KISS Thought Vault: Presents...
This diagonal shot shows almost the entire corner lot where the Capitol Theatre stood. The guy in the blue jacket is standing about where I froze for Asylum tour tickets in March of 1986. The building's front entrances stood about thirty feet in front of the black truck and white compact car.
I Was there- Visiting a Forgotten Landmark
When Kiss fans visit the New York area, they usually make time to seek out historically related band related sites. Many are in the city itself; a sizable list of things to see includes the Empire State building (which I can see out of my bedroom window), used for a 1976 photo session; the band's first rehearsal loft site; etc. The landmarks are so famous that Kiss themselves even remember some of these places! Across the Hudson River, New Jersey also has its share of Kiss sites, even if they are a little less stellar than those found in the Big Apple. Two seaside resort towns, Asbury Park and Wildwood, have convention centers that Kiss visited during one of their earliest tours in 1975. The latter holds even grater significance as it was reported by the band that tapes from a show there were incorporated into their breakthrough Kiss Alive! album released that same year.

The Garden State also played a role in the creation of Kiss' second live collection, Alive II. The band rented out the Capitol Theatre in Passaic in 1977, officially to record the album's studio songs, and allegedly to rerecord parts of live tapes.

Today Passaic is a town in decline, but twenty years ago things were different. The town is one of the oldest in the state, and due to its proximity to former textile industry giant Patterson, was once booming with businesses and community life. The Capitol Theatre contributed to the northern New Jersey community by hosting all types of entertainment including the biggest and best of rock-n-roll: The Rolling Stones, Cheap Trick, the Ramones, and yes, Kiss (in 1975) graced the stage of the roughly 3,500 seater. The venue also served as a Ticketmaster outlet in the 1980s.

This sign is the only clue that the Capitol Theatre ever existed on its former grounds. Note ironicly the anti- bootleg message; apparently, if you break the parking rules, you will be taped....
Like many famous entertainment meccas, the Capitol Theatre sunk fast when the rock industry sized down, as the venue began to increasingly rely on it for revenue. Eventually the venue was sold, and torn down to make way for one the great symbols of America- the strip mall.

Here's a head-on shot of the former theatre's property. Far off in the distance, you should notice a sign...
I recently visited the site of where the Capitol Theatre once was, and took some photos.

As you can see, the famous Capitol Theatre is gone, and with it most of its evidence of it ever existing as well. When I wanted to verify the exact location of where the building was, I asked some locals for assistance and only after a third person was I able to find someone who knew about the famous venue. Besides the Capitol Plaza sign one would never know that this lot and its former building once played host to Broadway style shows, plays and concerts in addition to Kiss, who in addition to performing a concert utilized the hall's acoustics to record some of their finest music to date.

(c) 1998 Ron Albanese, KISS Asylum All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited.
Bun E Carlos interview (C) 1998 CMJ New Music Report. Used by permission. Special thanks to Cheryl ("Boonga Bots") Botchick. All commentary, negative, positive, or somewhere between welcomed and apprecitated. Ralbanese@webexpert.net