From: Colin Sumby

The local Enormo-Dome could quite happily encompass a Zeppelin - indeed it looks as if it was purpose built for anything other than a rock concert. Having seen Plant and Page there a few months ago from the vantage of an appaling tiered seating arrangement and having to put up with the delayed and boomey sound that the Festthalle's design made of a state of the art PA rig I decided to approach the KISS gig as an active participant and join the party masses on the floor of the hall and get as close as practicable to the stage! Well, close to the stage turned out to be around the locale of the mixing desk which for my taller companions was fine but for me, at 5'9'' (Fat British Dwarf - Thanks Herr Weuhler), was less than superb. But as I had already seen the band on three occasions (Donnington, Wembley and Finsbury Park) on the last tour I figured that I'd just hang loose and enjoy the sound and the 3-D stuff.

So, sometime after eight o'clock the houselights dimmed and the usual 'Hello (Place Name Here) you wanted the best you got the best etc...' blasted into the packed halle and the crowd went wild! Psycho Circus, as an opener was pretty good. I could see little of the stage and had to make do with the the large screen suspended behind Peter's drums to let me see what was going on. The band looked amazing, as always, with Paul hogging the limelight and center stage Gene and Ace were left to wander stage left and stage right. The Demon was in full tongue-flicking form prowling the boards like some ancient nightmare about ready to tear into anything that looked like lunch! The Spaceman cruised on impluse, unconcerned and cool, spinning lick after lick into the stratosphere. The Cat did his stuff with calm feline precission, a predator whose grace belies the power and ferocity held within. I'd been waiting for this since I'd seen the billboards go up in town three months previous.........

So the standards were rolled out, dusted down, buffed up and shone like diamonds. The boys were in fine form though the acoustics of the halle did not help in any way. The new stuff, as already indicated by the previous postings, consisted of 'Psycho Circus', 'Within' and 'Into The Void'. I personaly do not think 'Within' carries enough punch to be a long-term live favourite. I mean as it stands it's quite a spartan arrangement with Gene playing over the kick-drum. On record it sounds great but live, I dunno, there is no real 'umph' - if you get my drift. 'Into the void' on the other hand is a real peach! Ace works that tune up to a veritable symphony. His NY drawl conducting and bonding the thick rich slabs of bass, drums 'n guitars into a dynamic sleak audience pleaser of a number.

The Solos, came an went with the usual twists and turns and pyrotechnics and gore. The big surprise was seeing the drum kit lift and move forward! Ace's guitar spot held more or less the same themes as solos before, apart from his 'Nigel Tuffnel' like introduction to 'Also Spracht Zarathustra' ( or 2001 as he claimed). Gene did the flying bit and spat the blood and looked pretty gross as usual and seemd to be using a strange vocal effect for 'God of Thunder' finale. And Paul, at the end of the show did his call/response thing but with an added stereo effect so his guitar was panned accross the halle. Also it must be noted that Paul wore a knee brace and was therefore a little subdued in his cavorting and prancing about the stage.

The 3-D was for the most part really quite good! Though after a few flash bombs and smoke machines had worked thier circus magic the screen did tend to disappear rendering any effect null and void! I was surprised by some of the effects but felt the repetition of the individual band members sequences were uninspiring. Maybe next time around they'll have a bigger screen and more animations - 'cos the way I understand recent interviews this is just a warm up for the Millenium shows next year!

On the whole with everything considered and with clear hindsight I can say without a doubt right here and right now for the whole world to see and read - BLOODY MARVELOUS!! TOP NIGHT!!

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