KISS
Bercy - Paris, France
June 17 , 2008

June 17 2008 was a very exciting day.

My previous KISS concert was in 1997, 11 years before, so you can imagine how excited I was.

But I wasn't the only one. Last time KISS played in Paris was in 1999, so there were a lot of expectations for tonight's show.

How can you stand still when you live a moment like this??

Under a rain of fireworks, Paul, Gene and Tommy went down the stage in some sort of elevator while playing the all-time hit Deuce.

Needless to say, the audience was hysterical.

But quite strange, the 17 000 capacity Bercy Arena wasn't sold-out on that night.
Maybe some people were expecting to see KISS at Graspop Festival in Belgium two weeks later, where for almost the same price a lot of other bands were playing too.

Yes, concerts in Paris are generally more expensive than in a lot of other European cities because of high taxes.
But usually bands love this city so they play good shows there.

This was the first show I saw with Tommy Thayer on guitars.
That guy does an amazing job. He's not just KISS' guitar player making an amazing performance. He has adopted the Spaceman character and he does great all the gimmicks.

I saw Ace Freehley at Sweden Rock Festival a couple of weeks before, and of course I loved him to be playing in KISS right now, but Tommy does a great job and I'm happy they found such a good man to replace Space Ace.

About Eric Singer... Well, there I really felt a difference.
Watch a DVD with Peter Criss and then one with Eric Singer.
You'll soon understand with which drummer the band sounds better!

Peter Criss is the original Cat character, a founding member of KISS. But Eric Singer has a lot more of feeling and an incredible drumming style.
Don't forget he also plays with Alice Cooper!

Just like with Testament, Louie Clemente is the original drummer, but the band sounds incredible with Paul Bostaph.

About the show, it was just amazing. Everything you can expect from KISS was there.
Tommy threw rockets from his guitar.
Gene blew fire over a sword from his mouth and then spit blood before spreading his demon wings to fly to an upper stage in front of the lightshow.
Eric's drum went up twice: during his solo (which by the way was very good) and at the end of the show.

As for Paul, well, he's a complete showman. He flew over the crowd to sing Love Gun from a small stage in the middle of Bercy's audience. He broke his guitar into pieces by the end of the show and he kept talking to the people during the whole concert.

He seemed pleased to be back in France after 9 years. And he knows how to tease the French audience: he came with flag from the Netherland's KISS Army! He was laughing and the audience screaming, when a French Flag appeared on the screens.

In a word, it was a perfect concert.
Great lights, great sound, amazing show with loads of fireworks, and excellent music.

Pyrotechnics are restricted in Paris' venues. Bands like Rammstein, Iron Maiden or KISS can't usually make their full show.
But anyway it was more than enough! KISS show on that night was incredible, even if they had even more pyro in Belgium.

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Setlist Kiss – Bercy, Paris, France – June 17, 2008

01. Intro + Won't Get Fooled Again
02. Deuce
03. Strutter
04. Got To Choose
05. Hotter Than Hell
06. Nothin' To Lose
07. C'mon And Love Me
08. Parasite
09. She + Tommy's Solo
10. 100,000 Years + Eric's drum Solo
11. Cold Gin
12. Let Me Go, Rock 'n Roll + Paul's Solo
13. Black Diamond
14. Rock And Roll All Nite
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15. Shout It Out Loud
16. Lick It Up
17. Gene's Solo + I Love It Loud
18. I Was Made For Lovin' You
19. Love Gun
20. Detroit Rock City
21. Outro (God Gave Rock N' Roll II)

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