Wendy Panter's Wembley Report

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Buck Cherry appeared on the stage to ‘warm us up’ for KISS in their own unique style. The lead singer had as much make-up on as KISS and looked like a camp version of Bryan Adams. They were a bit of a noise but I’ve heard worse and they did seem to get better towards the end when everyone was getting excited for the real reason we were all there… KISS…

Psycho Circus of course kicked off the show and would have been perfect had it not been for the mad surge by immature little boys desperate to get to the front. Thanks for that – it must be really difficult for a six foot man to see with a five foot two inch woman in front of you! Anyway, the Psycho Circus curtain added a welcome new feel to the show and seeing Paul and the gang from behind the thin fabric made the build up all the more exciting. Shout It Out Loud was the next up and I just love it when Gene goes ‘You gotta have a party’. The words fitted just perfectly – it was like a huge fantastic party. Deuce was of course excellent and really got everyone going. I love that little jig they do towards the end (what I saw of it anyway!) Do You Love Me? Paul belted out with his usual enthusiasm - he really is the undisputed master of the stage and really keeps things together.

Firehouse has never been one of my favourites, it just lacks something for me but it does have the advantage of Gene’s fire-breathing which I have to say – bloody fantastic! I had a great view and I just couldn’t believe that I was actually there and that all this fantastic stuff was actually happening. Shock Me is always a cool song and leads in wonderfully to Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll when we were all well and truly partying.

Calling Dr. Love is a great song for Gene’s raunchy voice and he didn’t disappoint on this occasion – you would think the fire-breathing would hamper his singing voice but oh no not Gene! Into The Void was the second song from Psycho Circus and was almost what I was expecting although Ace couldn’t be heard on some of the lyrics. I think the microphone was perhaps a touch too high, as when he turned to his fret-board the mike didn’t seem to be picking up his voice. Still you can’t knock Mr.Frehley’s guitar playing skills.

King Of The Night Time World is always a favourite with the crowd as is God Of Thunder. Let’s face it there is little to say about this song that we don’t already know although I was right in prime viewing position when ‘the demon’ was on his platform. This was absolutely one of the coolest moments of my whole life. Within was the weakest song of the set in my opinion. I just don’t think it’s a strong enough song to make it live although I wouldn’t mind it being dropped for some other Psycho Circus material such as ‘We Are One’ or ‘You Wanted the Best’.

I Was Made For Lovin' You danced its way into Love Gun and Paul coming down to visit the crowd. Of course we had to shout for him to come down because he didn’t want to come down to see us for us to say ‘Oh it’s you!’ As if! 100,000 Years I find utterly depressing but then you have to leave somewhere to go before launching into the anthem Rock And Roll All Nite. Superb, fantastic, high-feeling, ticker-tape fest that it was, was the most wonderful spirit-lifting performance and to finish on that note would have been fantastic. However they came back out (Oh what a surprise I hear you say!) for Beth which although I love, seems strange to just have Peter singing and the music miraculously coming from nowhere. It always seems so short too, which is a shame because it’s a fabulous song and gives a great opportunity for us to see more of Peter. Detroit Rock City was great but would have been better earlier on in the show. Black Diamond again presented a good opportunity to see more of ‘the catman’ but I would never choose to end on this song although I see KISS’ reasons for doing it. A levitating drum-set is pretty magical and I understand the final-image they want you to take home.

A few picky things I might say were there were parts where I thought Peter wasn’t really with the beat although some have said that Ace looked out of it – surely not! Apart from ‘Within’ I thought the set-list was very strong although perhaps not in the order that I would have chosen. There you are – you can’t please thousands!

On the major plus side, the 3D was way, way better than I thought and gives you a good souvenir to take home too! Basically the whole thing was a major high-point of my life, and let’s face it – where else could you get all that for twenty quid?

COME BACK SOON KISS – WE LOVE YOU!

 

Wendy ‘Little Miss Kiss’ Panter

 

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