Fire, Blood & Unity for All - The Bend Magazine

Fire, Blood & Unity for All

The 13th stop on KISS' final world tour was Corpus Christi and the show was much more than just fire, blood, and rock 'n roll

By: Kylie Cooper  Photos by: Carlos Cooper

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I’ll start by saying I really only know one song by thebrlegendary, boundary-breaking, American rock band, KISS. When I think aboutbrKISS, I think about the scene in “Dazed and Confused,” when all the kids startbrarriving to the moon tower kegger. Needless to say, ending up at a KISS concertbron a Tuesday night wasn’t in my calendar when the week started. However, whenbrduty calls, you go – and boy was my husband excited about it. 

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The show, which took place at the American Bank Center thisbrpast Tuesday night, was the 13th stop on the band’s world tour,brconsisting of 105 shows throughout North America, Europe, and Oceania. Thebrtour, entitled “One Last KISS: End of the Road World Tour,” will be the bands’brlast hoorah. The entire arena was packed, floor to ceiling. The people inbrattendance were of vast variety. However, all there for the same reason: thebrundeniable fact that if anyone can put on a show, it is KISS.

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There was a small seat debacle as I walked through the islebrto find row FLE, seat 8. A nice man in full Gene Simmons makeup, painted bluebrjeans, and a tight leather vest helped me find the place where I belonged andbrkindly informed the people who were in my seat that they were not in the rightbrplace. I thanked the Gene lookalike for his help and sat – waiting for the surebrto be theatrical performance to begin.

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The lights went out, the screams roared, and four men, inbrtheir ever-recognizable studded leather uniforms, descended from the ceiling to the songbr“Detroit Rock City,” with fire and all. Videos of past concerts played on thebrscreen behind them as they performed hit after hit – a real time portfolio ofbrthe band’s most classic and beloved works.

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Fire spiting, blood running out of mouths, face makeup, andbrmore. Everything you would hope or dream of a KISS show consisting of wasbrpresent in the American Bank Center that night. However, the aspect of thebrshow, in its entirety, that stuck with me the most once leaving, was thebrunderlying theme of unity, and the fact that for tonight, we were all there asbrone.

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Throughout the show, Paul Stanley, said various things like,br“tonight is the night we forget about all the bad news in the world,” and “lookbrat yourself, you are all beautiful.” Positivity flowed out of each member asbrthey reminded us that, although we are all different, we were gatheredbrthere together as family – KISS’ family.

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The feeling I got when panning the crowd was almostbrpeaceful. That sounds weird to say considering the music is anything butbrtranquil. Yet the joy seen in people’s faces when yelling the every single word to each song was refreshing. This band, these songs, they mean something to everyone.brWhile I only think of high school kids in Austin, TX drinking beer at the moonbrtower, others may think of owning their first record or painting their facebrwith black and white makeup for Halloween. They allowed people to feel knownbrand appreciated. And, while KISS might be extra in the most rock ‘n roll way,brthey gifted everyone in attendance that night with something very special – abrchance to feel both welcomed and belonged.

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