I first saw Kiss on the Lick It Up tour in October 1983 in the Edinburgh Playhouse and here we are nearly 40 years on to witness the band’s last ever UK show. I caveat that last statement by pointing out that I witnessed Kiss’s last ever European show in Glasgow back in 2019, but we will gloss over that fact and revel in the fact that we got another chance to Rock n Roll All Nite with the masters.

The Glasgow show is one of the last 50 counting down to the final ever Kiss concerts in New York in December. The crowds had once again turned out in droves to fill the Hydro to near capacity to witness the Kiss rock n roll (Psycho) circus one last time.

Firstly, though we had two support acts to get things warmed up nicely with varying degrees of success. The Wild Things opened proceedings whilst I was still in the queue to get through security at the door, however I made it in for the second half of their set. The band have been on the receiving end of many plaudits of late and have been endorsed by some of the biggest names in rock, including Kiss and The Who. In a career move similar to Jared Leto and Taylor Momson, front woman Sydney Rae White starred in TV and film before pursuing a rock career, which may be partly why the band are receiving much media attention.

On taking my seat the band were in full flight and were trying hard to impress, a little too hard in my eyes. They do have a few decent tunes like ‘Paradise’ and ‘Heaven Knows’ but for me their stage antics looked forced, think the final band performance in the film ‘School Of Rock’ and you won’t be far off. This was a rock show by numbers, with little soul.

They finished off by dedicating ‘Drunk Again’ to the Glasgow crowd and left the stage to a few cheers, but you could sense most were unconvinced. All show and no substance? I may be proved wrong, but time will tell…

When I heard that Skindred were supporting Kiss I was a bit surprised as I wouldn’t have had them down as comfortable bedfellows, how wrong could I be! Within the first 5 minutes Benji Webb had the crowd eating out the palm of his hand and the band’s set was an absolute triumph.

The band never let up over the course of their allotted 40 minutes and the fast-talking Benji rapped furiously, whilst playing it for laughs throughout. Skindred were all that The Wild Things were not, genuine and engaging with memorable songs that get lodged in your brain. There were plenty of set highlights including a bruising rendition of ‘Kill The Power’ and new song ‘L.O.V.E (Smile Please)’.

The guys rounded off the set with ‘Warning’ complete with the appearance of the Newport Helicopter which didn’t quite have the usual mass t-shirt spinning participation, but there were enough on board to give the desired effect. This was a masterful performance and one that I am sure made the band a few new fans in Glasgow and probably help secure a sell out headline performance in the city later in the year.

However, we were here for the main event, one last night with the kings of rock n roll and Kiss didn’t disappoint. As the band struck the opening chords of ‘Detroit Rock City’ the stage curtain dropped and the band descended to the stage from the lighting rig on large platforms. Paul stepped up to the mic and his vocal was spot on. There has been speculation about the use of backing tapes on this and previous tours, but if he was getting a little help in the background there were 10,000 people in the crowd who couldn’t have cared less!

All the usual Kiss trademarks were in place, an impressive stage set, amazing light show, multiple video screens and pyro, lots and lots of pyro! The set didn’t really vary that much from the band’s last Glasgow performance with hits aplenty. ‘Shout It Out Loud’ was followed by ‘Deuce’ and the crowd were singing along with gusto. ‘War Machine’ was up next, the best song Bryan Adams ever penned in my opinion, before Paul introduced ‘Heaven’s On Fire’ although he didn’t really attempt the opening howl, some things are now a step too far which is understandable.

The anthemic ‘I Love It Loud’ followed which was rounded off with Gene breathing fire much to the crowd’s delight. One song I wish they had swapped out of the set was ‘Say Yeah’, but you can’t have everything, and it went down well. Paul then did the usual call and response intro for ‘Cold Gin’ which led into Tommy Thayer’s guitar solo, complete with his rocket firing guitar sending shots into the lighting rig. Yeah, we have seen it all before, but it’s still bloody good fun!

‘Lick It Up’ then led into ‘Calling Dr Love’ complete with Gene hamming it up to the max. One very welcome addition to the set list on this tour was ‘Makin’ Love’ which was great to hear live one more time. Tommy and Paul then had a bit of a guitar duel with each taking a side of the stage, it was a bit of a throwaway five minutes to be honest, but things were brought back into focus with the introduction of ‘Psycho Circus’, always a great song live.

After Eric Singer had been raised to the rafters for his drum solo, the band then regrouped for a snippet of ‘100,000 Years’ which led into Gene’s blood spurting bass solo. Gene looked menacing, bathed in green light and dry ice, and playing up to the crowd before his blood letting antics and his ascent to the lighting rig for ‘God Of Thunder’. He may be getting on a bit, but The Demon still knows how to shock.

It was then Paul’s turn for the spotlight as he mounted his death slide and glided over the crowd to the small stage at the rear of the hall for a couple of numbers. Pouting and preening as if his life depended on it, Paul was every inch the star. ‘Love Gun’ was followed by ‘Black Diamond’, complete with Paul’s guitar intro piece, before he soared back to the stage for the bombastic ending with pyro and flames aplenty.

The band weren’t ready to call it a day there though and Eric Singer rose up from below the stage sat at a silver sparkle baby grand piano for a great rendition of ‘Beth’. We were nearing the end now and the guys launched into ‘I Was Made For Loving You’ as huge balloons dropped from the ceiling of the Hydro to add to the party atmosphere.

That only left one song to round things off, and as the opening bars of ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ rang out the confetti canons went into overdrive and the crowd went wild. Paul led a mass singalong in the mid-section before Gene, Tommy and Eric were once again hoisted to the rafters on hydraulic platforms leaving Paul onstage to sacrifice another guitar to the great gods of rock.

The track ended with more flames, pyro and one almighty bang and that was it. Kiss had left the building and left behind 10,000 fans with mixed emotions having witnessed another great show but knowing that, this time, it looks to be the band’s final Glasgow show.

By the end of 2023, Kiss will be written into rock history, but what a chapter it has been! Over the past 40 years I have seen the band many times and they have never disappointed and always put their heart and soul into the performance. Thanks for the memories guys and for doing it one last time…

Review and photos by Dave Wilson

The Best of 2023

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 3 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)