SONIC WAVES...Album Reviews

KISS: Knoxville Rock City (1979)

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KISS at the end of 1979 were limping home to the finish line as the Dynasty Tour was on its last legs. I’m sure it’s no secret that the band was divided into two. Gene and Paul (counting cash) and Peter and Ace ( in party mode ask Tom Synder) were coming apart at the seems but before Peter Criss got the boot in early ’80 I was recently able to acquire this soundboard show from Knoxville and hear for myself if the shows were sloppy KISS or were they keeping it together for the KISS Army.

The setlist featured here is the one I heard a month later (Duluth Minnesota) for myself as a 12 year old but for some reason ‘ ‘Beth” is not on here (but was played that night). The sound is not bad considering but the sound guy at times is cranking up the guitars, turning them down, jacking up the vocals, turning them down.
But as a fan it’s cool to hear Move On from Stanley’s 78 solo album. (were they piping in background vocals during the middle section before the chorus?) The biggie disco hit “I Was Made For Lovin You ” is played at breakneck speed. Tempos are sped up throughout the album’s 15 tracks but it doesn’t matter in the end as KISS didn’t care as I’m sure they all wanted this tour to end. For myself though it’s a pretty cool reminder of what I had heard at my first KISS show around this time as a 12 year old.
(On a side note I love the cover as that’s Singer and Thayer featured in the makeup. Love bootlegs)

14 thoughts on “KISS: Knoxville Rock City (1979)”

  3. I still remember back in Germany when I was in fifth grade, which is at around the time you saw them, Kiss were pretty popular. There were like four or five guys in my class who worshipped them and also went to a Kiss concert. One of them came back with a drop of blood on their jeans jacket, supposedly spit by Gene Simmons. Safe to assume that jacket got never wash thereafter! 🙂

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      1. A little fun fact. One of those classmates who was a big Kiss fan picked up the guitar and eventually formed a heavy metal band with some guys. They once played a gig at a school party and weren’t bad, as far as I can remember. They guy ended up becoming an apprentice working in a bank and while still listening to metal (not sure about performing) also liking Rick Astley – now that’s what I call an eclectic taste!😆

        Well, my former classmate wasn’t the only rocker who liked Astley. Dave Grohl did as well and even invited Astley on stage once during a Foo Fighters concert where they performed a grungy rendition of “Never Gonna Give You Up” – I love Dave Grohl who always seems to be open to play music he likes, even when it clearly falls outside his core wheelhouse!

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  4. “Tempos are sped up throughout the album’s 15 tracks” ….cocaine is a hell of a drug! Just kidding dude…I think. I’m glad they have all of these board recordings man…that is so cool for the fans. Some sloppy is alright…that is what I liked about Ace…he made sloppy sound good.

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  5. You are fully into the bootlegs. Of the artwork shown, I’m a big fan of the drawings on the record circle.

    For all the stuff that Paul and Gene have said about Ace and Peter, wasted or not wasted, they still delivered live.

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