Lost Cities Tour Concert Review
Date: May 6, 1997
City: Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada
Venue: General
Motors Place
Gene Simmons
Vancouver, BC
May 6, 1997
This photo and
all others on this page
are by Rodney
Gitzel, from Drop D Magazine.
**Read their review
of the show at their site.
louder
than the coolest group to emerge out of the 1970's but KISS. Opening
their May 6th Vancouver show with "Deuce", Gene and the boys put on what
is easily the greatest concert experience of my life...a KISS reunion show.
All of the classics were covered, including "Do You Love Me", "Calling
Dr. Love", "Love Gun" (where Paul flew on a bungee across the arena), "God
of Thunder" (the highlight of the show, with Gene spitting blood and flying
up to the rafters), "Firehouse", "Detroit Rock City", "Rock and Roll All
Nite", "Beth", and many others. An interesting and fantastic inclusion
was "I Was Made For Loving You", KISS' 1979 
disco
hit. No expense was spared on the theatrics either; the big flashing
KISS sign, jumbo video monitors for those people in the nosebleed seats,
Gene breathing fire and spitting blood, lots of pyrotechnics, and a deafening
110 decibel sound system ensured the fans that KISS could show the new
kids a thing or two. Young and old were there, some sporting tour
shirts from the 1970's with children in tow, while others were proud to
be wearing a new memento at their first KISS show. The moderate (nowadays,
anyway) ticket price of $45 was well worth it; KISS have not lost their
flair for entertaining despite noticeable age lines on the guys and a paunchy-looking
Gene. Still, for a bunch of guys
in their late 40's (and in Peter Criss' case, 50!), they look nowhere near
ready for retirement.
As everyone knows, the four original members of KISS reformed and embarked
on a tour together for the first time since 1979. This was a dream
come true for me as I had only seen them once before in Calgary, Alberta
on the disappointing Crazy Nights tour of 1987-88. Getting to see
the original KISS decked out in full regalia was something I always thought
would be left to videotapes and tribute bands. Then in 1995, after
reconciling to perform an MTV Unplugged special, 
Gene,
Paul, Ace and Peter decided to put the makeup on again and give the fans
what they have wanted for years--a KISS reunion tour.
Now that all is said and done and the tour has wrapped up, one can only
speculate what we can expect from KISS in the future. As preparations
are being made for a new studio release in mid-1998, myself and other KISS
fans will get to see if the magic that KISS put on hold 18 years ago can
be rekindled, thus qualifying what has been called the "Second Coming of
KISS".
Sean Cowie
Sean's Kanadian KISS Konnection
May 10th, 1997
