From: Tommy Rifai
The major pro: Peter - he really was energized and added some new detail to his playing (cowbell during Deuce when Ace is hitting his repeat notes after "Honey! Don't push your man behind is years" & "Baby, stop cryin' all...."). His tom fills in 2000 Man were solid. His solo was very good and his animation was great.

The major con: Sorry Toledo - the crowd. At one point during the I Still Love You intro to Black Diamond, there almost absolute SILENCE. NOT acceptable. I swear that I let out a scream of support to Paul that he and probably every individual in the hall heard 'cause it was so quiet. And Paul's IStillLU performance (the minute or two that it was) was AWESOME! Though I can't say his voice was in tip top form that night, he did kick the sh*t out of the DRC opener, which I always used to think he sounded better doing towards the end of a night when he was more warmed up. On the other end though was Love Gun where not only did the travelling rig not work AGAIN (I'm getting tired of that malfunction - 2 out of 3 shows i've seen this tour so far - the other being Ft. Myers Fla - it hasn't worked, and its SUCH a treat for the people in the back when he does - he better start chewin' some ASS or spend the frickin'$$ to get it right!) Paul and Gene, esp. Gene were workin' the front row crowds real well. I had lower bowl seats but walked up to the ticket booth at 6pm and got me and my buddy 10th row center! Was able to get right up to front row. VERY casual security....likely since the crowd seemed half anesthetized. Gene even seemed to give the GUYS (who were high energy that is) a good amount of attention as a reward for defying the crowd's half dead state. Very cool.

Ace got lost in Shock Me's solo and it was sort of sad. Paul was right there though to subtley guide him back to the arrangement. Must say though, that although Ace seemed in the same mood as the crowd, he DID keep the DRC and esp the PC correographed solo harmony with Paul REAL smooth. I LOVE it when those harmonies sound that good. His Let me go R&R soloing also seemed very good - though being so close on the floor on Gene's side, I had trouble hearing him too well until I went back to my 10th row seat where the sound was balanced real well - just a bit too loud, needed ear plugs. I can't appreciate the way Ace does the bobbing up and down thing with Gene and Paul on the Black Diamond solo either (you know, the part where he used to get on his knees). It keeps him from concentrating on the solo and the solo suffers. If anything, he should be put in the center between them, and they can act like live pillars with him the focus of attention in the middle concentrating and kicking ass on his BD solo. Just an idea. Peter's voice was excellent on BD BTW. Also, if it weren't for Peter, Do You Love Me's chorus would sound no good. Thank God for Peter's voice. Its more an asset to Kiss in those critical moments than his drumming, I think (though again, he kicked ass on the kit that night).

Peter's Beth performance seemed the most heartfelt and Destroyer like in attack I've ever heard and I've seen about 12 shows live on the new make-up tours plus about 10 more on bootleg video. I'm sure Bob Ezrin was there in '76 with his whip in the studio getting that soft attack out of Peter that sort of resurfaced in Toledo. Well, those are the things that stick out the most to me. I did like all the 80's tunes incidentally (esp ILoveitLoud). And Paul's vocal intro to Heaven's On Fire was real solid. Next and final 2 shows for me are in my home town, Detroit. One plug: GET THE KAOL KISS TRIBUTE STUFF (kissarmyonline.com) PEOPLE! We all worked very hard on the projects Kathy LaBonte has been producing and they go to a GREAT cause (helping kids with cancer :-( )in the name of Eric (God rest his soul). And though we all may love Peter, no doubt Eric was remembered and his playing was missed on all the 80's songs last night. Thanks guys.

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