First Time (part three)

In the Spring of 1976 most of the kids at my high school were jazzed about the KISS show coming to Maple Leaf Gardens. I still wasn't into Rock yet so the band really wasn't on my radar. The gig was part of the tail end of the KISS Alive tour though the band had finished recording Destroyer.

The day after the concert it seemed like everyone at school were talking about the show. On the PA they opened the morning announcements by playing "Shout It Out Loud." The song's catchy chorus struck a chord and I soon became a fan (and once I discovered Aerosmith Rocks a few months later I was living rock and roll for good).

Over the next few months I read every article I could about KISS. Not a month went by that I didn't buy Circus, Hit Parader, Creem and Rock Scene. I began buying all of the KISS albums. I covered my walls with giant KISS posters. I joined the KISS Army.

Later that summer KISS came back to Toronto to headline an outdoor show with Artful Dodger and Blue Oyster Cult. I had my ticket in my hand and I wasn't going to let it go. I showed up early and endured the heat, the smell and the opening acts (I didn't learn to appreciate BOC until a year later).

The lights went down well after the sun and that pronouncement that had been burned into my head filled the PA. "You wanted the best and you got the best. The greatest band in the world KISS."

The cheers rose into the Toronto night sky and 10,000 bodies crushed themselves towards the stage. The opening staccato of "Detroit Rock City" blasted at us followed moments later by the first of 100 bomb blasts. The lights flashed on and there they were - Gene, Paul and Ace - perched atop a ruined cityscape moving in unison to the song that had become my anthem that summer.

What happened next surprised me. I started to laugh. I mean really laugh. Out loud. If it hadn't have been for the thousands of people standing around me, I think I would have fallen over. I think it was the shock of actually seeing the guys move that got to me. I guess with the make-up and everything I kinda got used to them being cartoon figures and never really thought of them as moving beings.

The night was terrific. The show fantastic. I remained giddy right to the end. I saw KISS another 12 - 14 times in those years and never failed to be entertained. After seeing a crappy show where they introduced Eric Carr at the Palladium in New York in 1980, I stayed away until the Psycho Circus Tour. By then, the excitement returned and a good time was had by all.