I left the UK Thursday 20th November, jetting off to Philadelphia, before going on to Las Vegas.
The flight to Vegas was torture & seemed longer than the flight from Manchester to Philly! As it’s considered an internal flight there was no in-flight entertainment or free food!!!
Arriving in Vegas about 18:30, there was no immigration to get thru so after I’d got my bags I jumped on a shuttle bus and headed to the Hard Rock Hotel.
The first thing that struck me was how close to the airport the Hotel was. I’d barely got my seatbelt on & I was at the Hotel. Walking into the HRH it was impossible to not to know KISS were playing there. ALL the staff had KISS Rocks Vegas T shirts on with STAFF & the dates on the back (I did try to snaffle one of these but to no avail!), KISS Music was blasting out, the centre circle of the HRH had a large banner showing KISS Rocks Vegas running round it & behind the check in the illuminated screen showed in high detail KISS Rocks Vegas. After checking in and receiving my room key (KISS in the John Vavartos suits printed on the key) I headed up to my ‘cheap’ room.
If that was a cheap room, then blimey. I’d love to see a suite. Two double beds, large wardrobe dresser, double sinks & double shower all for me!!!
Anyway enough waffling, you want to know about the shows right???
Ok, Saturday after a quick swim (to burn off the breakfast), I got myself ready and headed downstairs about 6pm to buy my swag (Adam, you’ll love the tour book). Swag purchased (no questions asked on price just handed over my dollars, Gene would be so proud), I took it back to the room, then went to mingle with fellow KISS fans.
Once inside The Joint I was amazed how small it actually is. Chrissy knows the layout having seen Viva Hysteria there. Roger/Adam it’s basically the Manchester/Hammersmith Apollo size so pretty cool.
I took my seat (back row of first set of seats, Paul’s side) and started chatting to folks. My neighbour was from Australia (on holiday with his family who decided to go see Rod Stewart), then a young lady from London joined us, before two ladies from Detroit took their seats & we started talking about stuff. Chrissy, why is it that Americans are always so amazed when you know a little about the US???
About 20:30 ‘It’s only rock & roll’ blasts out of the PA and the lights go down....
ALL RIGHT LAS VEGAS YOU WANTED THE BEST....YOU GOT THE BEST, THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD KISS!!!!
Opening with Detroit Rock City the band seem in great form, Paul sounds great (I think having days off & lack of travel on planes helps here), Gene is being his demonic best, Eric’s beating the shit outta his kit & Tommy’s all over the stage full of energy & enthusiasm.
Unlike previous shows there’s no curtain. This time the stage is covered by a giant video screen that splits into four then moves to either side of the stage before becoming two large video screen. There are also large screens at the back of the stage & on the ceiling!!!
DRC goes into Creatures which then segues into Psycho Circus. After that Paul starts his usual spiel before launching into Got To Choose. After that it’s a bit of a blur as the show progresses. Gene does his fire after War Machine, blood prior to God of Thunder.
During ‘Do You Love Me’ video images of all line ups of the band are displayed on the screens including quite a few of Eric Carr which is a nice touch.
Prior to Love Gun Paul does the whole coming out to see you, noise meter thing but this time when he flies out it’s to a bridge across the joint suspended from the ceiling. Rather than flying back from the bridge during Love Gun, Paul starts Black Diamond from here as the mirror ball spins. Then once started he flies back to the main stage. Black Diamond concludes the main set.
The band comes on for an encore of ‘Shout It Out Loud’ and of course ‘Rock And Roll All Nite’. I’ve now seen KISS 20 times and I can honestly say I’ve never seen so much Pyro or Confetti during RNRAN! Eric, Gene & Tommy go on the risers whilst Paul smashes his guitar & then it’s all over for the night. Show 19 done, show 20 approaching.
Sunday’s show was pretty much the same and like Saturdays it was being filmed for DVD. No changes to the set list (Paul had a wardrobe malfunction and asked people to bear with him but that was it) but they overloaded on Pyro throughout the show.
I know a lot of people have issues with Eric & Tommy in the makeup but that’s never bothered me (possibly as I got into the band unmasked) however I can’t ever see either Peter or Ace rejoining. Peter just couldn’t do what Eric does these days, he truly is a monster on the drums, and Tommy has really come into his own. He has his own moves and plays his role perfectly. As much as we’d all love Ace back he’s just not reliable like Tommy is these days.
That concluded my concert experience. The following Monday I did a bit more wandering around the strip, some of the casino’s are amazing, before heading back for a meal with a few new friends at the Hard Rock cafe,
All in all it was a great trip with a band in fine form. If they do a residency there again I’d definitely consider it again as Vegas is so cheap. Just need to find a direct flight to Vegas next time!!!
Detroit Rock City
Creatures Of The Night
Psycho Circus
Parasite
War Machine (Gene breathes fire)
Tears Are Falling
Deuce
Lick It Up
I Love It Loud
Hell Or Hallelujah (Tommy fires rockets)
God Of Thunder (Gene spits blood & flies to rig)
Do You Love Me
Love Gun (Paul sings on platform)
Black Diamond
Shout It Out Loud
Rock N Roll All Nite
Select photos above. A slide show of everything Kiss related from the trip is below...
https://s110.photobucket.com/user/peter2174/slideshow/KISS%20Rocks%20Vegas
Subject: Kiss at the Hard Rock Hotel... 
Thu Nov 27, 2014 8:00 am
