KISS, Minneapolis, MN

Sometimes it's fun to just sit back and watch a concert instead of working it up front with a photo pass. Last night was one of those times. So here are my impressions of KISS and Buckcherry from the upper deck of the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN on November 7, 2009. Any KISS concert is a spectacle of incredible proportions, on stage and in the audience. The number of people in costumes and makeup is always fun to see. And with the band celebrating it's 35th anniversary tour, that audience is made up of people ranging in age from 60 to 6.


Also amazing is the amount of merchandising the band behind the makeup pumps out. Souvenir booths at the show were swamped with people buying shirts, posters, keychains and live CD recordings of the very show they were witnessing that night.


Once the lights went down the famous "You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best..." intro thundered through the arena and the ever-explosive KISS took the stage.


Blasting through the hits "Deuce," "Hotter Than Hell," and "Lick It Up," they kept things at a fever pitch. Of course, a KISS concert isn't complete without Gene Simmons breathing fire and spitting blood, Tommy Thayer shooting rockets out of his guitar, and Paul Stanley smashing his guitar. Thrown into the mix were Simmons spreading his bat wings for a flight to the top of the lighting rig to sing "I Love It Loud" and Stanley flying on a trapeze to the back of the arena for "Love Gun."

Thayer's rendition of "Shock Me" was great and was preceded by those of us in the audience wishing him a Happy Birthday.

"Modern Day Delilah" was the lone representation of the band's new album Sonic Boom. Tributes to Led Zeppelin and the Who were mixed into other KISS favorites. A confetti blizzard of epic proportions, all four band members rising on hydraulic platforms and enough flames, smoke and concussion bombs to blind and deafen even those of us in the upper seats capped off the massive performance.


Oh yeah, and Buckcherry opened the show. For fans of their music, it was a pretty good performance. I got the feeling however, that most of the sold-out crowd was like me, just waiting for KISS.

My blogger buddy Matt Becker was there with a real photo pass, so for his view from right in front of the stage, check out his photos at Melodic Rock Concerts. My pictures from other eras of "KISStory" are here.