Is The Ultimate KISS Tour Coming?? (KISSmas in July Fantasy Blog)

I recently came into a billion dollars, and I said to myself, “Self, I have a bunch of extra money and I love rock and roll. How can I put some of this money to good use? I know, let’s coordinate the ultimate reunion tour for one of my all-time favorite rock bands KISS!!”

In the back of my twisted and completely delusional mind, I can hear The Kiss Army members rejoicing all over the world. I start to plot and plan this crazy hatched plan. What songs would I want to hear most? Will Ace and Peter come back? What about Bruce and Vinnie?

I am not tied to any particular era of this band. I enjoyed it all. I became aware of the band in the 70’s around Kiss Meets The Phantom, but as a young kid, rock ‘n’ roll music hadn’t taken over my complete being yet. It was a bit later that I really started to get into rock music and part of that discovery was hearing Creatures of The Night. I went back and fell in love with KISS’ earlier catalog about the same time they were taking off the makeup. As far as I’m concerned, all KISS eras have produced killer rock ‘n’ roll for my ears.

Time to go to the source and see about making this dream a  reality…I will reach out to Gene, Paul, and Doc McGhee and present my ultimate idea for what may very well be the band’s last hurrah. Given the band’s overall age, what better way to go out on top?

I ask Doc to reach out to all former living members of KISS and offer them a reasonable salary for the tour. This would include Peter, Ace, Bruce, and the ever elusive Vinnie Vincent.

I sketch out my desire for a hybrid type of stage set. Pulling parts of the Kiss Alive show, along with the best parts of the non-makeup sets, and throwing in some updated lighting and video technology for good measure, it would, of course, feature enough pyro and fireworks to rival China on Chinese New Year’s.

Next the setlist. What songs would be played and how would this all flow together? So many opinions, but its my money so it’s about what I want to hear. I deserve that. Right? But I’m a realist too so with makeup, and logistics, this one needs to be thought through carefully. Just then I hear a voice in my head say “Welcome To Fantasy Island.” I digress. Back to work.  

The band will start the evening out of makeup hitting the stage with Gene, Paul, Eric, and Vinnie rocking:

1. Creatures
2. Lick It Up
3. War Machine
4. Young & Wasted Vinnie leaves the stage and Bruce Comes On
5. I’ve Had Enough
6. Unholy
7. Rise To It
8. Heart Of Chrome Bruce leaves and Tommy Comes On
9. Modern Day Delilah
10. Hell Or Hallelujah Intermission with the Original Line-up of Kiss returning in full costume
11. I Stole Your Love
12. Detroit Rock City
13. Deuce
14. Parasite
15. Makin Love
16. Shock Me
17. Strange Ways
18. Two Sides Of The Coin
19. Cold Gin
20. King Of The Night Time World
21. Shout It Out Loud

Encore:

1. (Gene’s Solo) God Of Thunder
2. Rock N Roll All Nite / with all members on stage

That’s my dream KISS concert and how I’d hope to spend some of my newfound wealth. With KISS’ amazing catalog, there is no right and wrong, but there are a lot of very passionate fans with their own thoughts and wishes. Most of you have a very sentimental connection to this band, so as the saying goes, I can’t please everyone.

As luck would have it, your opinions will not go unheard, I am inviting the KISS Army to share their thoughts and song input for this ambitious and incredibly vivid fantasy production. As realistic as the picture in my mind is of this dream concert, it’s just a fantasy now because, a) I have no billion dollars, b) I have no investors, c) I don’t know KISS or Doc McGhee in any way, although I have seen them in person.

Thank you for taking this little dream trip with me, and I can’t wait to read your dream KISS show and setlist. So, please comment and share. To the KISS Army – I salute you!

Steven Michael @ growinuprock

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