Concert Review: KISS - End Of The Road World Tour Irvine, CA

You wanted the best!
You got the best!
The hottest band in the world…KISS!

From the moment that familiar refrain boomed out across the Five Points Amphitheater, until the concert ended to Rock and Roll All Nite in the midst of a thunderstorm, KISS grabbed the over 12000 people and entertained relentlessly — never letting go.

The evening began in a rather low key manner. Five Points Amphitheater is set well apart from the Irvine city center and KISS fans made their way in leisurely, exhibiting that unique attitude that defines Southern California. The crowd was in good spirts, everyone thrilled to be back at a live concert at full capacity and people were lounging on the lawn playing bean bags and drinking beer and wine before the opening act started. About that act…David Lee Roth, who had been fronting the tour, dropped out of the tour without explanation a few months ago. This was KISS’ first concert back after the band contracted COVID and they were seemingly out of options to secure an opening act. In the end they secured the services of rock and roll painter David Garibaldi. Garabaldi has made appearances on America’s Got Talent and in Las Vegas. Initially, I was skeptical of the act and was in no real hurry to get to my seat because of it. However, Garabaldi’s act was entertaining and, while unusual, entertained the crowd. I think it’s fair to say that KISS doesn’t need anyone to warm up a crowd for them so Garabaldi was an opening act with low expectations that he more than filled. It’s also worth noting that all of the performance pieces created by Garabaldi (paintings of Jimi Hendrix, KISS and Paul McCartney) were signed by KISS and auctioned off for charity.

With the opening act finished the roadies got work on converting the stage and the buzz around the crowd continued to build. A word on the crowd which was amazing. The eclectic group on hand was absolutely wonderful to see. Men and women, families and singles, young and old. I met one man who had just turned 78. He went to his first KISS concert in 1974. Meanwhile, in front of me, a mother and father were introducing their 3 year old daughter to her first helping of any concert, let alone KISS. It was amazing to watch the 78 year old man and three year old toddler both headbanging to Heaven’s On Fire. When was the last time you saw a band bring different generations together like that. It’s been a while for me.

Kiss walked the backstage halls as they made their way to the stage as Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll blared away to a crowd ready to burst. Then the refrain hit, the KISS banner dropped, flames roared out, and the band descended from the ceiling as they blew the audience away with Detroit Rock City. (full set list below) KISS never let go of the crowd after that and Eric Singer was on point all night. His drum solo had to be experienced to be believed. Tommy Thayer’s guitar solo was equally great but nothing could compare to the Gene Simmon’s Demon build-up to God of Thunder. Not to be outdone, mother nature decided to surround the amphitheater with lightning strikes as the song kicked off in earnest. It was unreal. Going into the concert I was concerned about Paul Stanley and his voice. I had heard that he had lost a step in recent years. However, Stanley still has 95 percent of his range and can still entertain with the best of the them. The only noticeable drop in vocal ability that I noticed was in I Was Made For Loving You. However, that was almost three quarters of the way through the concert and he is, if you can believe it, 69 years old. Even so, he held the highest notes an octave lower and sounded great.

I’ve included some still photos of the concert in this review (excuse my poor phone quality please) and a video made by my brother so you can get a feel for this amazing concert. I’ll finish off this review by saying that, in my considered opinion, this is the best concert I’ve ever been to in my entire life. I have wanted to see KISS forever and was finally able to make it happen. Lest you think I haven’t seen many acts to compare them against..I will say that I’ve seen Motley Crue, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Van Halen, Scorpions, Pearl Jam, Europe, Journey, Foreigner and many, many more. KISS still out-entertains them all…no disrespect intended to those amazing bands. If you can get a chance to see KISS in what, they say, is their final tour…DO IT!

Concert Rating – 5 of 5 Stars
Venue – Five Points Amphitheater, Irvine, CA
Date – 9 September 2021

SET LIST

Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin)

Detroit Rock City
Shout It Out Loud
Deuce
War Machine
Heaven’s On Fire
I Love It Loud
Lick It Up
Calling Dr. Love
Say Yeah
Cold Gin
Guitar Solo (Tommy Thayer)
Tears Are Falling
Psycho Circus
Drum Solo (Eric Singer)
100,000 Years
God of Thunder
Love Gun
I Was Made For Loving You
Black Diamond

ENCORE
Beth
Rock And Roll All Nite
(Set cut short due to lightning)

Author Profile

Nemesis

Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.

He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.