From: Helzer
I sure am glad I decided to fly down to Reno from Portland for this show. Not only was it a great show but come to find out Kiss has cancelled their northwest tour dates untill the end of the tour. So, this was my only chance for the next few months to see the band. We got into Reno friday night and the Kiss buzz was in the air. Everywhere we went (airport,hotel,etc.) there were Kiss fans. I bet over half the people I met at the show were from outside Reno. Most came from Sacremento it seemed. Anyhow, after spending the better part of saturday afternoon driving the rental car all over Lake Taheo, Carson City and Virginia City (jamming Kiss of course) we made our way over to Lawlor Events Center to grab our tix. We got there at about 4:30 and there were scalpers everywhere. I ended up trading my upper level tix and some cash for 17th row dead center. Not too bad eh?

Well, we skiped the Skids. The Skids without Sebastion is like Ozzy without Ozzy ya know? Ted was pretty good. But I was glad when he was done. Its hard to sit through any band when you are about to see Kiss. At 9:15 the lights went out and the band came out of the rafters and right into DRC. There are plenty of reviews that outline the setlist so I wont go over all that but I do want to point out some highlights.

To me the stage and the lighting is by far the best of the reunion era Kiss shows. And the sound from my seats was excellent. I was very impressed with the sound. The band was very tight for the most part. Peter really leaves out all the fills and licks from the songs but it keeps things tight and you dont really notice. My favorite part of the show was Love Gun. From seeing a few reunion shows (and a ton of bootlegs) I knew right when Paul was going to fly, so right before he took off I ran back to his small stage and waited. I was the only one there at the time so I stood right in front of his mic. By the time he got there , there were a ton of people. It was great to have him right there in front of me and I recomend everyone to go back there for that song. After he was done I went up to about the 4th or 5th row and watched the show from there. One thing I noticed that was kind of funny was after Ace's solo the band was all back on stage and Paul was rapping about the next song. well Ace walked up to the front of the stage and shot a rocket off his guitar out over the crowd. Paul looked at him like "you dumb shit" and then shook his head. Ace was just laughing his ass off. I dont know if that is now part of the show or if Ace somehow had a rocket left over from his solo. But it looked very unplanned. All in all the show was perfect. I even called home on my cell phone durning Beth and let my daughter (who is 5) listen to Peter sing. She thought that was cool.

If anyone video taped the show let me know. I have a ton of videos to trade and would love to get the Reno show or anyother Farewell Tour vid.....

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