Just back from another crazy run of travel and rock insanity over the last few days. It started Thursday night with the HOF ceremony in Brooklyn. If you followed on Twitter you saw a ton of great photos and coverage I sent out as it happened from the very first row of the arena. I also have the complete Kiss induction speeches on my Iphone from the first row. I will post when I can. It was a great night and I am grateful Ace and Peter included me among a very very small amount of people they had sit with them at their tables. The HOF only gives every inductee a plus one for free. Everyone else they bring as guests must pay an extreme amount of money per seat. Ace and Peter’s tables were at opposite ends of the very first row. Nothing in front but the stage. Just an awesome view. I mostly hung with Ace and sat with him since that was where my seat was. But I did walk over and sit with Peter for a bit as well. The Kiss table with the current band and Bruce was slightly behind Peter’s. I did say hi to Bruce briefly but there was no interaction with any of the other guys which honestly I did not expect or seek out. I was there as a guest of Ace and Peter’s to celebrate this historic and long overdue moment. There was no real interaction I was aware of between Ace and Peter and Gene and Paul until they went up on stage. From my view it seemed at times awkward while they were all up there and at times okay. Obviously there was a ton of drama leading up to this with all kinds of things said from all corners, but in the end it was fairly uneventful as far as them all standing there and accepting. I thought they all looked good, said good stuff, and did the best they could under a fairly stressful build up to the induction. A few observations:
*Kiss was pretty much the only band who played by the rules and kept their speeches to the 2-3 minute time limit. They were up there maybe a total of 10 minutes. Most artists took a TON of time, especially the E Street Band.
*Tom Morello did a GREAT induction speech. Really fired up the Kiss fans and captured the moment perfectly!
*Paul Stanley’s speech was last and very very good. Loved how he called out the HOF
*Because Kiss choose not to perform they really ended up being somewhat of a footnote in a very long night. All the other acts had much longer inductions and played 3 songs or so. Kiss’s moment was all of 15 minutes total with a simple video package, Morello and the speeches. Could only think if Gene and Paul would have allowed just one song with the original four they could have blown the place up! Sucks to think what could have been.
*As a result of no performance from Kiss the Kiss fans in the building were much less than I expected. Maybe third biggest reaction from the crowd after E Street band and Nirvana to be honest. I also know some tickets were given away to help fill the building at the last minute. No way that happens if original four did even one song.
*The original four did pose for photos in the press room after their speeches but did not take questions. I tweeted out some of these shots which likely will be the last time the original four are photographed together.
*I was stunned in Gene’s speech when speaking about Ace how many guitarists try to imitate him but none come close. I’m sure Tommy Thayer sitting right there loved that!
*Ace stayed until the end of the very long night. He was asked to jam with Nirvana and Tom Morello to close the night on a cover of “Highway To Hell” but at the last second the jam was called off by the HOF because the event ran way too long. Ace was ready to go and even had his guitar with him! He would have been the only member of Kiss to play on stage if it had happened and was clearly bummed when it was cancelled.
*Bill Aucoin’s sister and partner were also at our table along with a photo of Bill. Ace said he was really thinking of Bill all night.
*Tommy, Eric, Vinnie, Mark, Bruce and Eric Carr were all mentioned during the induction to minimal reaction from the crowd. A few cheers, a few boos, and many cries of “Ace” and “Peter” from the stands.
*All four members of Kiss wore sunglasses on stage. Weird but I guess they thought it looked cool?
For me it was a weird night in the sense that I had been screaming so hard for so long like many fans to see this finally happen, but then we only got an abbreviated section for Kiss since they wouldn’t play. But there were also times I went back to being that kid in high school made fun of for liking this band and relished the moment and let out a cheer when they all stood on stage. It was sweet vindication for Kiss fans to see this happen right in front of the critics who tried to keep them out. But you can’t help but to think how much more special this night would have been if Kiss would have taken the stage to play. They were the only band to not have some music represented on the stage. As Kiss continues to inch closer to being a full time sanctioned tribute band (and that is what is in the works soon) I have to think this may have been the last great moment for fans of the original band to see them at least standing there one final time. So much more to discuss but that’s how I saw it. I’ll take your calls on all of this live Monday 6-10P ET on SiriusXM 39 TRUNKNation. Joe Elliot and Chris Von Rohr of Krokus will also be guests.
As of the rest of the night all the performances sounded good from the other artists inducted. I thought Joan Jett with Nirvana sounded really good and was a cool surprise.
My thanks also to Matt Swanson for his hospitality at the HOF event and the many fans I met that night who thanked me for pushing to help get Kiss and other hard rock bands in. The HOF still has so much wrong with it but progress being made with Alice, Rush and Kiss now in. Purple MUST go next!
Thanks to all in Mexico City and Puebla! Just returned home from live shows there this weekend with Don & Jim. Was a blast and the Mexican TMS fans were amazing and sold out both of our appearances. Thanks also to Christian Beristain and his entire team for having us and treating us well. We will be back Mexico, thank you!
See you live on the radio tomorrow night!
169 Responses
I thought in one of the photos posted that you, Peter, Ace & his girlfriend were at one table- did I not see that right?
Glad it went over well- the guys all put on a good show on stage. If you weren’t a KISS fan you wouldn’t really realize all the tumblings that have went on over the last two months.
I know Peter wears those purple glasses all the time, so not surprising to see him in them- Genie alway wears shades. I guess Paul and Ace thought they’d join the crowd.
So how did Peter’s award get broken? This is a hot topic on a lot of the KISS forums!
Ace always wears shade too, light bothers him, plus he looks really old with out them as they all do.
Ace looks like the Cowardly Lion. 😉
Peter wears those purple specs all the time- Gene looks old without his glasses too.
Paul was undoubtedly wearing his to avoid eye contact with Peter and Ace.
Can’t find any story of Peter’s award getting broken? Post a link please.
I’ve kind of been depressed ever since the induction, like I’m in mourning or something. The reality of KISS truly being over never hit me until I saw those speeches. Not much of a grand finale for a band that made a living giving us grand finales tour after tour their whole career.
My friend seems to think this could lead to another reunion but I just don’t see that happening. Even if somehow it did happen I’m not even sure it would be worth it at this point…considering Paul can barely sing now, not to mention can barely fit in his outfits lately. I think KISS is over, and so are the illusions of them being heroes. The way things turned out kind of makes me wish the reunion tour had never happened.
Ace is huge now…he’d have to drop 60 lbs to even think about it (which makes the RRHOF wanting the originals in makeup all the more ridiculous), Pete could barely get through the other tours and that was a near decade ago, Paul’s voice is shot and the man boobs are creeping, Gene the gigantor can barely move now…there will be no more tours with those 4, and their shouldn’t be.
However the Reunion tour was awesome, gave a whole new generation of seeing the real deal…nothing to be depressed about. Be thankful.
Yeah I’m thankful I got to see the originals in makeup, I just wish they had brought back the 77-78 stage design like they said they might do when the reunion was announced…getting to live out the Alive II experience is one part of the dream that remains unfulfilled. I wanted the staircases, the dragon, the descending cage lifts, the old stage logo…the whole nine yards. I did get to see the hottest band in the world though, six times…amen to that.
Wow! KISS finally in the RRHOF. Sucks that it was like blink and you’ll miss Kiss’s induction. I mean the band that influenced so many of the bands we have today and they barely get facetime or noticed all because they weren’t gonna be playing and because of all the drama and the hall not liking them. Just like you said all along, all four Kiss members got along and were nice to each other for the time they had to and when it was all said and done they all went their separate ways. I do like that Paul once again called out the RRHOF and told the truth about those guys and I just learned he tweeted yet again about the RRHOF about the RRHOF’s treatment towards them and they didn’t give them passes or a schedule. Dunno if that was true, maybe you know Eddie. He also said “Wenner and the rest are spineless weasels”. But as I look at his twitter page, I don’t see the tweet so he may have taken it down. Your thoughts?
I personally was happy to see the E Street Band inducted as I am a huge Bruce Springsteen fan but it felt weird that the E Street Band was inducted without Bruce Springsteen. I mean they were his backing band so without Bruce there would be no E Street band as far as I have always been aware. I know Bruce has been inducted as a solo artist but he should of also been inducted with the E Street Band! Also it was really cool seeing Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic play Nirvana stuff again from what I have seen on youtube video’s. Loved Joan Jett playing with them. Also loved that they played a full suprise set after the RRHOF ceremony. Seen a few video’s of that. Pretty amazing. Kinda just like old times. Small club, wild music, what could be better.
You say that the full tribute band might soon become a reality, do you think they will take their upcoming 40th anniversary tour to Europe one last time, maybe late 204 or 2015? As much as I prefer the original lineup and distaste the bashing of the original two over the past months and weeks, I must admit I would buy tickets just for sentimental reasons if I knew it would be the last time. When Gene and Paul first mentioned they might retire but keep Kiss running I thought that was a joke, just a scenario, but it seems, as they keep hinting at it, that they really would try to make that happen, and, of course, make profit, but I cannot think of anyone over here who is a Kiss or hard rock fan to go see such a band. Can you, or anyone else here?
As for the induction ceremony, many posting here say that the four looked like there was some kind of contact between them, but, of course, at such an event everyone would make it seem and look alright, so I think they just swallowed what anger they might have had for the mere 15 minutes or so. It is a show, one must never forget that.
Eddie very wonderful recap my friend. From watching and rewatching all the speeches and the Tom induction here are my thoughts. First Tom knocked it out the park home run and killed it! Amazing speech. I have to say as Gene has always been my favorite member I will be first to admit Gene is not always tactful in his choice of words but this time on probably the most important chance to speak he spoke humbly,sincerely, and honestly seemed moved when complimenting Ace and Peter. The beautiful words for Ace and very kind words for Peter were awesome and for once in a while I was so proud to be a fan of Gene. To also have made a point to include Carr,Vinnie, Bruce,Mark st John,Eric and Tommy was also classy. Best he ended with nothing possible without the foursome. Loved it and hope you did too.! Ace was so funny and classic Ace and you could see Paul leaning into Peter laughing and smiling with Ace and Peter. I also let me how gene and Paul clapped when Ace slow of 7 yrs sobriety. When Peter talked Paul also chatted with Ace. I think I speak for many Kiss fans when I say it was nice seeing respectful attitudes and hugs given all around. Regardless of the water under the bridge, for one night I think overall they all did great,it was a nice ceremony, and it was respectful. As a fan of original lineup and current lineup admit a song or two would have been awesome but all things considered I take it as it was as much nicer than many feared it could have turned out. Personally I kinda dug the all 4 in shades, all four in suit s. Wonder if the all in shades was a planned ill gesture of unity..
Sorry some autocorrect errors….should have read I really liked how Paul and Gene clapped when Ace spoke of his 7 years of sobriety.
Awesome post Chad, and I feel the same. It was great to see the four originals together like brothers. Tom Morello was amazing! It could not have been better!