Sunday, June 23, 2013

Kiss, Villa Manin June 17th, 2013


My very first concert?  Kiss, at the old Winnipeg Arena in Canada, April, 1976!  And during Kissmania too!  Unquestionably they were THE most spectacular show of the 1970s back then (with all respect for Zep and the Stones)!







Fast-forward to the splendid Villa Manin near Udine and there were Kiss again!  A 37-year wait for me, but it was indeed worth it (a nice little opening band, Rival Sons from Long Beach.  They sound very “Zeppelinish”. They also played their most famous tune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MA0m1K2jW4).






And how did Kiss open up their Italian show?  With Zep’s “Rock and Roll”!  Indeed anNice way to get the fans warmed up, eh?


 






A 90-minute set with at 2 encores. No “Deuce”, “Beth” nor “Fire” (think that was the tune with fire engine sirens going off at the end).  Here and there Paul’s voice would very, very slightly crack, not bad though at 63 and counting.  Gene?  Can see why that tongue of his has gotten him into trouble more than once….  At 64 he got pulled up by wire cables to the rafters, and then on a crane arm together with lead guitarist Tommy Thager.  





























Great too as at one point Paul got on a suspended from wire which carried him about 40 yards to a light tower in front of the main stage where he continued playing.  He flew right over our heads.  What to do for a living… 




















Lots of fake blood, fireworks, paper clippings being fired off by cannons, etc.  Three generations of Kiss fans from what I could see too, about 9,000 of us at the concert.  A great visual show, that’s for sure (unlike the great Johnny Winter who last yr in 90 minutes stood up from his chair like for 2 minutes!).





































Hats off to Simmons and Stanley for still plugging away now since 1972-73.  Amazing for Gene who was born in Israel: he went to the States where for the very first time had seen supermarkets. He had never seen them before in this life.   Unquestionably a fine example of the famous “American Dream”.  Together with the boys and a kazillion other bands out there, they deserve my utmost respect.
























Was with a dear friend from Kingston, Ontario (where Bryan Adams was born).  We go back a bit with concerts: we saw Bruce in July,1984 at the old C.N.E. in Toronto during his epic “Born In The USA” tour!  Great memories…





















Got quite lucky this time: Kiss played in Milan on Tuesday nite, the nite after the Udine show.  Around 2.30 am as they were taking down the stage, an Egyptian worker was crushed by some kind of lift.   He died.  The band had already left and didn’t know about his death.  If it were to happen to me while I’m under these HUGE stages to bury me with my “Highway to Hell” t-shirt and my cameras strapped around my neck.  I will have gone in the name of good’ol rock and roll!  
















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohB922c2uQ  

No comments:

Blog Archive

Personal information

Some of the rather interesting churches in Italy and around the world.