KISS Alive Kisses Cobo Goodbye!

We usually do not cover “Nationals” on our website, but last weeks “reunion” down at Cobo Arena will always hold a special place in my memories of what was once called one of the premier concert venues in North America. Yes, not just Michigan, or the US, but as Creem Magazine noted back in the mid ‘70’s, Cobo Arena’s acoustics stand out as one of the best, 2nd only to Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. We should know, we spent many an evening down at Cobo, taking in concerts on a weekly basis during my early years, when tix where like $6.50 each, usually somewhere within the first few rows, courtesy of one of the most unique ways of ticket selling called “Mail Order Only”, where slipping in a $20 bill with your money order all but guaranteed the best seats in the house! Boy those were the days, being privileged enough to see such acts as Alice Cooper, The Guess Who, Styx, ZZ Top, Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, Emerson, Lake, & Palmer with an 80 pc orchestra, The Cars along with The Babies, J.Geils Band with The Romantics, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (yes that night), as well as Ac/Dc. But it was the very first time that I stepped into Cobo Arena for a concert back in May of 1975 that I will cherish forever. That night, as we found out early on, was being recorded for a live album that went on to be released in September of that same year, cementing Detroit as the real Rock & Roll Captial of the world, not only in the eyes of the 13 year old kid from the east side, but for a whole generation across the entire world. Alive went on to be the best selling live album of all time, that is until another live album came out, ironically recorded within months of Alive, inside the same building, and even more ironically, by a Detroit native himself Bob Seger. All of this was short lived though as Peter Frampton Comes Alive was released a few more months later, taking over as the top live album of all time, and still is one of them today.

 

Fast forward a few decades. To be able to go back into that same arena some 35 years later, to see that very same band (almost) perform that very same show (almost) is a feeling that not many people will ever get the chance to experience, and believe me, those emotions overcame me as the lights went down, the pa now silenced, a lone shadowy figure appearing at center stage holding a camera (I’m sure digital this time) snapping pictures of the crowd, exactly how it was done that fateful night! As this figure slowly slipped out of site, another figure appeared, this time with a microphone in hand, again returning to center stage, again no lights what so ever, only a deep tantalizing voice echoing out with that all too familiar “you wanted the best, you got the best…..the hottest band in the land….KISSSSS!”. OMG, it was all over for me at that very point as the stage exploded into view amongst a myriad of lights, pyrotechnics, and a huge marquee with 4 simple letters emblazed in simple bright white light bulbs that read KISS. Then there they were, rising out from the stage via a hydraulic lift, platforms and all, launching right into Duece, Strutter, Got To Choose, before throwing in their latest single Modern Day Delilah. An extraordinary moment came right after Strutter, when Stanley, with his prolific banter, simply stated “Cobo Hall!!, This is the Holy Land for us, it’s where it all started!” prompting the already dazed crowd to respond with one of the most deafening roars I’ve heard! The night became like déjà vu from there, Kiss playing “Alive” track for track, Hotter Than Hell with Gene Simmons breathing the fire, Stanley strutin’ his stuff across the stage during Com’n And Love Me, hell even the Ace Frehely stand in Tommy Thayer got in on the action, re-enacting the “flame throwing guitar” during his solo, while the Peter Criss stand in, Eric Singer was bombastic as he played 20 ft above the stage! Except for the omission of Rock Bottom & Firehouse, along with a flip or two near the end in order to ensure that Rock

The Last Song Ever To Be Played At Cobo Arena - Detroit Rock City, Sept 26th, 2009

& Roll All Night was the final song of the set, Kiss pulled off an amazing repeat of history in a city that so desperately needs to do so itself, in front of what Stanley repeatedly referred to as “we’re all family here”, before exiting the stage for a few moments, only to return to the stage to explain how “usually people clap and we come back out for a song or two. Not tonight, we will now all be witness to the longest encore in Kisstory!” as the band then launched into a six song encore of post-“Alive” hits that started with Shout It Out Loud & Lick It Up, before finding Stanley zip-lining from the top of the PA out to the middle of the crowd to perform Love Gun atop a spinning platform! But the defining moment of the night came as Stanley zipped lined back to the stage, swaggered up to his mic at center stage and began to tell us that “there was a hell of a lot of people in this building last night that thought they were seeing the last show ever at Cobo Hall. I’m here to tell you tonight that they were all wrong. Tonight it is you who are not only seeing the last show ever in this building, but the last song ever to be played inside Cobo Hall……You know, family is special. Every last one of you here are special to us, and for those of you who were here way back when, we wanted to tell you that we never wrote a song about New York, ya know. There’s only one place in the world that we wrote a song about, and I think you all know what I’m talking about don’t you?” Again maybe the loudest roar from 12,000 people I have ever heard in my life, and believe me it was not only deafening at that very moment, but I was overwhelmed with emotion as I realized that this night was as close as possible to reliving a moment in my life, one that had just found a new meaning, one that will live on forever not only in my memory, but will live on for 11,999 more of you forever as Stanley continued, “…..this will be the last song ever played here, and that song is DEEETROOOIT, ROCK CITY!” Long Live KISS, Long Live The City of Detroit, but most of all, Long Live Cobo Arena….damn we love this city…..