From: Scott Ryfun
Points on the Atlanta show:

-I'm a serious reader of KISS ASYLUM, and I've grown sick of reading the reviews of the Farewell Tour stating that this show or other was "the greatest show I've ever seen." I was at the West Palm show, and it was a very good show, but it was far from "the greatest show I've ever seen." Saturday, April 15th I saw KISS at Phillips Arena, the final time I will ever see the Fab Four in makeup. I now must eat my words. This show was, simply put, the greatest show I've ever seen. I'm driving myself nuts having to admit this, but they were SUPER! It's not that I wanted them to perform poorly or sound bad, I just knew how they performed at West Palm, and, while it was a good show, it wasn't overpoweringly great. The Atlanta show was.

-Gene: Gene was present, he performed well. I still haven't seen him do one of his patented high kicks since Jacksonville on the Alive/Worldwide Tour. Other than that, he was terrific, leaving no part of the arena uncared for. He worked the entire crowd the whole time.

-Paul: Who spiked his punch before the show? I've long felt that Paul Stanley was the greatest rock and roll frontman (and vocalist) ever, but he was ten times what he was in West Palm. He seldom stood still, and was up to the tricks of his youth. Running, jumping, stomping, the whole array of moves was on display. And the vocals. At West Palm, he was a little hoarse. I had chalked that up to age. Apparently, it was something else, because his voice was the finest I had ever heard it. Ever. I've heard several recordings where he had a little trouble with the chorus of Psycho Circus. In Atlanta, he hit the notes and then went wayyyyyyyy above them. Outstanding vocals. The guy was phenomenal, electrifying.

-Ace: And who spiked HIS punch before the show? Never mind, HE probably did. The KISS show started about 25 minutes late, during which time I remarked to some friends that they were probably trying to sober Ace up. Wow. I need to get a job with Dionne Warwick. Early on in the show, Paul told Ace to tell everyone about "this particular number." Well, that turn of phrase tickled Ace, who repeated it, giggled and then launched into Shock Me, at which point, he promptly forgot the words. He tried to start with the second verse, and lost it. We've seen a sober Gene do this before, but a: Gene isn't well-known for remembering lyrics, b: He has a lot more lyrics to keep track of (as opposed to Ace's two songs' worth), and c: Gene got himself back on track. It took Paul coming over and getting the group into the chorus for Ace to recover. There were several instances wherein his tech would come out on stage in between songs and lead him by the arm to different places on the stage. He also, in several places, 100,000 Years, in particular, would just start playing stuff when he wasn't supposed to just to amuse himself. Now, having said that I plainly believe that Ace was under the influence, let me add that Ace's best playing years ('75-'79, IMO; if you want to debate it, take it up with Ron Albanese) were spent in a drunken haze. In other words, though he was a bit goofy, he played extremely well. Perhaps it's only fitting that Ace would take the opportunity on this Farewell Tour to go out the way we remember him: drunk and smokin'.

-Peter: Much improved from the West Palm show. He seemed to be enjoying himself much more. Perhaps he was feeding off the raw electricity of the arena. I don't know. All I know is he played fine. I'm still glad he's got the triggers, though. As I said in my West Palm review, I don't have a problem with anybody using triggers. I reiterate: show me the rock and roll drummer who doesn't use triggers, ad I'll show you a drummer who can't afford them. Peter played well, and I'm glad.

-The Merchandise: The lines were not nearly as horrible as those at West Palm. I got to the fron in a matter of minutes...at both counters I had to go to. See, here's a problem I imagine KISS never thought they'd have: There's not enough merchandise! I had planned on buying the members' solo shirts at the this show, having seen them in West Palm Beach. I had budgeted for them, but when I got to the first counter, they were nowhere in sight. I asked for 6 different shirts and KISSTory. They were out of 1, and they didn't have KISSTory. They were also completely out of the event shirt, which really ticked me off, as that was the one bit of merchandise I wanted badly. So, off I went to a second merchandise counter. This one had the shirt I was looking for and KISSTory, though they only had Ace and Peter's solo shirts. Screw that, I decided, if I can't get all four, then I won't get any. They, too, were out of the event shirts. Essentially, I would have spent $110 more dollars than I did, if they'd had enough merchandise (of, course, that number would have been greater had the prices not been overall a little cheaper than at West Palm). Man, am I a kook, or what? After all the complaining everyone else does about how much money KISS is taking from them, I'm complaining about them not taking enough.(g)

-KISSTory. I bought Both KISSTorys (and 6 shirts; last week, I got 6 shirts and two tourbooks), and will now weigh in on them. KISSTory is an absolutely gorgeous and brilliant book. The only complaint I can make against it is that, of course, it doesn't go right up to present day. It's beautiful and gorgeous. I'm glad I didn't buy it when it first came out, since the first copies were signed by Bruce and Eric. No offense, guys, but I already have Bruce's autograph twice, and I'd much rather have Ace and Peter's 'graphs. I also didn't have Paul's signature before I picked up the tome. Anyone who is a KISS fan simply MUST buy KISSTory. It's worth way more than $150. I've heard rumors that there will be a supplement to cover the reunion. I've also heard that there will be a second edition that is essentially the same book with a new chapter on the reunion. Gene, if you're out there, DON'T DO THIS! I WILL GLADLY PAY $150 FOR A KISSTORY III DEALING EXCLUSIVELY WITH THE REUNION! There ought to be enough material to fill up 400 pages, with all the special events this band has been involved in over the last four years. Start it with the Making of COS into Unplugged and through the AWW, PC, and Farewell Tours. Give stories, photos, tour stats, etc. I WANT THAT BOOK. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS. Of course, I have another wonderful idea, if anyone wants to hear it. A lot of orchestras are now selling CDs of their performances. Big deal, you say? I mean the performances that people have just attended. It's a new thing. They record the concert and take pre-orders on CDs of that very show. They then mail the CDs out within a week or so. Why can't KISS do this? Come on. KISS has often found ways to make money off of things other people were using to capitalize on KISS. They weren't getting their piece of the conventions, so they put on their own. They weren't making money off the tribute bands, so they formed their own tribute band (with Ace! and Peter). You know they're not maing any money off the thriving bootlag business. Why not burn CDs of the soundboard recordings and sell them for, I don't know, $29.99 each? There are beaucoup bucks to be had there.

-KISSTory II: An excuse to charge $150 for another book, this one not nearly as lovingly made. It has some nice pictures, but is chock-full of pointless chapters (read: filler) and reallllly bad scans. If KISSTory III isn't about the reunion through the Farewell Tour, count me out. I can't throw away another $150 bucks. My advice: if you really want an interesting book on KISS collectibles, as KISSTory II purports to be, get Dale Sherman's Black Diamond 2. It's much more complete, more useful, more interesting, and far less expensive.

-Ted: I finally saw Ted's act, and I have to say that anyone offended by this show doesn't need to be at a rock and roll show to start with. There are actually people who are expressing disgust at a man speaking his mind, but are in no way bothered by the concept of a man vomiting blood just a short while later. Does this say something about our misplaced priorities? I'm not a very big Nugent fan, but the guy put on a terrific show. Plus it was a terrific surprise when he brought up Derek St. Holmes to do Stranglehold with him. I also loved Derek's shirt: a bare black t-shirt with the words "got kiss?" on the front.

-Huh?: At one point, Paul, trying to work the crowd up, mentioned that they had been to Savannah, and surely we in Atlanta could be louder than Savannah, thus making us the best in Georgia or something. Kind of a goofy competition, because, tour book notwithstanding, KISS hasn't been to Savannah since 1988 (I know, the tour book says they were there in 1990, but trust me, the show did not happen). Come one, Paul, give Savannah another shot. It's only an hour away from my house.

-All-in-all: The best show I've ever seen. And I really don't want to say that.

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