KISS Brisbane review: Band near the End of the Road in Australia
Forty-two years after their first Brisbane show, nearly 22 years since the Farewell Tour, and after three years of postponements, larger-than-life rockers KISS have finally taken their last bow in the River City.
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It’s the KISS goodbye that’s been years in the making.
Forty-two years since their first Brisbane show, nearly 22 years since the Farewell Tour, and after three years of postponements, the larger-than-life rockers finally took their last bow in the River City on Tuesday night.
And they blew Riverfire out of the sky, showing us how to really set heaven on fire as they literally exploded on to the stage.
It was the End of the Road tour, and they went out with the biggest bang.
A KISS show is the opposite of a box of chocolates – by now fans know exactly what they’re gonna get: shock-and-awe fireworks and columns of flames, Gene Simmons breathing fire and spitting blood, Paul Stanley soaring across the crowd to a mini-stage to perform Love Gun and I Was Made For Loving You, Tommy Thayer shooting rockets from his guitar and Eric Singer pounding out a drum solo and Beth on the piano.
Yet somehow it still feels like you’re seeing it all for the first time.
Even the cynics, who might quibble over replacement members, staid setlists or frontman Stanley’s apparent lip-synching, couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment, won over by the sheer spectacle, which remains inimitable after the band’s nearly five decades in the rock biz.
New touches included a balloon drop during the full-band version of 1980 Australian megahit Shandi, previously done solo-acoustic by Stanley.
Stanley said the band were making up for lost time after all the tour’s false starts due to border closures.
“It’s a Tuesday but why don’t we make it feel like Saturday,” he said.
Befitting a final farewell, archival footage of the band was a frequent backdrop.
And when Simmons wasn’t sticking out his tongue he was gesturing at his codpiece.
More recent song Say Yeah required some coaching of the audience for the “yeah yeah yeah” chorus.
And Stanley and Thayer had a guitar-solo duel in the middle of Dr Love.
It was a rare full house at Brisbane Entertainment Centre, with fans not wanting to miss their last chance to see the supergroup.
For a last-ever show there was precious little sentimentalism, though Stanley did wear out the name “Bris-bane!”
KISS play their last ever Australian show at Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast, on Saturday.
Setlist: Detroit Rock City, Shout It Out Loud, Deuce, War Machine, Heaven’s on Fire, I Love It Loud, Say Yeah, Cold Gin, Lick It Up, Dr Love, Do You Love Me, Psycho Circus/Journey of 100,000 Years, God of Thunder, Love Gun, I Was Made For Lovin’ You, Black Diamond. Encore: Beth, Shandi, Rock and Roll All Nite.
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Thank You #KISSARMY#BRISBANE! #GOLDCOAST! You are NEXT! #EndOftheRoadTour#TheLastKISSpic.twitter.com/M61gIUQHig
— KISS (@kiss) September 7, 2022
BRISBANE!! You ROCKED ME!! Tonight was INSANE!!
— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) September 6, 2022
Photo/Keith Leroux pic.twitter.com/ZSrBHBQrvB
Brisbane!! You rocked it hard, we love you!! #kissinaustralia#kissendoftheroadtour 📷 Keith Leroux pic.twitter.com/2rm0flbw7F
— Tommy Thayer (@tommy_thayer) September 7, 2022
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