Kiss performs the next to last show ever on their The End of The Road World Tour to a SOLD OUT crowd at Madison Square Garden on December 1, 2023

 

 

Kiss brought their End of The Road World Tour to Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 1, 2023, for the next to last show ever. However, last week two shows in Canada and one in Tennessee had to be cancelled due to Paul Stanley coming down with the flu. Kiss returned to the stage Saturday, November 25 in Indianapolis, Indiana. It appears that these three shows will not be rescheduled.

Kiss had their epic New York City Take-Over all around the city which began November 28, 2023 and much of it ran through December 3, 2023. This included advertising throughout the city on taxis, metro cards, billboards, a Google Maps Takeover, Prince Street Pizza even had Kiss themed pizza and collectible boxes, and much more. Kiss also had a live pay-per-view of the December 2 show.

My daughter and I arrived in New York City early to do a little exploring around town. It was a rainy afternoon, but that didn’t put a damper on the spirit the Kiss fans brought with them. Everywhere we looked, we saw see people with their faces painted like their favorite band members and many also dressed like them as well. The lines going into the venue went swiftly, as well as getting merch inside, which was contrary to the lines at the pop-up merch store throughout the day.

Opening the night was Amber Wild, featuring Paul Stanley’s son, Evan Stanley. They are a rock band from California and have been playing the Los Angeles  area honing their sound. They’ve been opening for Kiss for about the past month. Their debut singles are “Breakout” and “Silver” and were released October 19, 2023. All of the band members have great stage presence and rock star stage clothes. Evan fronts the band with a fantastic voice and rocks the guitar as well. Marshall Via takes on the lead vocals for the third song of the night, “Struggle”. These future stars also headlined The Bowery Electric Sunday night in New York City. 

 

Amber Wild is:

Evan Stanley – Lead vocals, guitar

Marshall Via – Guitar, vocals

Jake Massanari – Bass

Thomas Lowrey – Drums

 

Setlist:

1. Breakout

2.Constant Constellations

3.Struggle

4.Three Shakes

5.Silver

6.Lover

 

A deep voice came over the speakers, “All right New York City. You wanted the best; you got the best. The hottest band in the world. KISS”. With the crowd on their feet, and the cheers deafening, the huge curtain bearing the Kiss logo dropped and the band began to play “Detroit Rock City” while suspended on octagonal risers high above the stage. The lights were flashing while explosions and showers of sparks filled the stage as the platforms were lowered down. The band was in their customary face paint and costumes and were on a mission to put on the best final show ever. Regularly striking poses for the professional photographers and fans alike to capture some memories. 

 Off to each side of the stage were giant inflatable statues of all four members. After the second song, “Shout It Out Loud”, the band paused and Paul said, “How’re ya doing New York. So, this is the forty-seventh time we’ve played New York. We started here, and the road ends where it began!” The fans energy was electric, like no other concert I had ever attended. Moving on through “Deuce”, “War Machine”, and Heaven’s on Fire” they kept the fans singing along. Gene breathes fire before the band plays a song off of the Sonic Boom album, “Say Yeah” with the crowd cheering “yeah, yeah, yeah”.

After “Cold Gin”, Tommy Thayer did a killer guitar solo and fired rockets out of the end of his guitar. Another highlight of the night was Eric Singer’s drum solo. His drum riser rose way up above the stage and smoke billowed from underneath and it looked like a rocket taking off. When Gene Simmons performed his bass solo and spit blood which dripped down his face onto his chest and Paul Stanley flew out on a zipline to a platform in front of the soundboard which he performed several songs from there. This was a special night!

As could to be expected from any Kiss show, there was a constant sensory overload. During “Black Diamond”, there were giant pinwheels showering sparks at the back of the stage, while the drum riser was in its “up” position with a tiger tapestry flanking the front. Then Paul flew back to the main stage to finish out the song. Paul said to the fans, “New York, what else can we say but, see ya!”. The band walked to the front of the stage and took a bow and Paul asked the crowd to put their hands up and take a photo with the band as the house lights came up.

After leaving the stage for a minute, Eric rose up from below the stage sitting at a piano to sing and play for probably their most popular ballad, “Beth”.  Next, was “Do You Love Me”, during which giant Kiss party balloons were released from above, into the audience. As expected, “Rock and Roll All Nite” was the last song of the night and probably the most memorable. Giant arms came down and pick up Gene and Tommy and swung them around over the fans while literally hundreds of tons of confetti were blown out into the crowd from both in front of the stage, as well as back by the soundboard. In between the confetti blasts there was lots of pyro towards the back of the stage. I was actually surprised that I didn’t see any confetti catching on fire. At the end of the song, Paul swung his guitar around above his head and then, in traditional rock and roll fashion, smashed it on the stage. 

Kiss played an incredible set of fan favorites for the next to last Kiss show ever. The night was filled with fire, blood, explosions and all the confetti you ever wanted in a lifetime. The band was on fire and put on a show that their fans will never forget. If you missed this show, you will have to check out the next era of Kiss which was announced at the following show the next night. This will be Kiss immortalized as avatars and performing hologram shows. 

 

Kiss is:

Gene Simmons – Lead and backing vocals, bass guitar

Paul Stanley – Lead and backing vocals, rhythm and lead guitar

Tommy Thayer – Lead guitar, backing and lead vocals

Eric Singer – Drums, backing and lead vocals

 

Setlist:

1.Detroit Rock City

2.Shout it Out Loud

3.Deuce

4.War Machine

5.Heaven’s on Fire

6.I Love it Loud (Gene Breathes Fire)

7.Say Yeah

8.Cold Gin

9. Tommy Thayer guitar solo (Fires rockets)

10.Lick it Up (w/ The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” bridge)

11.Calling Dr. Love

12.Making Love (followed by P.S./T.T. solo)

13.Psycho Circus/100K Years (Drum solo)

14.Bass Solo (Gene spits blood)

15.God of Thunder (Gene fly/blood)

16.Love Gun (Paul fly to soundboard)

17.I Was Made for Loving You (Paul at soundboard)

18.Black Diamond (Paul fly back)

19.Beth (Eric on piano) 

19.Do You Love Me

20.Rock and Roll All Nite (Drum Riser/Lifts)

 

 

 

 

 

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