KISS In Edmonton July 12th 2013

On Friday night I went to the KISS concert here in Edmonton at Rexall Place. This was my seventh time seeing them live and fifth time seeing them perform in the make-up. I really wanted to see this show as I have been a fan of KISS since I was six years old, KISS Live II being my very first album I ever owned. The price of tickets were a little hefty ($150.00) so I didn't rush out and buy tickets right away as I wasn't going to pay that price unless I had a good seat. Well, after trying for a month to get a good ticket, come an hour before the show I had struck out. So it was off to the coliseum and try my luck with the scalpers, promising myself I wouldn't pay over face value. I did finally get a ticket at face value, and not too bad of seats. I wanted floor seats, but no such luck. I just couldn't miss this show.

Well after getting my ticket finally, I made it in to the venue while the opening act Shinedown were still on. I had a quick look and listen and thought, wow, they are horrible, so it was out for a smoke and quick jaunt to the bar across the street to have a couple quick beers, as they were way cheaper there then in the coliseum.

Come nine o'clock, it was time for KISS to hit the stage. Anyone who has seen KISS before, pretty much know what they are in for. If you need something to take your mind off the stresses in life, well that is what KISS is here for. After the introduction of "You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best, The Hottest Band In The World, KISS!!!" you get them shivers up the spine and it's away we go. Opening the show with Psycho Circus, which I thought was a horrible choice, but let's get the bad shit out of the way I guess, and with all the explosions and fireworks, you knew you were in for a typical KISS spectacle of a show. And there is nothing wrong with that. Although it was fake Ace and Peter in this line up with the original make-up (lame), they sounded good, but I did miss the sloppiness that Ace and Peter Criss brought to the band. But you have to give Eric Singer on drums and Tommy Thayer on guitar credit for pulling it off. Next up was Shout It Out Loud with that familiar opening and you then knew this is the KISS that I love, the old stuff my friends. Then another lame song and in to I Love It Loud, which is a great track from the Creatures Of The Night album. Watching Gene Simmons wagging his tongue and drooling all over himself, had to either make you cringe or laugh, but then the guy is in his sixties now, so I can understand the drooling, and Paul Stanley still prances around like he is in his thirties. And Paul's stage banter hasn't changed much over the years. He was introducing the next song which was Hell or Hallelujah from their latest release Monster. He was asking the audience how many people had the album. I think I was one of a half dozen that cheered, that made me laugh. Next, War Machine another great song from the Creatures album. It was during this song that Gene did the breathe fire thing, which is always fun to see. then there was Heaven's On Fire from Animalize, well lets just say it is what it is. Up next Deuce, well that's when the old school fans lose their minds, fun fun!!! Then it was time for fake Ace (Tommy Thayer) to do Shock Me, which just really felt wrong in every way. Then it's bunch of boring solo's by Tommy and Eric, it's too bad they wouldn't cut that shit out and play some more old songs, but I guess you have to give the old guys a break at some point during the two hour show. Gene's bass solo is as boring as it has always been, but it is during this that he spits the blood and flies up in to the rafters to perform God Of Thunder. I have always liked the spitting blood thing. That is what first caught my eye as a little kid on the Alive II album cover. Next up was Lick It Up which started with a little homage to The Who, KISS doing the start of "Won't Get Fooled Again" now that caught me by surprise, and was very cool. Ok, I know this is getting to be a long ass paragraph, but I don't care. Next was Love Gun, that had Paul Stanley flying over the crowd to a stage by the sound board near the end of the floor section. It was just before Love Gun that I had to bail from my seats to use the pisser, my seats were in the middle of the row, so I figured after that no sense going back to my seats and bothering everyone again and decided to walk around the venue and take pictures from different spots. And what can you say about the next song Rock And Roll All Nite, other then it being such an rock n' roll anthem that you can't help but sing-along to it. After that it was Detroit Rock City another anthem from the Destroyer album, and then, to my utter disgust I Was Made For Loving You, a song that was a huge hit for the band, disco era crap, yuk. And closing out the night with a bombardment of confetti, like I have never seen before, the closing song of the night was Black Diamond from their 1974 debut album. All and all an very fun night of cliché ridden rock n' roll, which is just what the doctor ordered. Exactly what I expected, and yet still so much fun.

Still it will never compare to the first time I saw KISS in their original line-up with Ace and Peter in make-up playing in Vancouver on the reunion tour in 1996. Now that is a hard show to match. My biggest complaint about the show was KISS playing nothing from my favorite KISS album Rock And Roll Over, and, it would be nice if the band would switch up the set list a bit from night to night. But from the stage show and spectacle that this show is with the big spider lighting set up, I can understand everything is synchronized, but still, would be nice of they could change it up a bit from night to night. I am so glad that I went to this show as I would never have let myself live it down if I had not gone, plus now I can say I have seen KISS one more time then my brother. Good times!!!

Some pictures I took at the show unless otherwise noted.

Picture taken by Keith Doyle.

Last two pictures taken by Keith Doyle. Quite the mess of confetti to clean up hey. Thank you Keith for letting me use a few of your pictures. And... it was cool to run in to you and meet you for the first time in a crowd of 14,000 people.

Setlist for Edmonton show.

1.Psycho Circus
2.Shout It Out Loud
3.Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll
4.I Love It Loud
5.Hell or Hallelujah
6.War Machine
7.Heaven's on Fire
8.Deuce
9.Say Yeah
10.Shock Me / Outta This World
11.Guitar and Drum Solos
12.Bass Solo
13.God of Thunder
14.Lick It Up
15.Love Gun
16.Rock and Roll All Nite

Encore:
17.Detroit Rock City
18.I Was Made for Lovin' You
19.Black Diamond

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