From: Jeff
This was the 13th time I've seen the band and I'll give a few thoughts on the Anaheim and San Diego shows. I didn't read the reviews before I went to the Anaheim show on 3/18, because I wanted the show to be fresh and unknown as to what was played, how the stage was set up, etc. There were several glitches in Anaheim that I noticed: "All right, Los Ang. . . Anaheim! You. . .the. . .you got. . .best. . .hot. . band in. . .world. Kiss!" (The microphone cut out during the into.) I guess everyone knows that Gene was dangling above the stage during "God Of Thunder", but personally I thought it was the funniest thing I've ever seen at a Kiss show. As a hard core fan who likes to remember a moment from each Kiss concert, I'll never forget seeing Gene flailing his arms and legs & watching Ace almost fall over from laughing so hard. Paul never made it to the center of the arena during Love Gun, which was a shame because I was so far back from the stage, yet another unforgettable moment. One moment that I caught that hasn't been mentioned was during "2000 Man". At the end of the song during Ace's solo, he missed a few notes, missed his rhythm, and didn't sing into the mike. Yet the crowd still heard singing. My guess is that he had background vocals from someone off stage (similar to Ozzy). A very touching moment occurred before "Black Diamond". Paul asked the crowd if we wanted to sing with him for one last time.

Now to the San Diego show. Before the crowd was let in, I was able to hear the soundcheck from outside the arena & they played "2000 Man". Probably to work the kinks out from the Anaheim show. The concert was fabulous!!! Only glitch was during "Beth" when Peter's mike cut out & missed a few lyrics. I've never seen Gene get into the Demon character as much as this night. After he spit blood, a close up of his face was on the screen & he looked almost exactly like the Alive II cover. During "2000 Man" I looked at the band and said to myself, "This is why Kiss is my favorite band." The four of them were singing "Don't you know I'm a 2000 Man" at the same time, and they were loving it. On MTV Unplugged, this was the first song they played together in front of an audience in 16 years, and this to me was the song that brought them back together. At the end of "Black Diamond", when Peter's kit was raised to the ceiling, I took a photograph and said "This is the greatest! band in the world".

A few personal thoughts: While watching the concert, I had many emotions. Excitement, sadness, happiness, wonder. I'm saddened by the thought that I may never see them play again, as I'll be out of state when they play Devore, CA on 6/3. I recalled the times that I saw Ace & Peter on their solo tours, and the times I had personally met the four members on separate occasions. As a diehard fan of the band, I can say that I feel fortunate to have come full circle with Kiss. I was there as a child growing up in the 1970's when they exploded on the music industry. I was there as a teenager in the 1980's when it wasn't cool to like Kiss, and they went through several lineup changes. I was there in the 1990's when many people jumped on the so-called fan bandwagon when they reunited. To the band: Thank you so much for the wonderful memories!

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