Iconic American rock band KISS performed their final show at Newcastle's Utilita Arena on Tuesday, June 6, and this reviewer was lucky enough to attend their explosive farewell.
After previously seeing KISS at the arena on two separate occasions, in 2010 and 2019, I was massively excited to experience the rock and roll extravaganza for the third and final time.
On entering the arena, the first thing I noticed was how much the merchandise had gone up in price. Programmes were £35 and T-shirts were £45, which seems massively excessive and put me off buying anything, as I usually would at a concert.
Read more: American rock band Kiss perform on stage in the North East for the final time
But before the Starchild, the Demon, the Spaceman and the Catman took to the stage, their were two support acts who got the almost 10,000 people entering the arena hyped up for the spectacle ahead.
The first of which was The Wild Things, a London band fronted by Sydney Rae White, a singer and actress who has been in the Netflix show Uncle and the action film American Assassin (2017).
The band is comprised of Sydney's husband Rob Kendrick on guitar, bass player and Sydney's brother Cameron White and drummer Pete Wheeler.
The Wild Things were a great opening act, with a Paramore-esque sound that was enhanced massively by Sydney's expressive and engaging vocals. The personalities of the other band members shone through also, with guitarist Rob Kendrick's fantastic blue hair another personal highlight.
The second act were Skindred, a reggae metal band from South Wales who offer a brilliant mix of heavy metal guitars and hip hop style rapping from frontman Benji Webbe.
Skindred, also made up of Daniel Pugsley, Mikey Demus and Arya Goggin, really brought the crowd to life with their reggae metal hits, which were connected by crowd interaction segments which kept the audience involved.
Many would think they were a strange choice to open for KISS given their difference in styles, however I think that they were great at getting people pumped up for what was to come.
Then it was time for the main event, and as the curtain was brought down onto the stage to mask the band getting into position, the fans anxiously awaited their first glimpse of the iconic makeup and outrageous high heels.
The show got off to a fantastic start, as the band, made up of vocalist Paul Stanley, bass player Gene Simmons, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, were lowered onto the stage while suspended on platforms, and performing their massive hit Detroit Rock City.
This was followed up by some of their classic hits from their first and second albums released in 1974, such as Deuce, Hotter than Hell and Black Diamond.
With the two original members of the band, Stanley and Simmons, now in their early 70s, it is no surprise that they had to go off stage for a quick break every so often. What KISS do very well is keep audiences entertained during these breaks, with solos from Thayer on guitar or Singer on the drums.
At times, these solo segments were some of the most entertaining parts of the show, with Eric Singer rising into the sky on his platform when playing the drums, Tommy Thayer's guitar shooting fireworks out of its neck, imitating a rocket launcher, and bassist Gene Simmons breathing fire and spitting blood like only he knows how.
Speaking of Gene Simmons, another highlight was his rendition of God of Thunder, which saw him raised above the stage and sing in a demonic voice that fits his persona perfectly. A special mention also has to be given to frontman Paul Stanley, who can still dance around and perform as enthusiastically as ever at the age of 71.
Stanley was not just content to dance on stage however, as he took a ride on a zipline to a platform in the middle of the arena, to be directly in the centre of the crowd as he performed late 70's hits I Was Made for Lovin' You and Love Gun.
After going off stage and coming back for an encore in typical KISS fashion, drummer Eric Singer sang a poignant and emotional rendition of their famous rock ballad, Beth, after he rose from the stage on a piano.
After closing the show with Rock and Roll All Nite, KISS came to the front of the stage, bowed down to the audience, and said their final goodbye to a city where they had rocked out many times, including at the City Hall in 1983 and 1984.
As a fan since I was young, it felt like the perfect conclusion, seeing the band put on an epic show one final time, and looking as cool as they always have when doing so.
As a proud member of the KISS Army, myself and 10,000 other people in Newcastle had the privilege of being able to witness such an entertaining and fitting send off, for one of the greatest rock bands of all time.
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