Post by rtbuck on Oct 2, 2009 14:19:39 GMT -5
KISS w/ Special Guests: Buckcherry
Date: 9/28/2009
Venue: Quicken Loans Arena
Location: Cleveland, OH
Review by Bucky
Kiss returned to Cleveland, OH for their 22nd show since 1975 in the “Forest City”. I live in Buffalo, NY & it’s a 2 ½ - 3 hour drive to Cleveland from Buffalo. We arrived at the venue about 5:30 PM & paid 25 bucks for parking. It was only about a minute walk from the car to the arena. I went to a restaurant across from the parking lot called “The Hairy Buffalo” for a bite to eat before the show & the food was great as was our waitress with the ripped black fishnet stockings. I’ve been to Cleveland 3 times in the past 6 years & the one thing I’ve always noticed is how friendly the people always are. As we waited for the doors to open for the show a couple of security guards came out a few times to let the crowd know how many minutes were left before we could enter the venue. The guards were very cool & after they’d make their announcements they’d mingle with the crowd. Finally, at about 7PM the doors opened & it was a mad rush to the Souvenir Stand. I bought a T-Shirt with a red Kiss logo & the four faces on the front & on the back it read: “I lost my mind in Cleveland Rock City”. Also, on the back it listed every date & venue that Kiss played in Cleveland since 1975 which is very cool. The main reason I was willing to take the trip was because the tickets we had were only $25.00. Our seats were supposed to be in the first row of the top level but the top level was closed off so our seats were changed to a lower level which was great.
I was looking forward to seeing Buckcherry open the show as I was somewhat familiar with them. They took the stage around 8PM & played for about 40 minutes which seemed to drag on forever. I was disappointed with the band & especially with the singer Josh Todd. He was covered with hard ass tattoos but he skipped & pranced around the stage & was just awful to watch. The rest of the band wasn’t bad, powerhouse drummer Xavier Muriel was a heavy hitter who really stood out but the two guitarists: Stevie D & Keith Nelson looked like they could’ve played in a low budget local Hanoi Rocks tribute band. No Kidding, Stevie D attempted to act like Andy McCoy & Nelson was trying to perform a dead on Nasty Suicide. The low point of their performance was a horrible rendition of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”. “All Lit Up” sounds much better on cd than live. ”Crazy Bitch” was kind of cool especially intertwining Billy Squier’s ”The Stroke” & the Ohio Players “Fire” in it.
By about 9:15PM the stage was set & classic rock tunes such as “The Boys are Back in Town”, “Ramble On”, & “Rock & Roll” blared through the P.A. The arena went dark & then…”CLEVELAND!!!! YOU wanted the BEST…YOU got the BEST
…the hottest band in the world…KISSSSS!!!!” & the opening notes of “Deuce” rang through the arena as Kiss appeared on a stage full of fire & smoke. On the stage in the center was a huge Kiss logo that was lit up & Eric Singer’s drum kit was set on top of the logo. A huge screen was in back just above Eric & his drums & off to both sides of the huge logo (also running underneath the huge screen) was about 40 visual monitors. The band was full of energy as Gene, Paul, & Tommy rocked back & forth to the ending jam of the opening tune. Without a break Eric Singer pounded out the drum intro to “Strutter” from their 1974 debut album & the band rocked on. Afterwards, Paul Stanley acknowledged the crowd & started talking about all of the different venues Kiss played in Cleveland since the band’s existence. The band seemed to be sticking to the format of their 1975 ‘Kiss Alive’ album by ripping into “Got to Choose”. The next song began for a split second & the power cut out. Once the drums kicked in, the power was restored & the song they were playing was “Let Me Go Rock & Roll”(which was actually the last song on ‘Kiss Alive’) & the band sounded great. Paul announced that the next song was “Classic Kiss” & said that Kiss music doesn’t have to be old to be classic. The band launched into “Modern Day Delilah” from their upcoming ‘Sonic Boom’ album. The song did sound like “Classic Kiss” & the crowd responded positively to the new tune. Paul got the crowd on their feet by saying that if you want to be quiet, to go sit in front of your TV & watch Melrose Place. The band then went into “Hotter than Hell” & at the ending, sirens began blaring & out to the center of the stage walked Gene Simmons to perform his fire breathing act. Paul announced the next song was going to be sung by Eric who sang “Nothin’ to Lose” from the Kiss debut album. Continuing once again with the ‘Kiss Alive’ format, Kiss played the entire side 2 consisting of “Nothing to Lose”, “C’mon & Love Me”, “Parasite”, & “She”. “She” featured a guitar solo by Tommy Thayer which he added distorted notes of “Beethoven’s Fifth” while shooting fireworks out of the neck of his guitar. Next was side 3 of ‘Kiss Alive’ in its entirety featuring “Watchin’ You”, “100,000 Years”, & “Black Diamond”. “100,000 Years” featured an Eric Singer drum solo with his drum kit revolving but surprisingly no Gene Simmons bass solo or Blood-spitting before the tune. The band finished “Black Diamond” with its usual explosive ending & went right into the Rock & Roll national anthem…”Rock & Roll All Nite”. The ending featured confetti flying from four different spots in the arena as 3 hydraulic lifts lifted Gene Paul & Tommy above the stage & Paul smashed his guitar on the lift. For the encore Paul said they were going to do things different. Instead of playing one encore & running off stage & then come back up for another they were going to play one long encore. The crowd was on their feet as Kiss rocked out to their anthem from the ‘Destroyer’ album “Shout it Out Loud”. “Lick it Up” was up next & Tommy & Paul exchanged guitar parts of the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” in the middle of the 1983 Kiss classic. The stage went dark for a couple of seconds & at the center of the stage Gene Simmons began his bass solo featuring his Blood-spitting act. He flew to the top of a lighting rig above the stage & sang “I Love it Loud” from 1982’s ‘Creatures of the Night’. The long time regular concert staple “Cold Gin” was up next followed by “Love Gun” which had Paul fly to a platform at the rear of the arena. The band closed the night with their 6th song of the encore set which was “Detroit Rock City”.
Once again, Kiss proved why they are the “Hottest Band in the World” & what was great about the show besides their explosive performance was seeing fans of all ages throwing their fists in the air singing along with every tune. Tommy Thayer & Eric Singer were great which helped make this a complete Kiss show. By the looks of the crowd a large number probably never witnessed an Ace Frehley solo where he shot fireworks from his guitar or a Peter Criss drum solo. Of course it would be great if Ace & Peter were still there but they’re not. Tommy, Eric, Gene, & Paul are here to give us all a Kiss show which is just what they did.
Bucky
Date: 9/28/2009
Venue: Quicken Loans Arena
Location: Cleveland, OH
Review by Bucky
Kiss returned to Cleveland, OH for their 22nd show since 1975 in the “Forest City”. I live in Buffalo, NY & it’s a 2 ½ - 3 hour drive to Cleveland from Buffalo. We arrived at the venue about 5:30 PM & paid 25 bucks for parking. It was only about a minute walk from the car to the arena. I went to a restaurant across from the parking lot called “The Hairy Buffalo” for a bite to eat before the show & the food was great as was our waitress with the ripped black fishnet stockings. I’ve been to Cleveland 3 times in the past 6 years & the one thing I’ve always noticed is how friendly the people always are. As we waited for the doors to open for the show a couple of security guards came out a few times to let the crowd know how many minutes were left before we could enter the venue. The guards were very cool & after they’d make their announcements they’d mingle with the crowd. Finally, at about 7PM the doors opened & it was a mad rush to the Souvenir Stand. I bought a T-Shirt with a red Kiss logo & the four faces on the front & on the back it read: “I lost my mind in Cleveland Rock City”. Also, on the back it listed every date & venue that Kiss played in Cleveland since 1975 which is very cool. The main reason I was willing to take the trip was because the tickets we had were only $25.00. Our seats were supposed to be in the first row of the top level but the top level was closed off so our seats were changed to a lower level which was great.
I was looking forward to seeing Buckcherry open the show as I was somewhat familiar with them. They took the stage around 8PM & played for about 40 minutes which seemed to drag on forever. I was disappointed with the band & especially with the singer Josh Todd. He was covered with hard ass tattoos but he skipped & pranced around the stage & was just awful to watch. The rest of the band wasn’t bad, powerhouse drummer Xavier Muriel was a heavy hitter who really stood out but the two guitarists: Stevie D & Keith Nelson looked like they could’ve played in a low budget local Hanoi Rocks tribute band. No Kidding, Stevie D attempted to act like Andy McCoy & Nelson was trying to perform a dead on Nasty Suicide. The low point of their performance was a horrible rendition of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”. “All Lit Up” sounds much better on cd than live. ”Crazy Bitch” was kind of cool especially intertwining Billy Squier’s ”The Stroke” & the Ohio Players “Fire” in it.
By about 9:15PM the stage was set & classic rock tunes such as “The Boys are Back in Town”, “Ramble On”, & “Rock & Roll” blared through the P.A. The arena went dark & then…”CLEVELAND!!!! YOU wanted the BEST…YOU got the BEST
…the hottest band in the world…KISSSSS!!!!” & the opening notes of “Deuce” rang through the arena as Kiss appeared on a stage full of fire & smoke. On the stage in the center was a huge Kiss logo that was lit up & Eric Singer’s drum kit was set on top of the logo. A huge screen was in back just above Eric & his drums & off to both sides of the huge logo (also running underneath the huge screen) was about 40 visual monitors. The band was full of energy as Gene, Paul, & Tommy rocked back & forth to the ending jam of the opening tune. Without a break Eric Singer pounded out the drum intro to “Strutter” from their 1974 debut album & the band rocked on. Afterwards, Paul Stanley acknowledged the crowd & started talking about all of the different venues Kiss played in Cleveland since the band’s existence. The band seemed to be sticking to the format of their 1975 ‘Kiss Alive’ album by ripping into “Got to Choose”. The next song began for a split second & the power cut out. Once the drums kicked in, the power was restored & the song they were playing was “Let Me Go Rock & Roll”(which was actually the last song on ‘Kiss Alive’) & the band sounded great. Paul announced that the next song was “Classic Kiss” & said that Kiss music doesn’t have to be old to be classic. The band launched into “Modern Day Delilah” from their upcoming ‘Sonic Boom’ album. The song did sound like “Classic Kiss” & the crowd responded positively to the new tune. Paul got the crowd on their feet by saying that if you want to be quiet, to go sit in front of your TV & watch Melrose Place. The band then went into “Hotter than Hell” & at the ending, sirens began blaring & out to the center of the stage walked Gene Simmons to perform his fire breathing act. Paul announced the next song was going to be sung by Eric who sang “Nothin’ to Lose” from the Kiss debut album. Continuing once again with the ‘Kiss Alive’ format, Kiss played the entire side 2 consisting of “Nothing to Lose”, “C’mon & Love Me”, “Parasite”, & “She”. “She” featured a guitar solo by Tommy Thayer which he added distorted notes of “Beethoven’s Fifth” while shooting fireworks out of the neck of his guitar. Next was side 3 of ‘Kiss Alive’ in its entirety featuring “Watchin’ You”, “100,000 Years”, & “Black Diamond”. “100,000 Years” featured an Eric Singer drum solo with his drum kit revolving but surprisingly no Gene Simmons bass solo or Blood-spitting before the tune. The band finished “Black Diamond” with its usual explosive ending & went right into the Rock & Roll national anthem…”Rock & Roll All Nite”. The ending featured confetti flying from four different spots in the arena as 3 hydraulic lifts lifted Gene Paul & Tommy above the stage & Paul smashed his guitar on the lift. For the encore Paul said they were going to do things different. Instead of playing one encore & running off stage & then come back up for another they were going to play one long encore. The crowd was on their feet as Kiss rocked out to their anthem from the ‘Destroyer’ album “Shout it Out Loud”. “Lick it Up” was up next & Tommy & Paul exchanged guitar parts of the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” in the middle of the 1983 Kiss classic. The stage went dark for a couple of seconds & at the center of the stage Gene Simmons began his bass solo featuring his Blood-spitting act. He flew to the top of a lighting rig above the stage & sang “I Love it Loud” from 1982’s ‘Creatures of the Night’. The long time regular concert staple “Cold Gin” was up next followed by “Love Gun” which had Paul fly to a platform at the rear of the arena. The band closed the night with their 6th song of the encore set which was “Detroit Rock City”.
Once again, Kiss proved why they are the “Hottest Band in the World” & what was great about the show besides their explosive performance was seeing fans of all ages throwing their fists in the air singing along with every tune. Tommy Thayer & Eric Singer were great which helped make this a complete Kiss show. By the looks of the crowd a large number probably never witnessed an Ace Frehley solo where he shot fireworks from his guitar or a Peter Criss drum solo. Of course it would be great if Ace & Peter were still there but they’re not. Tommy, Eric, Gene, & Paul are here to give us all a Kiss show which is just what they did.
Bucky
