From: Bob Chase
Well, it has been a long time coming to see KISS finely hang it up after all these years. I am 33 and my first KISS album was The Elder. It has a special spot in my heart even though it is not like Destroyer, etc...

I purchased 2 KISS tickets on the internet when they went on sale 2 months ago. My wife who has been married to me for 8 years has heard all the songs and probably about 20 bootleg videos. She has never seen KISS, although she has seen Barry Manilow, and Aerosmith back in 1994.

We arrived at Phillips Arena where the really bad Atlanta Hawks play. It is less than a year old and is state of the art. We pulled in the parking lot about 6:30 and heard GOD OF THUNDER blasting at a tailgate party...cool! We were allowed inside very early to buy or look around or even go to our seats.

Our seats were centered just off the floor about 7 rows back. Very good seats, paid $67.00 per ticket. Anyway hear is my impression of the concert.

Skid Row - Pretty Good, basic stuff, lead singer I thought sang well, very loud.

Ted Nugent - Funny. I loved the KISS MY ASS stuff. He said KISS has been play for 150 years...

KISS - They started late, around 9:30. Right after the announcer said, Al Right ATLANTA, You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best, The Hottest Band In The World...KISS....

DRC began to play and the curtain dropped. Peter was already behind the drums and KISS cam down playing DRC. KISS was not as loud as the other 2 bands. I thought Gene stole the show, he was very clear and loud. Paul's' makeup and hair looked off. Ace is Ace. Peter surprised me. He was hitting harder than on the ALIVE WORLD WIDE tour. Several points when the drum riser went up, Peter would stand up and drum..cool. All of the normal songs were played. Paul thanked Atlanta numerous times.

Ace screwed up during Cold Gin.. He is supposed to be near by so Gene can lick him, this time he was on the left side speakers and Gene could not get to him in time. Ace did crack up during the intro to Shock Me. Paul said Ace would introduce this "particular number". Ace cracked and could not say the word "particular".

No pyro's until Heavens On Fire. Gene flew fine as did Paul. Massive amounts of confetti at the end. No preshow montage of Kiss, but during one of the songs, they showed clips of various things. One was when Gene was on the Mike Douglas show..

I still love the Hot In The Shade Stage better, and maybe even the set list, but KISS kicked ass last night. Sorry to see them go. I have everyone of there cd's. I have a feeling Paul will put out a solo cd within the next year or so.

I would like to see KISS play on Letterman and Conan before its all over with. Also want to see KISS play CENTRAL PARK and do a Pay per view of it. This time though they have to play about 30 songs...instead of 20 or so.

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