Subject:
Soboba show, thanks from Holland (I was there!)
From:
Rutger on 07/29/2007
Wow, what an experience... And how much more respect I have gained for the band and it\'s crew... I traveled to San Jacinto last week, all the way from Holland, to see the last of the 3 hit\'n\'run Kiss shows. As you can imagine I had been looking forward to that for months. And what a special night it was, a show without front man Paul Stanley. Unbelievable...
All in the crowd were shocked when Doc McGee stepped on stage and told us what had happened to Paul. Gene came on and showed us what a show man he is. Of course we wanted them to play!
Gene was really doing his best in trying to make it a great evening for all. Very special to see him be the spokesperson for one time. He lost his voice a bit, but kept on going. And what a band... Eric and Tommy rocked! Ever since Tommy replaced Ace I (as a huge Ace fan) had 2nd thoughts about Tommy. But he impressed big time at this show. He covered for 90% of all the guitar parts and made the sound full and pretty complete. And of course Eric, well, who\'s a better drummer on that seat than him...
Gene tried to make it a special show. For Christine Sixteen he invited 10 people on stage to sing along. Of course I jumped over the fence immediately, and was on stage within seconds. Only to find out that they were letting people on stage only from the other side... But security was not that tight, so they let me stand on the side of the stage when Gene and Tommy were instructing the people what to sing. Amazing to be on that stage, I hope there is video of that somewhere. At one moment a security officer came running at me and pushed me to the ground. I found out 5 seconds later he saved me from severe ear damage as I had been standing way to close to the pyro, which went of almost immediately after. Thank you sir...
During the drum solo Tommy left the stage and started shaking hands with some people on the front row. I was back in my seat at that point and he was kind enough to pose for a picture (see below). Now who\'s the real Ace on the Rocks? ;-) (I perform in a Dutch Tribute band called Kiss on the Rocks: www.kissontherocks.com).
They performed all Gene songs and included some things they hardly ever did / did on previous tours only: Goin\' Blind, Parasite, Christine Sixteen, She. Eric Singer sang Black Diamond including the intro.
I was amazed how the band put up without Paul. Real pro\'s, that\'s all I can say. Of course I would have loved to see them with Paul, and I hope all is well with Paul now, but it was an experience. A Kiss show with only 3 of the guys, wow...
Another funny thing happened before the show. Nick Simmons was being spotted hanging out at the entrance of the gig, obviously waiting for someone. The Family Jewels film crew was there with him. After 15 minutes we found out he was waiting for a crew member who brought Skippy along, Gene\'s dog. A security officer refused to let the dog in, and the crew member started an argument with the officer which got pretty nasty. In that conversation the dog suddenly got loose and ran into the arena. A scene from a Marx Brother\'s movie was the result: Skippy being chased by Nick and the crew, who were chased by security people, who were chased by fans. Not sure if this was staged or not (why would the dog not be delivered to the backstage area?), but it was funny. Before the start of the show I saw Shannon walking the dog behind the stage.
Anyhow, a fantastic evening with mixed emotions. I hope to see the band with Paul sometime soon. Get well Paul!
Rutger a.k.a. Ace on the Rocks
in\' Time
