KISS brought their Freedom to Rock tour to the city of Erie, PA this past Saturday night. This marked the 8th time they visited the city and the first since June 19, 2000. The band just released a full length video titled “KISS Rock Vegas” a day before the show. In support of the band were The Dead Daisies.
Taking the stage a little earlier than was expected The Dead Daisies played about a 50 minute set that included songs off their latest release “Make Some Noise” which was released earlier this month. The band has gone through some lineup changes over the past year or so with lead singer and guitarist John Corabi coming in to replace Jon Stephens. Dizzy Reed and Richard Fortus left to commit full time to the Guns N’ Roses reunion while former Whitesnake guitarist Doug Aldrich joined at the beginning of the year. The band is still driven by a fantastic rhythm section of Brian Tichy on drums and Marco Mendoza on bass. Tichy is always a pleasure to watch and with Aldrich now in the fold it makes the band even more animated than ever. The covers sound just as great as the originals do. Some of the covers played were “Helter Skelter” and “Fortunate Son.” Corabi used shakers for “The Last Time I Saw the Sun.” A terrific band of musicians and a great set. The band also does a meet and greet after their performance if you are so inclined.
As the lights dimmed and the intro music of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” was completed it began like this: ”All right Erie, You wanted the Best, You Got the Best, The Hottest Band in the World….KISS!” The headliners for the evening took the stage from the top playing their famed hit “Detroit Rock City.” As the smoke cleared, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley appeared signing and pointing to the crowd. This got the crowd’s juices flowing as bassist Gene Simmons and guitarist Tommy Thayer shared the microphone on the harmonies for the track. Amid lots of flames and lasers, it was the start of good things to come this night. The up-tempo song “Deuce” was next up. Simmons, who still sounds as good as he ever did on vocal does not get the proper credit he deserves as a quality bass man.
This current incarnation of KISS has been together longer than any other lineup in its 40 years. Thayer and Singer have made their mark on the band and there is no denying that. Thayer sang “Shock Me” and Singer took lead vocals on “Beth.” It’s always going to be debated what songs should they sing or not sing. I can say the crowd appreciated both songs and I heard no ill will from anyone I spoke to about the choices. I think that is indicative to the acceptance of these two into the KISS fold.
This tour is called the “Freedom to Rock” tour and for good reason. KISS really makes it known they give back to veterans. They pick out a lucky service person to be a roadie for a day in their hometown. They also donate a dollar from each ticket sale to the Hiring Our Heroes Foundation. They had a few service people come up on stage before the encore along with the Mayor of Erie Joseph Sinnott. Sinnott also gave the band a key to the city during the check presentation. After this along (with the crowd’s participation) all sang “The Pledge of Allegiance.” This was done with the Flag and a color guard present. The band wrapped up the show with an enormous amount of confetti and streamers for the song that represents that band the best in “Rock and Roll All Nite.”
A KISS show is about having fun and it’s always been that way for 43 years. KISS continues to do that and delivered in spades to the 5000 plus crowd in Erie. You can say it ain’t no crime to be good to yourself!
Setlist:
Detroit Rock City
Deuce
Shout it Out Loud
Do You Love Me?
I Love it Loud
Flaming Youth
Bass solo
God of Thunder
Psycho Circus
Shock Me
Guitar solo
Cold Gin
Lick It Up
War Machine
Love Gun
Black Diamond
Encore:
Beth
The Star Spangled Banner (John Stafford Smith cover)
Rock and Roll All Nite
We would like to thank Dani Frank from NYC-ENT for the credentials to review the show.
