My Experience Attending The Final KISS Shows Ever AT MSG

Recently hard rock heavyweights KISS performed their final shows ever at Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York City – right where it all began for the band. Being a teenage KISS fan, I was surprised and beyond excited to be approved to cover this historic show. My dad and I drove into the city in the early afternoon and hit Stout, NY, for dinner before the show. Large TV screens showed KISS concert videos, pleasing the bar full of diehard KISS fans chowing down before the big show. Fans were walking around the bar in KISS shirts, handing out stickers with the band on them, and spreading geeky musical cheer.

I had only seen KISS once before, at the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford, CT. It was May 2022. I was 15 years old, getting to photograph the hottest band in the world alongside my dad. What a night that was. Fast-forward two years later, and I’m covering one of the final shows the band will ever perform, once again, with my dad. It was a pretty surreal experience.

We joined the line outside Madison Square Garden in the pouring rain. There is much hustle and bustle in the area, with groups of fans dressed in full KISS costumes trudging through the rain. I ran into many of my musician friends who were in town just to see their heroes for one last time. All my social media feeds are flooded with posts thanking the band for their influence, sad about the final show, questioning if it will be the final show, and other similar discourse. As the line continues to grow, the excitement in the air does, too.

6 o’clock rolled around, and we began to be let inside. We are brought into the lobby, and I immediately hop into the line for merchandise. Surprisingly, the prices were no more expensive than other touring bands of the same size. For memory’s sake, I purchased one of the event-specific t-shirts with the date and Madison Square Garden on it. The area was filled wall-to-wall with fans anxiously waiting to be let into the arena. It would be 30 minutes later when the doors were finally opened, and we all flooded into the garden.

I grabbed some caffeine at one of the concession stands before heading to my seat: Section 107, Row 22, Seat 6. For a comp ticket, it was a great spot. At every seat in the arena, there was a wristband with a small plastic piece, which would later become part of the show. Each wristband would light up a different color based on sections of the crowd, creating a light spectacle as the band played.

The opening act was a band called Amber Wild. The mastermind behind the band is Evan Stanley, son of KISS frontman and guitarist Paul Stanley. KISS means something different to every generation, including mine, but rock n’ roll isn’t mainstream anymore like it used to be. Paul and Evan made a smart move to showcase Amber Wild, specifically for the younger KISS fans. Amber Wild plays the kind of music that my generation eats up. It’s pop music with guitars and a rock n’ roll aesthetic. Bands like Maneskin, Greta Van Fleet, Olivia Rodrigo, etc. are what draw in my generation. The rock n’ roll style without the obvious aggression. This is precisely what Evan Stanley and his band Amber Wild have created. It’s marketable to a younger audience, which is quite smart on the band’s part. Unsurprisingly, band marketing is practically in Evan’s DNA.

Older fans love bands like KISS because they are edgy, out there, and rebellious – everything that made their parents hate the band. My old soul loves KISS for those same reasons, but many other people in my generation don’t feel the same way. They don’t love rock n’ roll music, they only want cool clothes paired with pop music – no edge, no rebellion, no rage. Playing it safe. Traditional hard rock fans are few and far between in Gen Z, but still, it remains alive and well with classic bands like KISS.

KISS took the stage like they always have: with glitz, glamor, fire, and blood. To many fans’ disappointment, their set was nearly identical to what they’ve been playing the past few years. As I spoke to fans before the show, many were expecting, or at least hoping for, guest appearances or at least a setlist change-up, perhaps playing “Strutter” or “Firehouse.” This would not come to fruition in their high-production stage show that night at MSG.

KISS always knows how to put on an entertaining show. Despite the set being so similar to the previous KISS show I saw back in 2022, it was still as fun as could be. KISS fans will never get tired of seeing Gene Simmons spit blood, seeing Paul Stanley fly out into the crowd, seeing Eric Singer perform Beth, or seeing Tommy Thayer rip a guitar solo – they’re simply icons. But it would’ve been a more special show if they changed up the show.

Knowing how business-oriented the band is (not to mention their previous “final tour”s), many fans were speculating that this wouldn’t truly be the end for the band. To no one’s surprise, they were correct, this wouldn’t be the end of KISS as a touring entity. While this may have been the final KISS show as physical human beings, the band will live on through hologram ‘avatar’ performances and tours. This likely is only the beginning of bands making use of modern technology in this way, perhaps it is the future of the touring industry, but that is yet to be seen.

Despite not touring in their human form anymore, KISS lives on. Their final shows at Madison Square Garden will remain an iconic and historic moment of rock n’ roll history, something I am honored to have witnessed.

My Experience Attending The Final KISS Shows Ever AT MSG article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2023

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