Photos and Review by Jim LaValley
Galleries: The Dead Daisies, KISS
Walking from the parking garage to the venue you knew the hottest band in the world was in town. From the people on the streets to the people around the arena, many Kiss Army fans dressed the part.
Kiss rolled into Worcester at the DCU Center with their “Freedom to Rock Tour” !!
Kiss hasn’t played in Worcester, MA since 1996 with all original members. For this tour Ace Frehley and Peter Criss weren’t there, with Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer joining the band with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
The super-group Dead Daisies (formed in 2012) opened the show with a solid setlist to set the Rock-n-Roll tone for the night. The band has transformed over the years and the current lineup consist of a single founding member, David Lowy from Austrailia. Marco Mendoza is on bass, formerly of Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, and Ted Nugent. Brian Tichy on drums, John Corabi on Vocals, and Doug Aldrich on guitar and who has also played with Whitesnake, DIO, and Glenn Hughes.
The Dead daisies performed a fantastic set with a solid rhythm section by Brian Tichy and Marco Mendoza. Their setlist was a mixture of well-known covers and tracks from their new album “Make Some Noise”.
The Kiss Army fans inside dressed the part. Even little children had Kiss make-up on. At lights out for Kiss, Gene came on with the classic intro “You wanted the best you got the best, the hottest band in the world…..Kiss !!!” and then the curtain dropped with accompanying explosions. Eric Singer on drums was elevated via a lift with his kit and Gene, Paul, and Tommy were on a lift in front of the drums as the curtain dropped. As they descended onto the stage they started the show with Detroit Rock City.
The sound was great, the vocals were right on, and the stage show didn’t hold back either. The pyrotechnics and lights were synched to form an incredible visual while the band jammed. Gene’s classic spitting blood and fire routines were also a huge hit since back in the 1970’s. Paul zip-lined out to the sound board on a spinning circular stage to perform Love Gun, which gave the fans in the back a great view.
Before the show and towards the end of the show Kiss honored the local military by donating a check for $150,000 to the US Chamber of Commerce “Hire Our Heroes Program”. Two local veterans received the check on stage joined by Worcester’s Mayor Joe Petty who presented Kiss with a “Key to the City” as the band played a guitar version of “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
Their setlist was filled with great classics and their execution was solid. They still have it !!
Kiss Setlist:
- Detroit Rock City
- Deuce
- Shout It Out Loud
- Do You Love Me
- I Love It Loud
- Flaming Youth
- God of Thunder
- Psycho Circus
- Shock Me
- Cold Gin
- Lick It Up
- War Machine
- Love Gun
- Black Diamond
Encore:
- Beth
- The Star-Spangled Banner
- Rock and Roll All Nite
Dead Daisies Setlist:
- Midnight Moses
- Mexico
- Make Some Noise
- Fortunate Son
- Lock ‘n’ Load
- Long Way to Go
- Join Together
- The Last Time I Saw the Sun
- Devil Out of Time
- Helter Skelter