Kate Kyriacou, John O’Brien | Herald Sun
MURDERED Mackay woman Shandee Blackburn would have been front and centre when international rock superstars KISS – the band that gave her her name – took to the stage in her hometown.
Instead, her family watched in delight as lead singer Paul Stanley last night did an acoustic version of the band’s song Shandi for Shandee.
Ms Blackburn was stabbed to death early last month as she walked home from work.
She was less than a block from home when her attacker struck.
“I think everyone knows about a girl called Shandee Blackburn,” Stanley told the Mackay crowd last night.
“We lost her and we wish she could be here with us, so why don’t we sing a song for her, all of us.”
Shandee’s mother Vicki said she had no idea the band had agreed to their request to play the song she’d named her daughter for.
“I wasn’t looking forward to it (the concert),” she said.
“It was just another one of those days where Shandee should have been there. I was quite angry that she couldn’t be there.”
Mrs Blackburn bought the KISS tickets as an early birthday present for Shandee.
“One of the detectives (investigating her murder) said to me that his interpretation of Shandee was that she would have told me to go out and have fun, not to get upset, and enjoy the night.”
She said many of those in the audience sang along to the touching tribute.
“It was just really sweet and at the end he said ‘let’s say goodnight and goodbye to Shandee’,” Mrs Blackburn said.
“I wasn’t crying at all until then.
“It was a very special moment.”
Mrs Blackburn said it was still important that Mackay residents think about their movements around the early hours of February 9 in the hope it could help the investigation.
Shandee was killed around 12.30am.
“It’s so important that people who were out that night talk to the police,” she said.
“Even if it’s something like, I was in this street and saw nothing – it’s still important.
“There are still pieces of the puzzle that need to be put together.”
The stadium was within earshot of the Harrup Park Country Club where Shandee worked the late shift the night she was killed.
“So we say good night and we say goodbye to Shandee – and now let’s get crazy!” frontman Paul Stanley said following the tribute.
The sugar and mining town was an unlikely place for such a big show, the 12,000-plus capacity crowd at Virgin Australia Stadium equating to around 10 per cent of the city’s population.
“We’ve played all the big cities in Australia,” Stanley told the crowd.
“Some people said, why the hell Mackay? I said, Mackay is gonna show ya, size doesn’t matter!”
KISSteria gripped the town as the veteran supergroup wrapped up their Australian tour with a bang.
Lots of bangs, actually. As with any KISS show there were pyrotechnics galore, along with theatrics from fire-breathing and blood-spitting to levitating platforms and aerial hijinks above the crowd.
As with the rest of the tour, the emphasis was on the back catalogue, with classic hits such as Detroit Rock City, Deuce and Dr Love. Hell or Hallelujah and Outta This World, from the current album Monster, were the only new songs on the setlist.
The Monster Tour marks KISS’s 40th anniversary year, and features support acts Motley Crue, Thin Lizzy and Diva Demolition.