Kiss has started the 2nd leg of their End Of The Road Tour across the US and I was able to take in a few shows over the past few weeks. I had seen 4 shows on the 1st leg and was interested to see the changes on the 2nd leg.
The stage is the same with a few minor changes depending on where they are playing. If you see an amphitheater show, the cherry pickers are not used because the staging will not allow it, so they use risers at the end of the show that normally are used during “100,000 Years”. But the rest of the show is just as bombastic as always.
The setlist has changed slightly. They have dropped “Do You Love Me?” and added “Crazy, Crazy Nights”. They open with “Detroit Rock City” and close with “Rock N Roll All Nite”. The highlight for me on both shows was “Let Me Go Rock N’ Roll” because they play the extended version from Alive with the jam at the end. They sounded great and were full of energy at both shows and having a blast. I am not sure how many people were in Des Moines but I heard St. Louis was sold out with over 24,000 in attendance.
They played all of their best known songs including “Beth”, “Shout It Out Loud”, “Love Gun” and “Calling Dr. Love” to name a few. I saw ZZ Top the evening in between these two shows and they looked old and low with zero energy. It’s not a reflection of their music but it is of their live performance. Several members of Kiss are the same age and they were looking like they have not aged a day. The difference is night and day.
If you are or were a Kiss fan, you owe it to yourself to see this tour. Every time I do it’s like time travel. I told Paul Stanley I feel like a 12 year old kid again. He just smiled and said “I feel like a 24 year old starchild again”. Looks like we both get to go back in time.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Tommy Sommers Photography
