KISS, Cheyenne, WY

The almighty KISS played Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming on July 29, 2016. Although with age they may have lost some of the thunder, the KISS show is still one of the more spectacular rock concerts you'll find. Obviously I was shooting from the seats, but it's better than no pictures at all.

Country boy Aaron Watson opened the show and it was a moving experience hearing his "July in Cheyenne" tribute to late great bull rider Lane Frost in the very arena where Frost was killed.

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.

Last KISS Day picture

Here's the final picture of KISS Rock and Roll Day - Cody and I with the band! Thanks very much to KISS photographer Lou Antonelli and KISS Online webmaster Keith Leroux for making sure we received the picture.

If you've somehow missed the rest of my coverage of the festivities on Monday, August 4, 2008 in Sturgis, South Dakota, check the posts below.

FYI - The axe-shaped guitar that Cody and Eric Singer are holding is one that Cody and I built for a Christmas party lip-sync contest a few years ago. It is a not-very-accurate replica of one that Gene Simmons plays. The band was nice enough to sign it for us.

And here are some of the press hits we had from the day:

Television
MTV, Italy
NBC6, Miami, FL
KCAU and KMEG, Sioux City, IA
KXMB, Bismarck/Mandan, ND

Radio
KNAC, Los Angeles, CA
WKHY, Lafayette, IN
THE FOX, Iowa City, IA
103.7 The BONE, Wilmington, NC
EXTRA 991, Chicago, IL
KBBZ, Kalispell, MT

Online
Official KISS site
KISS drummer Eric Singer’s site
www.kissasylum.com
kissonfire.blogspot.com
kissarmybrasil.com.br (Brazil)
kissarmysweden.com (Sweden)
kissarmyfinland.com (Finland)
kissnews.de (Germany)
kissweb-it.com (Italy)
metaleater.com (Canada)
diamnoir.free.fr (France)
bravewords.com (Canada)
estejodio.com (Mexico)
kissmaskwebzine.blogspot.com
kissfansite.yuku.com
vh1classic.com (VH1Classic forum)
roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net
libertyreporter.org
hairymetal.com
sturgisbikeweek.com
sturgis.com

Fourth batch of KISS Day stuff

Can't forget drummer Eric Singer!




And the big finale to a great day!




Thanks again to everyone and to www.kissonline.com, kissfansite.yuku.com, kissasylum.com and any other websites out there that have reposted my stuff.

What a day and what a great time!

Third batch of KISS Day stuff

Yet more KISS Rock and Roll Day in South Dakota from Sturgis, August 4, 2008.

Paul Stanley in action.




And lead guitarist Tommy Thayer.

Second batch of KISS Day photos

Here's another batch of photos from the KISS Rock and Roll Day in South Dakota concert at Sturgis, South Dakota on August 4, 2008.

In this post we feature Gene "The Demon" Simmons.






In this shot Gene has flown to the top of the lights and is singing "I Love It Loud" from his perch there.



More to come!

KISS Rock and Roll Day, Sturgis, South Dakota

ALRIGHT STURGIS!!! YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST! THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD! KISS!!!



What they are saying is the largest crowd in the history of the Glencoe Campground's Rock'n the Rally amphitheater made Monday, August 4, 2008 a special one for KISS and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. A reported 40 to 50,000 fans saw South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds and Sturgis Mayor Maury LaRue present the band with a proclamation making it KISS Rock and Roll Day in South Dakota.

Here are (left to right) Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, Paul Stanley, Governor Rounds, and Eric Singer backstage before the show.



Eric Singer had fun adjusting the Governor's vest so that only Eric's picture on the shirt underneath showed.



And here they are onstage.




The Governor's proclamation saluted the band for their support of the military, which Paul Stanley reinforced near the end of the show. He dedicated the concert to all men and women serving in Armed Forces overseas and called America the "greatest country in the world."

Being backstage with the band was a surreal experience. The Rock'n the Rally facilities include small houses as dressing rooms for the bands and we spent a large amount of time standing around in the house that KISS was using to apply makeup and costumes. Seeing the look on the Governor's face the first time Paul walked out in full costume towering over everyone else in the room was priceless. Seeing Gene Simmons in makeup and a bathrobe dismayed at the number of people in the house was hilarious. Watching the wardrobe gals carry bits and pieces of costumes through was strange. I never expected to see Gene's codpiece or armored arm bands without him in them.

Here's Tommy Thayer signing an autograph in the kitchen.



The show itself was nothing short of the awesome spectacle you expect from KISS. The band lowered from the light rig at the intro, Eric's drum riser raised and lowered with smoke billowing out of it along with platforms for Gene and Tommy, Paul flew to the back of the audience to do "Love Gun," Gene flew to the top of the lights for "I Love It Loud," and so much confetti filled the air during "Rock and Roll All Nite" that at times it was hard to see the stage. Fire breathing, guitar-smashing, and fireworks they should have been able to see over at the Kid Rock concert across the road - it was all there. I was told it included $100,000 worth of pyrotechnics and fireworks.

Here are some photos.











I want to thank Doc McGhee and Melissa Madden at McGhee Entertainment, Cile Montgomery at Rozone Productions/Giant Media, Gary Lippold at Glencoe, Pepper Massey at the Sturgis Motorcyle Rally, Mayor Maury LaRue, Governor Mike Rounds, Mitch Krebs, Mike Mueller, Joe Hamm, and of course, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer, Eric Singer for making this wild idea I had into reality. Also, all the members of our team at South Dakota Tourism - Melissa Bump, Wanda Goodman and Scott Howard especially, that helped create something really cool and generate a lot of good publicity. Special thanks to my son Cody Coppess for sharing the day and night with me and putting up with a lot of logistical problem-solving through the whole thing.

We wanted the best, we got the best!

One more pic from backstage - Who did we run into but Kory Van Sickle from Kory and the Fireflies and his lovely wife Traci. So, here they are with KISS. Gene seemed to think Kory needed some help with his expression.

KISS Rock and Roll Day in South Dakota

Okay, it's official! Monday, August 4, 2008 will be proclaimed "KISS Rock and Roll Day in South Dakota" by Governor Mike Rounds with a presentation to the band at the Glencoe Campground's "Rock'n The Rally" during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally!
Minor details are still being worked out, but it is going to happen, so you readers are the first to know. It's been a long road and a lot of coordinating, but we've got it done. The media has been notified and you should see some publicity about it in the next few days if you are around the Sturgis area. We've had some interest expressed in covering the presentation by MTV, Jay Leno, and it will also be anounced at www.kissonline.com in the next day or two.

In commemoration of the special night I've made the image above as computer wallpaper. Just click on the picture to enlarge it and right click and "set as desktop background." I made this when the event was titled "Nite," which has now changed to "Day."

KISS will have these Sturgis t-shirts for sale at the event.

KISS wallpaper

Here's something I whipped up for myself promoting the upcoming KISS concert at the Glencoe Campground's "Rock'n The Rally" during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Click on the photo to enlarge and then right click and "Set as Desktop Background."

Hope you like it.



And thanks to www.kissonline.com for posting a link to this site! Any of you that came here through that link, take a look around, there's lots of KISS and lots of other cool concert stuff as well.

KISS, Rapid City, SD

Color versions this time of KISS on the Crazy Nights tour in Rapid City, South Dakota on March 19, 1988. You can see black and white photos from this same show in an earlier post. Check the list at right.

Gene Simmons and that famous tongue of his.



Paul Stanley in classic poses. As I said before, he knows how to find a camera.




I know this isn't a very good photo, but it's the only one I've got of the late great Eric Carr. RIP Eric.



Gene's basses ready for battle just before the show.



My friend Steve Meeker and I were at this concert together and both being big KISS fans, were very excited that we had secured backstage passes. We were also very disappointed when checking in at the backstage entrance afterwards to find that the meet and greet had happened before the show, which no one had told us. So, never giving up, we went to the Hilton hotel where we knew they were staying. Not knowing what to do next, we sat on a bench outside the elevator hoping something would happen. Believe it or not a few minutes later the elevator doors opened and out walked Eric Carr. He nodded to us, said, "Hi guys," and walked into the bar. After a while of hoping Gene and/or Paul would also show up, we wandered into the bar, found Eric and got a couple autographs and a picture of him with Steve. We decided that was enough excitement and left for home without knowing if we would have met any more of the band. It was sad to find out a couple years later that Eric had passed away from cancer.

Here's a couple audience members who went all out that night. This has become somewhat commonplace at KISS shows since they put the makeup and costumes back on in 1996, but at the time of this concert seeing the real guys in this getup was just a dream. Looking at this photo makes me remember thinking, "Dang that guy did a lot of work to show he's a fan of something that's never going to come back."



I was wrong and I'm glad I was. Can't wait to see the boys at the Sturgis Rally in August. If all goes as planned, I'll have more photos to show off then.