KISS / Amber Wild

Ricky Racer Oct 26, 2023

KISS Rocked Nashville Monday night. Bridgestone Arena was packed. The concert was the 24th time KISS played the city. I drove 200 miles from northeast Alabama to see KISS for the 11th time. Overall, this was my 98th concert and coincidentally, KISS was the first concert I ever went to. The show back then was in January 1978 in Philadelphia a the Spectrum and the ticket cost just $8.00, yep, just eight bucks..

For the Nashville show, my Floor Level seat, 23 Rows from stage and just left of center was an ideal choice as it put me mid way between Gene and Paul. It was an original / 1st generation Ticketmaster ticket (not a resale type) and was bought 6 months earlier back in mid April for just $172.50.

The concert quality was typical KISS, top shelf quality all the way. As usual, the eyes and ears experience peak sensory stimulation from the bombastic level of continuous sound over 2 1/2 hours while the eyes are filled with ever changing, over-the-top visuals made possible by technology. Add in the steady stream of lasers, Hollywood level pyro effects, thunderous explosions, tall columns of fire from 23 Flame Cannons and the heat produced by them and one is close to the edge of total sensory overload. That's KISS and it's always been this way.
The concert ran to its scheduled end time, 11:30pm and covered 20 songs + 3 solos. At midnight, I was already back on the interstate for the 200 mile drive home.

Layman053187 Oct 24, 2023

Doors opened 30 minutes late, and the opener started almost an hour late - on a Monday night. People were pissed. Rumors started circulating that they might cancel the opener, but that didn't happen. I'd forgotten that the opener was Evan's band, so I'm pretty sure there was no way Daddy Paul was gonna allow them to be canceled. Most people near me had no clue who Amber Wild was anyway, they just wanted them off the stage. I had mixed emotions about it after remembering who they were, and they actually weren't half bad.

As for KISS, yeah, it's KISS. It was my 10th time seeing them, and 3rd on the EotR tour. They've been my favorite for 40+ years but, frankly, everything is so contrived, programmed, and choreographed that they're robotic and really just caricatures of what they once were, nothing raw or dangerous about them. I know that's been the case for decades but, if not for the show, they'd be almost uninteresting.

I love them, they got my money, and I'm sad that I won't see them again, but, having witnessed the lack of new imagination and fresh ideas over the last 15 years, it really seems to have grown stale imo and, age notwithstanding, it's good that it's finally coming to an end.

Ricky Racer Apr 18, 2023

This will be the 11th and likely final time I see KISS perform live. I first saw them back in 1978 in Philly. That ticket in '78 was just $8.00. Since their beginning in 1973 and across a 50 year run, they've done well by scoring 30 Gold, 13 Platinum and 3 Multi Platinum albums.

The ticket for this concert is an Original / 1st Gen (not Resale) ticket. For the show, my 23rd Row, Floor Level Seat just left of the stage centerline was $172.50 before fees / tax. I'm all-in at $228. It's an excellent spot between Gene & Paul. I expect complete sensory overload and I look forward to being showered in confetti; any closer and the price would be double or higher. From $8.00 in '78 to $228 in '23, what a journey it's been. Long Live Rock!