STRIKE 40
THE DREAM TOUR
Musically speaking they couldn’t be as 20 years ago but, unlike of most of the “Reunion Tours” of other bands that are usually very far from their top standards. KISS might have lost not more than 10/20% of their highest standards.
Peter is the weakiest of the four but Ace is really showing off his skills, and along with Gene they are the best members on stage recapturing exactly the attitude and the moves of the Spaceman and the Demon. Paul’s voice doesn’t sound like in the 70ies just because he has improoved a lot as singer, so his voice is better but different.
Anyway the power of the show is beyond the quality of the music... the MAGIC is back, and that makes the difference!
To start my make-up adventure I followed 1 month of the tour in U.S.A., with my girlfriend Joanne, from Chicago untill Toronto going through 15 shows including the 4 shows at the Madison Square Garden!!!
I’ve seen over 100 shows without the make-up, but being a major fan of the make-up and the original line-up, these 15 shows really left me astonished... I just couldn’t believe my eyes, like a dive in the past, like a dream... the ultimate dream!
When I started the tour it was about one month that KISS were on the road and I was told that they were getting better at every show. In the beginning they had lots of problems with the crew and they had to fire some of them including Ace’s guitar tech. The pyro guy was fired too and Tommy Thayer (band coordinator) had to operate them for some shows. The guitar techs on this tour are: Mike Rush (this time dealing with Gene, the most demanding... apparently), Craig De Falco for Paul (he used to work for Bruce in Australia), Bobby for Ace (he has never worked for KISS before), and the drumtech is Eddie Kanon (he used to work for CRISS before).
Andre (Security director) is still there... too hard to move... and they added another security guy, Tony Morehead... a great guy. Doc Mc Ghee (Paul & Gene manager) is always around and most of the times also George Sewitt (Ace & Peter manager). Another main guy in the crew is Tim Rozner (Tour/Production manager) who also designed the stage. He told me that in the original plan there were supposed to be strairs next to the drums, as in the 77-78 stage, but they took them of at the last minute.
In the beginning of the tour KISS were a little slow and they were making mistakes here and there. At my first show in Chicago (2nd night) I was a bit disappointed but Ace had a terrible flue which lasted over a week. After that show they improoved so much and so fast. More pyros were added to every show, probably cause they were getting ready for the four sold out nights at the Garden.
With my great pleasure I saw back in the KISS world Vinnie Gonzales... a mighty KISS fan that used to follow all the tours since the very beginning. Talking about KISS fans, this time very few were allowed in the backstage area... like in the 70ies, when nobody knew their faces & they were hiding from everybody. They never used to have Meet & Greet back then and so it is now. I was one of the few lucky ones to have a laminated pass, but even with that there were not many chances to see them hanging around, especially with the make-up on.
The usual day in backstage used to go like this: At 5:00 pm they arrive at the venue and start doing the soundcheck right after... until 6:00 pm. Then they go in the dressing room and they stay there up until they have to go on stage. One cool thing about it is that before walking on stage they all get around with the managers and shout things out to get energy to start the show.
During the soundchecks they don’t wear make-up and they don’t let anyone stand in front of the stage, so I could only hear what they were doing and I could barely see them from behind the stage. Once in a while they were trying new songs but most of the times they were checking and improve the quality of some weak song. Unlike previous tours they were doing the soundcheck every single day... very professional.
In general the atmosphear in backstage was really positive, everybody in good mood and really friendly to each other... they definately recaptured the old feelings.
The show is the best of all the tours cause all the stage trademarks such as spittting blood and fire, flying, shooting rockets, smoking and flying guitar, breaking guitars, levitating drums and platforms etc. are all concentrated in one show of two hours, half hour longer than the usual 70ies shows. Moreover the addition of monitors and screens on stage makes everything more enjoyable from any corner of the arena. No wonder why they are selling out everywhere and they are doing the most extensive tour in their career.
A basic concert of the period that I’ve seen used to go like this...
They had two bands opening, one of them every second day: NIXON and D-GENERATION and then at 9:00 pm KISS goes on stage after the legendary “You wanted the best, You got the best, the hottest band in the world... KISS” and the black curtain with the KISS logo that covered the stage was dropped down.”Deuce” opened the set and the speakers walls on the side of the drums started to appear. The crowd started getting crazy especially when Paul, Gene & Ace made the usual Deuce moves. Of course after 13 years without the make up it was a pleasant shock having the legendary KISS moving in front of you... but the energy lasted longer than one song and “King Of The Night Time World” kept the energy alive. Ace on his knees facing the speakers started that song with distorted guitar. Then Paul introduced “Do You Love Me” with a slower up-beat to give everybody a litttle rest. It was the turn for Gene to show off with “Calling Dr. Love”... rumors says that during the drum solo some girl needs the Doctor and Gene cure them in a tent on the side of the stage...
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