Across their 50-year career, heavy metal band KISS has performed countless times. And almost every one of those performances has been nothing short of memorable. Still, there are a few of the best KISS performances that made history with fans. Let’s take a look at just four of the best (or most significant) KISS performances of all time!
1. Detroit, MI (May 16, 1975)
This early-career performance is worth mentioning. At the time, the band’s first batch of albums was selling a bit slowly, and few singles made it to the Top 100. That being said, the band was already establishing its reputation in the world of live music. Their insane stage image and wild live performances started to gain attention outside of heavy metal. Members of KISS even started to make appearances on the news.
Their four-night mini-residency at Cobo Arena in Detroit changed things around. The wild live performance was used for their live album Alive!, which went on to achieve Top 10 charting success.
2. Tokyo, Japan (April 2, 1977)
KISS eventually gained international acclaim, and their very first performance in Japan was at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan. The band was not ready for what was waiting for them. Fans in Tokyo were absolutely wild, proving that their unique brand of heavy metal transcended language and culture.
They performed to 22,000 fans total during their two-show set at Budokan on April 2, 1977. It was filmed live by NHK, Eddie Kramer filmed it for a Japanese live album that never happened, and the whole thing proved that KISSmania had gone global.