the other side of the arena, the lighting crew was assambling the trusses, and I got about 5 more pictures of them doing different duties, and as the speakers were hoisted up into the air, I got pictures of the KISS logos on both sides of the stage fully lit!! I couldn't beleve it!! I got to hang around for a little over an hour until I had to leave, but I knew that what I had just experienced was something that very few people would ever see. And I was very luck I didn't get caught!!

Now.....onto the show..............

The doors to the building opened about 6:00pm. We arrived around 6:15. While waiting for SKID ROW to begin, I went and bought KISSTORY II and some other merchandise. (Very expensive)

SKID ROW's setlist lasted 45 minutes, and I have to say that despite my skeptisism, the new singer was not as bad as I thought he would be. Dave The Snake was seated for most of the set because of his accident a few days ago. The songs played were all of the hits that made them big in the 80's, and the energy was certainly there.

TED NUGET came on about 7:30pm, and by the end of the 2nd song, I was ready for him to leave. Every word out of his mouth was f**king this and f**king that. His dialog consisted of talking mostly about hunting and having democrats kissing his ass. His costume consisted of a fox tail, a cowboy hat, a jacket made out of zebra skin, and shoes to match his jacket. He couldn't have been more obvious.

At about 9:00, the lights began to dim, and the sound from the crowd begin to roar, chanting "KISS, KISS, KISS.....". Then, you heard the prophetic words, "ALRIGHT SLAT LEKE CITY....YOU WANTED THE BEST....YOU GOT THE BEST. THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD....KISS!!!!!!!!!" And just then, the giant black curtain dropped, and down dropped the platform with Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter waving to the crowd. They immediately roared into DETROIT ROCK CITY, and quickly followed it by DEUCE, the bombs were going off everywhere, as girls on the front row began to flash the band their breasts. The band played with incredible energy throught the night! The video during DO YOU LOVE ME was awesome, with footage from the ALIVE era that I had never seen before all the way up to the present. It was incredible!! During Ace's solo, he did a medely of songs such as HARD TIMES, PARASITE, and SNOWBLIND!! Gene's flying stunt went off without a hitch, Paul flew across the arena with no problems, and the disco ball worked as well!! The band sounded especially tight during HEAVEN'S ON FIRE, LICK IT UP, and I LOVE IT LOUD, with Ace and Peter smiling throught the songs. Peter was a little sluggish throught the night, but his tempo was up, and it showed in the songs. The encore consisted of only 2 songs, "BETH" and "RARAN". I had hopes that "I STOLE YOUR LOVE" would come back, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Despite the predictable setlist, the show was as good as I have seen from the band. And for any fans out there reading this that are contemplating about going or not, all I have to say is "GO!!" You won't regret it!! Despite all of the members being around 50 years old, last night, you wouldn't have known it. It seemed that even though KISS has been under the gun lately, for last night at least, all was forgotten as KISS proved to the state of UTAH why they are still the hottest band in the land. It was an experience that I will never forget, and for that and all of the great years that KISS has brought me, I have to say, "THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, GENE, PAUL, ACE, PETER, ERIC C., VINNIE, MARK ST. JOHN, BRUCE and ERIC S. YOU WILL ALL LIVE IN MY HEART FOREVER.........."

-Jeff Lupus- aka:UNHOLY

PS: I will be sending pictures to the ASYLUM as soon as I get them developed.

SALT LAKE CITY SETLIST

1. DETROIT ROCK CITY
2. DEUCE
3. SHOUT IT OUT LOUD
4. I LOVE IT LOUD
5. SHOCK ME
6. FIREHOUSE
7. DO YOU LOVE ME?
8. CALLING DR. LOVE
9. PSYCHO CIRCUS
10. LET ME GO, ROCK AND ROLL
11. 2000 MAN
12. HEAVEN'S ON FIRE
13. GOD OF THUNDER
14. COLD GIN
15. LICK IT UP
16. 100,000 YEARS
17. LOVE GUN
18. BLACK DIAMOND

ENCORE-

19. BETH
20. ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE

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