KISS and DEF LEPPARD Pre-Sale Password, North American Tour Announced

Gosh, do I feel like a loser for being away from things for a bit, so thanks for coming back! Obviously, the Concert Calendar needs some updating and I've got the usual backlog of things to post, but look for some cool things to come including some unreleased audio recordings (more on this to come!). For now, among a recently rediscovered stash of live recordings from the late 80s and early 90s are ones from Kiss, Def Leppard, and Badlands.

As you may have heard by now, Kiss and Def Leppard are teaming up for an extensive North American co-headlining tour this summer that runs from late June through the end of August. The itinerary includes a stop at the Target Center in Minneapolis on August 17; this is one of the few indoor shows of the tour if you prefer those to outdoor ones like I do.

Tickets for the Minneapolis date go on sale tomorrow Friday, March 21 at 12:00 noon CDT, but there is a 12-hour presale from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm CDT today, Thursday, March 20. Head on over to AXS and enter the password TONGUE.

Here is the complete list of the Kiss and Def Leppard dates:

June 23 - West Valley City, UT, USANA Amphitheater
June 25 - Denver, CO, Pepsi Center
June 27 - Ridgefield, WA, Sleep Country Amphitheater
June 29 - Auburn, WA, White River Amphitheater
July 2 - Concord, CA, Concord Paviliion
July 3 - Wheatland, CA, Sleep Train Amphitheater
July 5 - Irvine, CA, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
July 6 - Chula Vista, CA, Sleep Train Amphitheater
July 8 - Los Angeles, CA, The Forum
July 9 - Phoenix, AZ, Ak-Chin Pavilion
July 12 - Austin, TX, Austin 360 Amphitheater
July 13 - Dallas, TX, Gexa Energy Pavilion
July 15 - Cincinnati, OH, Riverbend Music Center
July 16 - Nashville, TX, Bridgestone Arena
July 18 - Atlanta, GA, Aaron's Amphitheater at Lakewood
July 19 - Charlotte, NC, PNC Music Pavilion
July 20 - Raleigh, NC, Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
July 22 - West Palm Beach, FL, Cruzan Amphitheatre
July 23 - Tampa, FL, MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre
July 25 - Bristow, VA, Jiffy Lube Live
July 26 - Holmdel, NJ, PNC Bank Arts Center
August 1 - Mansfield, MA, Xfinity Center
August 2 - Atlantic City, NJ, Boardwalk Hall
August 3 - Camden, NJ, Susquehanna Bank Center
August 5 - Saratoga Springs, NY, Saratoga Performing Arts Center
August 6 - Wantagh, NY, Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre
August 8 - Virginia Beach, VA, Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
August 9 - Scranton, PA, Pavilion at Montage Mountain
August 10 - Hartford, CT, Xfinity Theatre
August 12 - Toronto, ON, Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
August 13 - Darien, NY, Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
August 15 - East Troy, WI, Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 16 - Tinley Park, IL, First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
August 17 - Minneapolis, MN, Target Center
August 20 - Des Moines, IA, Wells Fargo Arena
August 22 - Noblesville, IN, Klipsch Music Center
August 23 - Clarkston, MI, DTE Energy Music Theatre
August 24 - Burgettstown, PA, First Niagara Pavilion
August 26 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH, Blossom Music Center
August 28 - Maryland Heights, MO, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
August 29 - Tulsa, OK, BOK Center
August 31 - Woodlands, TX, Cynthia Wood Mitchell Pavilion

In Concert This Week - August 23, 2012

For once in a long time it seems there’s not an overload of concerts this week, but there’s some good ones!

Tonight, Thursday, August 23, local nü-metal crew Blue Felix plays a free show at Neisen’s in Savage.

It’s been a while since Canada’s Into Eternity has visited, but they are back with new singer Amanda Kiernan (who has replaced Stu Block, now the singer of Iced Earth) at Station 4 in St. Paul on Friday, August 24 with support from locals Cold Colours, Climactic, and Northsky.

Saturday, August 25 is an awesome night of death metal at Station 4 in St. Paul as Canadian heavyweights Kataklysm headline an impressive bill with Origin, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Vital Remains, and Rose Funeral. Origin leveled Station 4 back on May 17 (review with pictures here), so don’t miss then this time!

Click photo to see more pictures of Origin (56).

I’ve never counted the number of times Poison frontman/celebrity Bret Michaels plays solo dates here in a year, but it’s a lot. He’s back again for a solo acoustic show at The Pourhouse in Minneapolis on Sunday, August 26. Bret is performing as part of the Breathe Easy Music Fest II, also featuring the Tim Mahoney Band, Cole Allen Band, Crankshaft And The Gear Grinders, Saving Starz, BKS, and Clifton Wales, which is a benefit event for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. According to a great article in the Stillwater Patch, this festival was originally scheduled for last month outdoors at the home of organizer Rob Olson in Lake Elmo but was cancelled after he mistakenly killed his 40,000 square foot lawn with a grass-killing herbicide! Not only did The Pourhouse offer the venue free of charge for the event, but Scott’s (the lawn care company) offered to restore Olson’s lawn for next summer’s festival and provided the money to book Bret Michaels.

Christian metalcore outfit Mychildren Mybride play an all ages show on Tuesday, August 28 at The Garage in Burnsville with Betrayal, Lions Lions, and Famous Last Words.

If you’re willing to suffer the parking and crowd at the Minnesota State Fair, Kiss and Mötley Crüe have sold-out co-headlining concert at the State Fair Grandstand in St. Paul on Wednesday, August 29. Support will come from England’s The Treatment.

KISS - From The Vault

Kiss played at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand last night, and although I didn't go I thought it'd be fun to reminisce about some past times that I've seen the legendary rockers. One of the very first concerts I went to was Kiss and Dokken in March 1985 in Dubuque, Iowa at the Five Flags Center, a small arena. Kiss had recently recruited Bruce Kulick to replace guitarist Mark St. John in support of Animalize, and Dokken was just starting to get some legs with Tooth And Nail. Me and my junior high school friends were too young to drive, so my friend's parents drove a carload of us 90 minutes to Dubuque for this. My friend's stepfather who drove us later went on to become a United States Congressman, haha! We thought it was funny that a small crowd was protesting the "Satanic and evil" Kiss outside the venue. Tooth And Nail is easily one of my favorite 80's albums, and Dokken tore the roof off playing most of the album, including "Heartless Heart", "Tooth And Nail", "Don't Close Your Eyes", "Just Got Lucky", "When Heaven Comes Down", "Into The Fire", and "Alone Again". Kiss blew we away, too, and I remember them playing a great set that included "Firehouse", "Black Diamond", "Under The Gun", and many, many of the usual favorites.

I didn't see Kiss again for another five years, however, I caught them three times on the Hot In The Shade tour in 1990. The first two times were in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Iowa (I posted an uncirculated audio bootleg of the Cedar Rapids show here) with two of the worst opening acts you could have asked for, Faster Pussycat and Slaughter. For the second leg of the tour, Winger replaced Faster Pussycat and Kiss changed around the set list a little bit (they brought back "I Was Made For Loving You"). By the time I saw this show in East Troy, Wisconsin, Slaughter had taken off in a huge way. The pyramid stage set for Kiss on this tour was completely over the top!

The Revenge album was the first album from Kiss that had excited me in a long time, so I was glad Kiss returned to Cedar Rapids in 1992. Great White and Trixter opened this show, but we got there late and missed both bands. Kiss never disappoints, so this was another great show although one without any surprises.

It's hard to believe that it's been 14 years now since I last saw Kiss. This 1996 show in Kansas City sold out instantly because this was the first reunion tour with makeup and the four original members. Despite all the hype, it probably wasn't any better than any of the other Kiss shows I've seen. Unfortunately, this show has become legendary because Alice In Chains was the opener and it was the last public performance of singer Layne Staley. That's Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell's signature on the ticket stub. I met him in 2001 at a club in San Diego before one of his solo shows where he also autographed my We Die Young EP.

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Kiss - May 23, 1990, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Kiss continues to support last year's Sonic Boom release with a show tomorrow night at the Minnesota State Fair. To get you ready, here's an uncirculated audio recording of Kiss in 1990 on the Hot In The Shade tour. Of course, a healthy dose of songs from the mid-70's era are played, and this tour featured all of their hits from the 80's that aren't played much anymore, such as "Forever", "Tears Are Falling", "Heaven's On Fire", "Hide Your Heart", "Rise To It", and "Crazy, Crazy Nights". The real gems here are "Fits Like A Glove" and "Under The Gun". The tape was switched for the encores, and unfortunately that master tape hasn't been found yet. The final three that are missing, based upon the set list from other shows on this leg of the tour, are "Detroit Rock City", "I Want You", and "Rock And Roll All Nite".

Kiss - 1990-05-23, Cedar Rapids, IA, Five Seasons Center

90 minutes, audience recording, mp3@128 kbps

1. Intro

2. I Stole Your Love

3. Deuce

4. Heaven's On Fire

5. Rise To It

6. Fits Like A Glove

7. Crazy, Crazy Nights

8. Strutter

9. Calling Dr. Love

10. Hide Your Heart

11. Black Diamond

12. Shout It Out Loud

13. Lick It Up

14. Cold Gin

15. Forever

16. God Of Thunder

17. Under The Gun

18. I Love It Loud

19. Tears Are Falling

20. Detroit Rock City (missing)

21. I Want You (missing)

22. Rock And Roll All Nite (missing)

This was recorded from the center-front seats with a Sony WM-D6 and external stereo shotgun microphones, and each song was individually mastered. The sound is good for an audience recording and is very listenable, probably a generous B grade. This is definitely worth downloading if you're a fan. Sorry, a higher bit rate version is not available. The download link is in the text file:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=H8GJUW51

As always, I encourage sharing, but please share the link to this post rather than the text file or the download link. Thanks and enjoy!

Kiss performs this Saturday, September 4 at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in St. Paul. Support will come from The Envy.

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Kiss and Forbidden Concert Announcements

Kiss just announced a performance on Saturday, September 4 at the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon through Ticketmaster.

Reunited Bay Area thrash master Forbidden will headline a show at Station 4 in St. Paul on Monday, November 29 with Evile, Gama Bomb, and Bonded By Blood.