KISS Bids Farewell To The Road In Final Concert At Madison Square Garden

The End Of The World Tour Land in NYC for Its Grand Finale

Rock N’ Roll isn’t dead, at least it wasn’t Friday and Saturday night in New York City’s Madison Square Garden and for an entire week leading up to the grand finale. Music icons and rock music greats KISS are hanging up their boots and washing their face paint off but not before the band took over the Big Apple for almost an entire week. The #KISSNYCTAKEOVER had a little bit of everything from KISS taxis, KISS branded NYC Metrocards for public transportation, pop-up stores, a light show on the Empire State Building, a KISS night at the New York Rangers game, and even free KISS tattoos at Inked NYC Tattoo studios.

KISS is truly an exceptional band, between 1973 and 1977 alone they produced an incredible amount of material including records, books, and of course live shows. The band in a 4 year period created 6 studio albums, 2 live albums, and a comic book all while still playing gigs. Simply one of the hardest-working bands we’ve ever seen and now 50 years later, the touring chapter of the band is coming to an end. 

We are incredibly honored we had the opportunity to attend and review the final KISS show at Madison Square Garden, the event was a spectacle. As I walked down 7th Avenue and 34th Street and headed to the world’s most famous arena, the streets were filled with KISS fans and bootleggers everywhere selling t-shirts. The energy was tangible, and electrifying. You can just feel we were in for a special night. 

As I arrived in the arena the merch booths were packed, fans eager to pick up limited edition merchandise, a staple for any KISS fan. Some of the items included signed drum heads from Drummer Eric Singer, Tommy Thayer signed 8×10 photos with guitar picks, limited special event posters and programs and so much more. 

Inside the arena things were getting ready to kick off musically, the night was being televised on PPV.com for a small $40 fee which was much cheaper than what resellers were selling seats for some tickets headed upwards of $1,000. The event was hosted by Allison Hagendorf (Former head of rock at Spotify, music journalist, and host of The Allison Hagendorf Show). Allison interviewed Gene, Paul, Eric, and Tommy as well as fans of the band like Criss Angel who was in attendance, the band’s producers and co-writers, and of course the KISS Kids!

Speaking of KISS kids, in a very cool moment things came full circle as Paul Stanley’s son Evan Stanley’s band Amber Wild opened the show. The band also features Them Evils bassist Jake Massanari. The band may be new but they look and sound like veterans, delivering a hard-hitting, energetic, and masterful performance. 

Evan Stanley addressed the NYC crowd saying “Thank you for showing up early, this is surreal, I know to you he’s Paul but to me he’s Dad. I’m so happy I get the opportunity to share this special night with him.” Amber Wild’s sound is hard rock with tasty guitar licks and slamming drum and bass. Evan’s voice is fantastic, a talent he surely inherited from his father besides the voice he also nails the showmanship category, a trait many vocalists lack these days. 

The band recently released two tracks at the start of the tour on October 19th according to Apple Music. The songs are titled “Breakout” and “Silver”. After seeing them live and checking out the two studio versions of the songs I’m personally looking forward to hearing more recordings. 

During “Silver ” Evan asked the crowd to take out their cell phones and light up the arena to which the crowd gladly obliged. The band capped off the six-song setlist with the track “Lover” not only did the KISS crowd enjoy the performance I can’t think of any other band to open for Kiss as they say goodbye and the next generation of the KISS family comes out musically. 

As we patiently waited for KISS, which was about a 40-minute set change, understandable for the pure size of the production. Allison continued interviews on what we will call the B-stage as well as her previously recorded interviews with the band aired on the arena screens. As it was time for KISS to take the stage, bass rumbled throughout the arena as we could see the band leave their dressing room and head to the stage. 

As the show begins a giant banner covers the stage we hear “Alright New York, You wanted the best, you got the best”. The curtain drops and the mighty KISS begins to lower down on platforms as pyro blows up from what feels like every inch of the stage. The first track of the setlist is “Detroit Rock City” before going into “Shout It Out Loud” with Shout It lit up over the drumkit as well as KISS in big letters. 

Gene Simmons tongue out spit dripping, this is KISS, this is Rock N’ Roll. As always KISS sounds perfect, loud, clear, and still a ton of energy on the stage. They do play for nearly 3 hours after all. Next, they dive into “Deuce” and “War Machine”. After all these years the guy’s chemistry is still very much there. Often Gene, Tommy, and Paul meet in the middle of the stage as flames erupt behind them. 

It’s very difficult to imagine any other band putting on a rock show once you see KISS, it’s just this band does it bigger, heavier, and more chaotic than anyone else. The band even puts branded light-up bracelets at every seat to make fans even more of the show. During “I Love It Loud” Gene breathes fire and during “Love Gun” Paul zip lines across the arena to the B-stage. 

The show included a bass solo in which Gene spits blood, “Makin Love” which is followed by Paul and Tommy dueling guitars with one another, and in between all that you get giant KISS balloons falling from the ceiling and more confetti than you’ve seen in your entire life. This wasn’t just a farewell, this was a Rock N’ Roll party thrown like only KISS can do it. 

One of the highlights and bittersweet moments of the night was the band taking its final bow, but that wasn’t the end of the night. KISS kicked off an encore with “Beth” which found drummer Eric Singer on piano and vocals before they threw drumsticks out into the crowd. Of course, the band included “ Rock and Roll All Nite” in the set and the crowd went absolutely nuts as confetti flew. 

As the show ended, the band announced that though the band was done touring in the physical form, it wasn’t quite the end of KISS. The band introduced KISS avatars which performed “God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You” on the screens. And just like that we saw KISS for the final time on stage at Madison Square Garden, there are very few bands that are as Iconic as KISS that have lasted as long as KISS and have been so important to people’s lives.

From all of us at Shutter 16 Magazine, thank you for the honor and privilege of covering your shows, albums, and books throughout the years, and thank you for allowing us to rock with you one last time. KISS will undoubtedly live on forever.

See the Full Gallery of the Night Here!

If you happened to capture any shots of the night, feel free to tag us on social media at Shutter 16 Magazine and throw in #Shutter16 and #TwitFromThePit for the world to see.