I should start by saying this wa sthe first time I have been in the Egyptian Room since they have obviously invested in some rennovations, adding some VIP seats on risers to the far left and right of the stage. This was (thankfully) a general admission show. The last time I was here, they attempted reserved seats, which were poorly marked rows of folding chairs that were even more confusingly marked. But that was then and I digress. Tonight, the show was general admission and there was a significantly large crowd of fans on hand.

Kristin Control, former founder and lead singer of the Dum Dum Girls, was the opening support act. It seemed to me there was a lot of 80's Mtv-new wave influence in her act. Her show wasn't all that original and seemed to be unnecessarily delaying the intended purpose of the evening.

From the opening, Garbage delivered a high energy set with plenty of lights and strobes to accent the stage throughout their set.

GARBAGE SET LIST:
Sometimes
I Think I’m Paranoid
Stupid Girl
Special
Blood for Poppies
The Trick Is to Keep Breathing
Empty
My Lover’s Box
Sex Is Not the Enemy
A Stroke of Luck
Even Though Our Love Is Doomed
Control
Blackout
Automatic Systematic Habit
Bleed Like Me
Push It
Vow
Only Happy When It Rains
Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)

Encore:
Supervixen
#1 Crush
Why Do You Love Me

KRISTIN KONTROL SET LIST:
Baby Are You In
Face 2 Face
White Street
Show Me
X-Communicate
Smoke Rings
Skin Shed

GARBAGE
KRISTIN CONTROL

KISS was my first concert in 1977. I wasnt old enough to drive, maybe 14 years old. I have been going to see KISS concerts off and on ever since. I saw them in the Alive II era, the Dynasty era and I stuck around through the replacements of Peter, then Ace for the Creatures tour. Then there were the Lick It Up and Animalize tours. After that I kind of took a break. I skipped Asylum and Crazy Nights and Hot In The Shade. But I came back to see the Revenge tour and then the Official KISS Convention tour with the unplugged set. Since then Its been the Reunion tours, the Psycho Circus tour, and the Farewell tour. Once the original guys broke up again and they brought Tommy Thayer in, I gave it another rest. Saw them in 2007 on the Hit and Run tour. And now finally, I am bringing my 10 year old son to see KISS, his very first concert, in 2016.

I saw this show through very different eyes, as a parent of a child-fan and as a grown up, reflecting back on all those years of seeing KISS. This was a kind of passing of the torch for me, at least in certain respects. Oh sure, I will still go see concerts and maybe I will see KISS again. I will see Ace Frehley on a solo tour in a few weeks from now. But this was a new beginning for my son, because I know that this was his first of many concerts to come. How will he relate them to this, the show of shows? After all, in almost 40 years of going to concerts myself, I have rarely seen anything that lived up to a KISS concert.

So we started off at the merch table. My son asked, Dad, is this where you get free stuff? As his Uncle Chris would say later, No, this is where we contribute to Gene's retirement fund. Never the less, he picked out a pretty cool KISS shirt and we made our way out of that mob. On to meet up with The Dead Daisies for their post set signing appearance. These guys are a class act band of musicians by the way.

The KISS show included all of the staples that make a KISS concert great. Large flashing KISS logo sign, Gene spit fire and blood, of course. He and Paul both had their aerial moments, flying from one stage to another or flying up to the light rig. There were fire balls, fireworks, 20 ft flames, high tech video screens and lasers.My son watched with eyes fixed on the stage for nearly two hours.

The band sounded great and the set list was perfect, heavy on selections from the classic Destroyer record.

KISS SETLIST:
Detroit Rock City
Deuce
Shout It Out Loud
Do You Love Me
I Love It Loud
Flaming Youth
Bass Solo (Gene spits blood)
God of Thunder
Psycho Circus
Shock Me
Guitar Solo
Cold Gin
Lick It Up
War Machine (Gene breathes fire)
Love Gun
Black Diamond

Encore:
Beth
The Star-Spangled Banner
Rock and Roll All Nite

DEAD DAISIES SETLIST:
Midnight Moses
Mexico
Make Some Noice
Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
Lock N Load
Long Way To Go
Join Together (The Who cover)
The Last Time I Saw The Sun
With You And I
Helter Skelter (Beatles cover)

Meet & Greet: Dead Daisies (John Corabi, Marco Medoza, Doug Aldrich, David Lowy, Brian Tichy)

KISS
DEAD DAISIES

This was a unique event consiting of a drum clinic, a motivational speech, Q and A, live drumming to pre-recorded songs, demonstration and a meet n greet all for $25. Aronoff is more than an accomplished drummer; he is the A list drummer to the stars. He shared many stories about his life and career, including many keys to his success as a drummer and a business man. His passion for life and for drumming was evident throughout the evening.

ACE FREHLEY SETLIST:
Rip It Out
Toys
Play Video
Rocket Ride
Parasite
Love Gun
Snowblind
Sister
Emerald (Thin Lizzy cover)
Rock Soldiers
Strange Ways
New York Groove
2 Young 2 Die
Shock Me (Ace Frehley Guitar Solo)
Cold Gin

Encore:
Detroit Rock City
Deuce

Meet & Greet: Ace Frehley, Scot Coogan

ACE FREHLEY

Always good to see red dirt country live in Indianapolis, because it rarely happens. The Reckless Kelly show had a sparse crowd of only 120 tickets sold before showtime, perhaps better than some bands of this genre have done. Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen is the only one I can think of to draw a bigger crowd. The balcony at the Vogue was closed, which helped the main floor seem a bit more populated.

Reckless Kelly is out supporting a new record and its a good one, Sunset Motel.

RECKLESS KELLY SETLIST:
Radio
Good Luck And True Love
Break My Heart Tonight
Buckaroo
Ragged As The Road
Save Me From Myself
Mirage
Sunset Motel
Wicked Twisted Road
Wild Western Windblown Band
Orphan
52 Vincent Black Lightning
Seven Nights In Eire
Pennsylvania Avenue
How Can You Love Him
Hey Say May/Guacamole
Nobody
Vancouver
Lucky Town

Encore:
The Champ
Moment
Crazy Eddies Last Hurrah

Meet & Greet: Reckless Kelly (Willy Braun, Cody Braun, David Abeyta, Jimmy McFeely, Jay Nazz)

RECKLESS KELLY