STRIKE 45
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
The concerts, the official start to the Psycho Circus tour were announced very close to their actual occurrence, 5 to 6 weeks, not really giving a lot of lead up time. Although we found it unfeasible to attend the Dodger show, we made our arrangements to be at the tour’s beginning in Boston and catch nine of the following ten shows.
THE
TRIP...
Nico and I arrived at JFK airport New York on the evening of Wednesday 11 November, one day before the show, after flying to America from Melbourne via Rome. We were met by our good friends Mike and Russell, who are ardent kiss fans and devoted tour followers. We immediately began the drive from New York to the city where the worlds next major event was to occur in the city of Boston.
We arrived in our rental van very late at night, checked into our hotel which was conveniently located a short walk from the venue. After a quick visit to Mama Kins, the club owned by Aerosmith, we decided to check the major hotels to find where Kiss were staying. At one harbour-side establishment, Mike went in to see if any-one was down stairs and after about five minutes Doc McGee pulled up in a car with some friends, and we knew we had found the Kiss hotel. It was too late to do anything else that night, so we decided to call it quits and go home.
The next day we dropped by the bands hotel to try and meet up with them. None of the guys were down when we arrived but we did see Tommy Thayer. Nico and I, drank tea in the restaurant and we spoke with a product development representative from Kodak (England), who had been in negotiations with Kiss to produce a new range of full motion cards. These cards are really cool as they hold about four seconds of video playback, in a regular size trading card. These cards incorporate holographic images, which provide moving image when the card is rotated. The 3-D Disc cover is a similar technology, and the catalyst for the license discussions. This would be a great Kiss merchandise line, as there are so many scenarios for the Kiss motion cards to assume.
Later on Gene Simmons entered the restaurant, he was speaking on a mobile phone and carrying a bundle of documents. He sat alone at a window table, ordered some food, all the while continuing to make a number of calls and research through his paper-work. The pots of tea I had consumed had taken their toll, and I headed to the rest-rooms. When I returned Nico was standing at Gene’s table exchanging pleasantries. Nico soon rejoined me, to allow Gene to enjoy his meal. He informed me that Gene had inquired, “Who’s the guy with the beard?”, It was cool he asked about me, but it was unfortunate he didn’t recognise me because we have met about six times before in Australia, albiet too briefly on each occasion.
When Gene finished his meal and his business, he came over to our table and greeted us. He reached into his top shirt pocket and took out some photo’s which he handed us. Gene told us that Kiss had done a photo shoot with Playboy magazine and that they would be on the cover of the February ’99 issue. They were three polaroid shots of Gene in full make-up and costume with a small harem of naked playboy bunnies in Kiss make-up.
Not long after, Paul Stanley walked by us. He acknowledged us with a “Hey.”, and continued to a table to join a young couple. They all enjoyed a pleasant lunch, and by the apparent good time and the exchanging of photographs I can only assume the couple may have been Paul’s relatives. He too then also returned to his room.
We spent most of our day at the hotel for those brief meetings , and now the time had come to return to our hotel to get ready for that nights concert. We were able to get backstage before the show. All the stage was set-up, so the crew were relaxed and able to stop and chat for a while. It was great to catch up with people I had met elsewhere in the world on previous tours, like David, Spiro, Eddie and Lonnie. There was a few other fans from other countries including Frank and Marco from Germany. Long time Kiss fan Vinnie Gonzales was also catching many of the east coast shows, it was a treat to meet some-one who has known kiss since the first club gigs. The most friendly and delightful person in the back-stage area was Gigi Criss. She is Peter’s new wife since May 98, and it is apparent where Peter’s new lease on life stems from. The band did not do any meeting and greeting of people at this venue. At the shows end the band left the venue and headed straight back to the hotel to change.
The next morning, the day of the second concert, Nico and I again headed to the bands hotel, while Mike and Russell decided to see the sights of a chilly Boston. It turned out to be a long afternoon, and we only saw the band briefly as they shot through the hotel lobby to their waiting vans. When the show was over , Nico and I went back to the bands hotel again. About 12:30 am. Paul Stanley came down to the bar to join Doc McGee and his party. One of their quests was a playboy model from the Kiss cover shoot. We stayed till about 2:30 a.m. then decided to go home for the night.
The next day we left Boston for the drive to Albany, New York the location of the next concert the following day. Due to the schedule of the tour we would be doing a lot of driving to get to each city and concert, and this would leave no time for trying to meet with the band at hotels.
Prior to the commencement of putting on the make-up and costume for the Albany show, Ace spent about half an hour backstage at the video directors mixing desk looking at and working on the 3-D portion of the show.
The night of the Washington show we saw Gigi Criss leave the venue very early and very hastily. She returned to the arena later and headed straight to the dressing rooms. Gigi informed me later that Peter had left his stage jewellery back at the hotel room and was extremely superstitious about not having his twenty year plus heirlooms.
Back stage the night of the New York show at the Garden, Kiss was out early and mingling with a few of the guests. Security chief for the band, Daniel, was clearing away people from the area prior to the commencement of the show, but some how Mike, Russell and I were able to remain and that night we saw Kiss and Doc perform their motivational warm-up. At the end of the show the band remained at the Garden to change and to celebrate. They did not stray far from the dressing rooms, as they had their family and closest friends and guests there.
A similar thing occurred the night of the Hartford show, while moving merchandise from backstage to our car Nico and I found ourselves present at the kiss speech and high hand slap ceremony. Then it was a rush to find an exit that lead to the audience. We missed the beginning of the opening track and cost ourselves a potentially better seat, but we did get to see one of the more unusual Kiss displays - twice.
This would be our final show and we were lucky that Kiss was backstage at the end of this show. There was quite a lot of guests backstage this night and Gene Simmons was in fine form. He had made temporary friends with a buxom blonde lady in a tiny skirt and was whispering suggestions in her ear while giving her a hug. Oblivious to the dozen other fans seeking his attention, (or maybe not oblivious), Gene proceeded to drop his pants in front of the lady (and us) to possibly add weight to his whispered suggestions! We did not see his junior demon as his denim shirt was long and covered his man-size predicament. Paul was out sitting on some stage cases chatting with a few people and as common, Ace and Peter could only be seen down the corridor close to their dressing room, the band’s fortress of solitude. They all then drifted away from the awaiting fans and left the building.
Some of the notable celebrities seen at the concerts we attended included the following, Bruce Kulick, Karl Cochran, Richie Scarlet, Sebastian Bach, Gene’s mother Florence, Ace’s father, Jeanette and Monique Frehley, Carol Kaye (Ace’s publicist), members of Danger-Danger and guitarists from Marilyn Mansons band.
PSYCHO CIRCUS
THE 3D LIVE SHOW!
The following is a broad description of the psycho circus live concert. We saw nine different shows and while they were all great, a kiss concert generally follows a similar very tight regimented system each night. There are small exceptions to that rule, the odd mistake, a variation in the timing of an effect, equipment failure ,and sometimes basically the unexpected, these are the things that personalise each performance.
As at all Kiss concerts I have attended, moments before the band hits the stage the audience has whipped itself into a frenzy. The public address system is playing loud pre-show tunes, inflated beach balls are punched around the hall and fans in the second and third deck do the ‘wave’.
A look towards the stage reveals a huge black curtain shrouding the entire stage. The arena lighting dims the crowd intensity rises, the black curtain drops to the stage floor and the excitement of the audience surpasses fever pitch. Remaining is a second curtain, a copy of the Psycho Circus CD cover. Movement is evident behind the thin material on the darkened stage but we know it is the band assuming their positions. A familiar voices bellows “ You wanted the best, You got the best, The hottest band in the world - KISS!” With that the first chords of the song PSYCHO CIRCUS are struck and there is an almighty flash and explosion, the second curtain drops away, the stage lights come up and we are into the show.
As the smoke clears we get our first look at the new Kiss stage. It is a large open area with plenty of space for the guitarist’s to move about. A majority of the sound equipment is concealed overhead in the stage lighting rig. The main video wall behind the drums is a huge single screen instead of a last tours banks of monitors. There is still the two side screens on the left and right of the stage, and all three give a fantastic high quality and bright picture, possibly a result of the new 3D projectors. To the left and right of the main video screen are the KISS logo’s. They are dot matrix screens and are capable of producing an infinite variation of the logo, including out-line, full bright flash, checker internal pattern, single intermittent letter , etc. The logo’s are not on for the entire show, just at the appropriate times.
As the opening track continues we have the ever enthusiastic and energetic Paul Stanley “Welcoming us to the show”, a pair of stage rocket shoot into the lighting rig and explode as Paul tells us to “Step up”. Gene prowls the stage menacingly taking long strides pointing at the audience, extending and wagging his tongue. Ace is himself, orbiting to the right of the stage, shuffling about as if oblivious to the surroundings, but as always delivering the goods through his trusty Gibson. Peter is perched behind a massive DW drum set, while near obscured the audience will soon discover that he has made the big performance improvement since the re-union tour. The video screens are showing the live stage action via two cameras at the sound-board, a fixed camera at the drum kit, two cameras at the front of the stage, and two new 3D cameras also at the front of the stage, one mounted on a small swinging crane. Also inter-cut to the live visual performance is some 3D video action, pre-recorded in a studio similar to the footage you have seen in the ‘Psycho Circus’ promo clip, all which enhances the activity on the stage.
Next it’s straight into SHOUT IT OUT LOUD, and this is accompanied by an array of pyro, the logo screens are active and the lighting rig has illuminated the stage brightly. The video wall continues to show both mixed live and studio 3D Footage. The inserting of the studio footage did vary in its placement during the progression of the fourth and tenth concert as over a period of shows, Kiss added the first 3D camera and then proceeded to add the second 3D camera. These camera’s are expensive and in short supply, so their use over the period of the tour may be selective.
It’s a classic Kiss performance as the pyro highlights the finale of SHOUT IT OUT LOUD. The stage darkens, and the clown face on the screen prompts the audience to remove their 3D glasses.
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