Besides being my very first concert, there are a few major things I remember about this show. One, it was sold out and KISS was at or near the apex of the classic era following the release of KISS Alive II, complete with the rub-on tattoos, pull out booklet of the band's history and bombastic center spread photo of KISS in concert. The concert looked just like the picture in the album and from our seats, halfway across the arena, the heat could be felt from those monsterous flames on-stage.

To a teenage kid, this was Ringling Brothers Circus on steroids. Everything from the stage lighting to the elevating platforms, from the giant snake that held Gene's torch to the twin big cats that rose up from the base of the drum kit...it was all over the top and more of a stage production than other bands were doing at that time. At the conclusion of Ace's guitar solo, he threw a sweaty towel into the audience. A fight broke out to determine the rightful new owner of the towel and a security guard had to cut it in half to keep things from getting out of hand. KISS was everything I expected and more, Importantly, this concert set the bar for every other band I would ever see again.

Check out the KISSOLOGY DVD sets for concert footage from this era of KISS performing live.

Techinically, I suppose AC/DC was my first rock-n-roll show since they went on first. They were up and coming in North America at the time, but what an incredible amount of energy they put into the set! I still remember Bon Scott riding around the inside concourse of the arena on Angus Young's shoulders under a single spotlight. Their opening set was short and included a few tracks from the album, Let There Be Rock. The sound was somewhat distorted. I used to have a very poor quality cassette tape of this show, but the recording was so poor quality that it wasn't worth keeping.

AC/DC SETLIST:
Let There Be Rock
Problem Child
Hell Aint A Bad Place To Be
Whole Lotta Rosie
High Voltage
The Jack
Rocker

KISS SETLIST:
I Stole Your Love
King Of The Night Time World
Ladies Room
Firehouse
Love Gun
Let Me Go, Rock And Roll
Makin' Love
Christine Sixteen
Shock Me
I Want You
Calling Dr. Love
Shout It Out Loud
God Of Thunder
Rock And Roll All Nite
Detroit Rock City
Beth
Black Diamond

KISS: Gene Simmons / Paul Stanley / Ace Frehley / Peter Criss