On Sunday, September 29, 2002 the 5th annual Cleveland Kiss Expo was held at the Roller
World in Parma, Ohio. The featured guests were Bill Aucoin and Mark St. John. Destroyer, a
tribute band based out of Canada was to appear but ended up not playing. According to the band
(who’d performed at a local bar called Mr. B’s the previous night) there was a scheduling
conflict with the promoter over the time they were to do their show.
Overall in our opinions, MyKissArmy.com, the Cleveland Kiss Expo was a disappointment.
Reasons for this included a lack of air conditioning, it was Hotter Than Hell, few vendors and
no musical entertainment. Attendance was poor, as compared to other recent expos. The low
turn out was most likely attributed to poor advertising and no advanced ticket sales. The web
site which advertised the expo did not have the links working for pre-sale tickets.
On a positive note, the expo did have some redeeming qualities. As always when the Kiss Army
assembles, the social atmosphere was great. It was great to hang out with my friends, Jamie,
Micki, Wendy, John, Goddess of Thunder, Dan, Linda, Marti and J.D. It was also very cool to
meet some new friends, M.A.C. and Teresa.
Marti and Linda, co-authors from www.GenesBedTimeStory.com were on hand to promote their
steamy creative writing project.
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Mark St. John and Bill Aucoin both held a question and answer session. They both signed autographs and posed for pictures. They were both very professional and friendly.
The folks from Kiss Shop had some wonderful deals on buttons, stickers, T-Shirts and everything in between. Their $1 and $5 tables are fast becoming their trademark. Again Keith, very cool, thanks!
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I was able to pick up the new Kiss Alive Touring History book by Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs. I was also able to get the individual photos from one of the first Kiss Army Fan Club packets.
By 4:00 P.M., some of the vendors realized that the expo was going to be small so they packed up their Kiss items and left.
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After the Kiss Expo, six of us were at a sports bar called “Harpos.” The bar is connected to the Ramada Hotel which offered a special Kiss Expo rate. When we were in the sports bar having drinks, Bill Aucoin (Kiss’ manager) came into the bar. We asked Mr. Aucoin if he wanted to join us for a drink. Mr. Aucoin was unbelievably cool to everyone of us. He sat with us for over an hour, having a drink. He told us so many stories about Kiss while he was their manager. Any question that we asked he would answer with what appeared to be very open and honest answers. Mr. Aucoin also told us about what he has been doing since being retired. He has assisted in producing some motion pictures. This was a very cool experience, being able to talk with Mr. Aucion about Kiss. There were no autographs, or photos being taken, it was just some friends having drinks. Thanks Bill it was very much appreciated.
Since we did not stay at the Kiss Expo for a long time, we were able to go and see some of the sights in the City of Cleveland. Some of the pictures are from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Hard Rock Café, Alice Coopers restaurant “Cooper’s Town,” and a café in the Cleveland airport that had a couple Paul Stanley guitars.
A poor Kiss expo with no air conditioning could hospitalize someone.
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