From: Scratch-X
Well, almost everything has been said in the previous reviews, but here is my 2 cents anyways. Seven friends and I made the snowy, 12 hour trip through the Rocky Mountains from Calgary, Alberta to see the show. I had seen KISS three times on the reunion tour (Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton) and was totally pumped to see them again. Now here is my biggest complaint: with the exception of a few song additions/deletions, this was the EXACT SHOW I SAW 3 YEARS AGO!!! You'd think in that amount of time they could dream up something new. Gene flys up to the top for God of Thunder, Paul goes into the crowd for Love Gun, Aces guitar goes up to the roof, Peter throws his roses and hops up on his stool, and confetti blows around for Rock and Roll all night. Talk about one deja vu after another. I know some of these gimmicks are "classic" but something new would have been cool. I found myself coming to the realization that this new years concert was way more of a big deal to the fans than to the band.. They didn't take the time to create a new and unique experience, but instead just went with the tried and true Reunion Tour formula and saved themselves alot of rehearsal time. Another thing that pisses me off more and more these days is that we are constantly reminded that KISS is a company and not a band. Trust me, KISS deciding to do this show was nothing but a business decision made to increase sales of the soon to be released video game, concert video, and CD (KISS Alive IV). One more thing: what the fuck was "Into the Void" doing in the encore? I'm willing to bet my left nut that this was something political. Probably something Paul and Gene wrote into Ace's contract to keep him happy and to get him to stick around as everyone knows that he hates being an 'employee'. Even after all this bitching, I still have to admit that there was no place on earth I wanted to be at 11:59:59, December 31st, 1999 that at a KISS concert. A great time was had by all but I must comment, like many before me, about the security at the show. About half way through Rock and Roll all Night, four big muscle bound goofs beside us decided they wanted to fight so they walked up to a guy who just got out of another pushing match and proceeded to kick him in the knees and knock him down. What followed was the worst boot fucking I'd ever seen. The four guys spent about 30 seconds kicking this guy in the head as hard as they could. He lied there unconscious for about 5 MINUTES before a dumb fuck security guard came by and radioed for the paramedics to come which took ANOTHER 5 MINUTES!!! I have witnessed alot of ass kickings in my life but this was the worst. If that guy is still alive, I will be totally amazed! Back to the concert though, I must admit that in my old age (I've been a huge KISS fan for 25 years) I tend to analyze things too much. This show was an awesome experience but I still yearn for the days when Rock'n'Roll was just about the music. One last thing for all you KISS fans out there: before it's too late, try going to a KISS concert sober (this was my first time in six shows!!), it's incredible how many more memories you come home with!!!

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