From: Patti Heneghan
Well, flying to Vancouver from Sacramento, California was definitely worth it. Even with disappointment over some of the songs in the setlist (more on that later), which, I knew were gonna be in there but I was disappointed just the same.

My friends and I were at the Escape Routes Dinner Party at the stadium's premiere lounge and were present for the soundcheck...muddy sound, but elated over being there to hear it nonetheless! The lounge was behind the backstage area which was curtained off by huge blue curtains, but at least there was no glass window enclosure. It was totally open. And yes, the beginning of "Forever" was played at soundcheck. I heard it. So the reports are true. Other songs played during soundcheck were "I Love It Loud", "Lick It Up", "Psycho Circus", "Heaven's On Fire", "Into The Void", "2,000 Man", bits of Ace's solo and a small part of "Beth". We were all led out of the lounge prior to da boyz walking back to the dressing rooms...damn! I was really hoping that we would see them walking back.

Since the setlist has already been posted, I won't repeat that. I did write it down however, for the benefit of the rest of my Kalifornia KISS Family (known as the Let Me Know Family) who were unable to make it with us. The introductory video showcasing each album and time period was awesome. And it helped to get an already ecstatic crowd even more wild! I am an INTENSE Ace Frehley fan, so here's one of the highlights from that video: During the part for the Dynasty album, there was a snippet of the 1979 Tom Snyder interview shown...the part where Ace says "Actually I'm a plumber!" You could FEEL the stadium shake in response to this! We loved it!

A few more things from before the show started: Plenty of promoter's concert posters taped to the walls in the *Ladies Rooms*. I couldn't believe that - before the ladies started snagging them (including me!), I'm sure there were two on each side of the sink areas. That was a definite plus. There is a KISS Harley Davidson motorcycle...it was displayed that night inside the stadium. Not a big plus on that. LOL! 'Alive IV I WAS THERE..." t-shirts in addition to a few others...in addition to several other t-shirts. Plus, there was merchandise being sold from the abbreviated Psycho Circus tour as well. The Canadian exchange rate RULED!! For example, t-shirts were going for $35 Canadian, which is like around $23 U.S. And the keychains were $5 Canadian...

The blow-ups were displayed on each side of the stage...facing the stage, Gene and Ace on the left side, and Peter and Paul on the right side. Each of them were glowing with their respective colors, and that effect looked great. Two huge KISS Army banners hung above the stage from the ceiling...and the stage wasn't anything outrageous but it looked cool.

"Deuce" sounded especially on fire to me...it really pumped. "Do You Love Me?" was great also. "Let Me Go, Rock and Roll" ended and Paul was quickly in with something like "It's one minute to midnight" We got screwed out of a countdown because the next thing you know, he says something like "Well, it IS midnight, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" Not long after a short celebration the band kicked into "2,000 Man" and I needed oxygen and a change of underwear!! LOL!!!! Man it sounded so cool listening to Ace sing that song. It was a perfect moment to hear da boyz play that song then. Ace went down to his knees for "Black Diamond", which was sort of a surprise. Didn't expect him to start doing that again. Unfortunately Peter's vocals were silenced for the first verse, but the microphone problems were solved soon after that. IMO, "Into The Void" sounded better than I had heard at Dodger Stadium and on the bonus disc to the European release of PC. Paul looked fantastic (especially during the butt shots I got when he was on his small stage for "Love Gun"), and for the most part, his vocals were very strong. Gene, well, Gene was getting back to being THE Demon. His vocals were O.K. The actual *sound* of the three non-originals' songs was really good...but it was just plain painful and disappointing to hear and see Ace, Paul, Peter and Gene performing them. Again, IMO, it just doesn't make sense for these to be performed when songs from their era like "Rock Bottom", "Got To Choose", "Nothin' To Lose", "Parasite", "Rocket Ride", "I Stole Your Love"...well, you get the picture.

Ending 1999 and bringing in 2000 in Vancouver with KISS? I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else...the concert did ROCK. And da boyz did too!

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