Alive II Tour
| Tour by Kiss | |
| Associated album | Alive II |
|---|---|
| Start date | November 15, 1977 |
| End date | April 2, 1978 |
| Legs | 2 |
| No. of shows | 56 |
| Kiss concert chronology | |
The Alive II Tour was a concert tour by Kiss, and was the follow-up to the Love Gun Tour which ended in early September.
History
[edit]The Alive II Tour saw Kiss perform 5 sold-out nights at Tokyo's Budokan, breaking their previous record of 4 one year earlier, as well as breaking the previous record by The Beatles. They also played three sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in their hometown of New York City, and multiple nights in several other cities, including San Antonio; Landover, Maryland; Chicago; Detroit; and Providence, Rhode Island. The audience for the band were mainly young teenage crowds.[1] AC/DC was the opening act for several concerts on this tour.[2] The costumes and stage show were carried over from the Love Gun Tour, with minor changes made to the setlist.
During the show in Pittsburgh, Peter Criss had passed out in the middle of the concert. After a brief intermission, he returned to finish the show with his bandmates.[3] The band would also be snowed in during the show in Richfield.[4]
In the tour program for the band's final tour, Simmons reflected on the tour:
The Alive II stage show was a big production spectacle. We realized fans were paying as much for a concert, which only lasted for an hour or two, as you would for a record album which you could play over and over again for the price of a concert ticket. A concert was over with the snap of a finger so what are the memories you take from it? We thought visuals should be a big element of a Kiss concert and we were constantly brainstorming about what we could do in the show.[5]
Reception
[edit]Barry Paris, a reporter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who attended the Civic Arena show in Pittsburgh, gave the show a positive review, stating: "Kiss (whose members acknowledge that their music is 'nothing profound') is a likable act not so much because of but in spite of its gimmickry. The crucial factor is their good (but not great) musicianship, which amounts to a B-plus/A-minus type of rock 'n roll and gosh darn, how can you not help but like the fresh-faced fans they attract?".[1]
Setlist
[edit]- "I Stole Your Love"
- "King of the Night Time World"
- "Ladies Room"
- "Firehouse"
- "Love Gun"
- "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll"
- "Makin' Love"
- "Christine Sixteen"
- "Shock Me"
- "I Want You"
- "Calling Dr. Love"
- "Shout It Out Loud"
- "God of Thunder"
- "Rock and Roll All Nite"
Encore
The setlist for this tour was nearly identical to that of the Love Gun Tour, with the only exceptions being that "King of the Night Time World" and "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" took the place of "Take Me" and "Hooligan".[6]
Tour dates
[edit]| Date | City | Country | Venue | Support act(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States[6] | ||||
| November 15, 1977 | Oklahoma City | United States | Myriad Convention Center | Detective |
| November 17, 1977 | Denver | McNichols Sports Arena | ||
| November 19, 1977 | Abilene | Taylor County Expo Center | ||
| November 20, 1977 | Lubbock | Lubbock Municipal Coliseum | ||
| November 22, 1977 | San Antonio | Freeman Coliseum | ||
| November 23, 1977 | ||||
| November 26, 1977 | Tulsa | Tulsa Convention Center | ||
| November 27, 1977 | Kansas City | Kemper Arena | ||
| November 29, 1977 | Des Moines | Iowa Veterans Memorial Auditorium | ||
| November 30, 1977 | Omaha | Omaha Civic Auditorium | ||
| December 2, 1977 | St. Paul | St. Paul Civic Center | ||
| December 3, 1977 | Madison | Dane County Expo Coliseum | ||
| December 6, 1977 | Wichita | Henry Levitt Arena | ||
| December 7, 1977 | St. Louis | The Checkerdome | ||
| December 9, 1977 | Memphis | Mid-South Coliseum | AC/DC | |
| December 11, 1977 | Indianapolis | Market Square Arena | ||
| December 12, 1977 | Louisville | Freedom Hall | ||
| December 14, 1977 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | Detective | |
| December 15, 1977 | Piper | |||
| December 16, 1977 | ||||
| December 19, 1977 | Landover | Capital Centre | AC/DC | |
| December 20, 1977 | Piper | |||
| December 22, 1977 | Philadelphia | The Spectrum | ||
| December 27, 1977 | Baton Rouge | Riverside Centroplex Arena | ||
| December 29, 1977 | Birmingham | BJCC Arena | ||
| December 30, 1977 | Atlanta | The Omni | ||
| December 31, 1977 | Greensboro | Greensboro Coliseum | ||
| January 3, 1978 | Pembroke Pines | Hollywood Sportatorium | Detective | |
| January 5, 1978 | Charlotte | Charlotte Coliseum | Nantucket | |
| January 6, 1978 | Columbia | Carolina Coliseum | ||
| January 8, 1978 | Richfield | Richfield Coliseum | The Rockets | |
| January 11, 1978 | Huntington | Huntington Civic Center | ||
| January 12, 1978 | Cincinnati | Riverfront Coliseum | ||
| January 13, 1978 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh Civic Arena | ||
| January 15, 1978 | Chicago | Chicago Stadium | ||
| January 16, 1978 | ||||
| January 18, 1978 | Lexington | Rupp Arena | ||
| January 20, 1978 | Detroit | Olympia Stadium | ||
| January 21, 1978 | ||||
| January 23, 1978 | Evansville | Roberts Municipal Stadium | ||
| January 25, 1978 | Buffalo | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium | ||
| January 27, 1978 | Springfield | Springfield Civic Center | ||
| January 28, 1978 | New Haven | New Haven Coliseum | ||
| January 30, 1978 | Philadelphia | The Spectrum | ||
| February 2, 1978 | Providence | Providence Civic Center | ||
| February 3, 1978 | ||||
| Japan[6] | ||||
| March 28, 1978 | Tokyo | Japan | Budokan | Bow Wow |
| March 29, 1978 | ||||
| March 31, 1978 | ||||
| April 1, 1978 | ||||
| April 2, 1978 | ||||
Box office score data
[edit]| Date | City | Venue | Attendance | Gross | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 17, 1977 | Denver, United States | McNichols Sports Arena | 10,586 | $94,852 | [7] |
| November 27, 1977 | Kansas City, United States | Kemper Arena | 13,613 | $100,151 | [8] |
| January 23, 1978 | Evansville, United States | Roberts Stadium | 14,144 | $109,298 | [9] |
| January 25, 1978 | Buffalo, United States | Memorial Auditorium | 17,500 | $112,636 | |
| January 27, 1978 | Springfield, United States | Civic Center | 10,395 | $72,765 | |
| January 28, 1978 | New Haven, United States | Coliseum | 10,407 | $76,000 |
Personnel
[edit]- Paul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Gene Simmons – vocals, bass
- Peter Criss – drums, vocals
- Ace Frehley – lead guitar, vocals
References
[edit]- ^ a b Paris, Barry (January 16, 1978). "Kiss: A Festival of Blood, Fire, and Music". Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. pp. 1, 7. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
- ^ Clarke, Patrick (May 17, 2021). "KISS' Gene Simmons on first meeting AC/DC's Angus Young: "He didn't have front teeth"". NME. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ Mervis, Scott (March 26, 2019). "Kiss: Rocking Pittsburgh for 45 years with blood and fire". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ Smith, Troy L. (March 9, 2021). "KISS' Blizzard of 1978 show: Rock & roll all nite, snow every day in Richfield". Cleveland. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ (2019). End of the Road World Tour Program, pg. 14.
- ^ a b c Gooch, Curt; Suhs, Jeff (2002). Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-8322-5.
- ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 3, 1977. p. 42. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
- ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 89, no. 49. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 10, 1977. p. 48. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
- ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 90, no. 6. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. February 11, 1978. p. 36. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
Sources
[edit]- Gooch, Curt; Suhs, Jeff (2002). Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-8322-5.
