The rumors were true, I could not beleive it - KISS played the Honda 's employee appreciation event last night in Columbus. As a life long KISS fan, I felt very lucky to have been able to go when a firned of a friend said he had the special wrist bands needed to go to the private event. These wrist bands were only given out to Columbus area Honda workrs. I could not beleive this as I had not even heard about this until Friday night.
Sure enough - KISS took the stage at 9:00 using a slightly scaled down version of the Farewell Tour stage. There was only one KISS logo with the 2 giant KISS Army banners hanging behind the stage. THe band did not decend from the top of the stage truss but instead were center stage wen the giant KISS banned dropped at the opening of Detroit Rock City. Gene, Paul, Tommy and ERIC! I really thought this was a rumor since Eric was touring with Alice Cooper who had a show scheduled in New Mexico.
The 2nd song was Deuce and from there it becomes a blur of sing alongs and air guitar. Some nice surprises were Got To Choose, Christine Sixteen & God Gave Rock N Roll To You. The show was a little scaled down with no solos or firebreathing and bloodspitting from Gene. It was an hour and a half of pure energy. There was still plenty of flames and pyro though. They closed with Rock N Roll All Night and tons of confetti.
It is still incredible that this was a free event with general admission seating. I would guess there was 9-10,000 in attendance.
I could not believe this happend. As I talked to some of the other fans waiting to get in, one of the Honda employees said this was the 3rd year the company held this event. The first year had Def Leppard and last year was Bon Jovi. Hats off to Honda for showing what just may be the best show of employee appreciation. A FREE KISS CONCERT!!!
Chris McMorran
30 lifetime KISS shows and counting
Columbus, OH
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As I sprinted through the doors to get the best seat in the house that I could find (4th row)..I got a glimpse of that KISS curtain that stood before me..we waited for maximum of 7 hours just so we could get close..set list was kick ass..yes..set list was same as RTN..but beats the hell out of the World Domination Tour set list.. Doc McGhee..of all people..comes to our section and hands out guitar picks!!.. I shook his hand twice to tell him thanks for everything he's done to keep KISS going. I have one of those picks..all of my friends and I were so close..you could feel the heat from the pyro..one of my friends..she flashed Paul Stanley. I have a bass pick that Gene licked then threw out into the crowd..and I thought this couldn't get any better until...
Me and two buddies of mine go back to the Hyatt Hotel..our voices are almost gone..our arms are sore from having them up during that whole 80+ minutes..we're tired..we're sitting on a couch and some chairs in the lobby.. I hear from behind me, the elevator bell go DING..since I was bored I just turned around and who do I see?..Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer IN THE FLESH..no makeup..just street clothes on.. I just stared in amazement..and thought back on how long i've been waiting to see ANY KISS band members.. Eric goes over to me and says "Don't be scare.. I won't hurt you (wink)"..and then pats me on the back..one of my buddies has an Animalize '84-'85 tour shirt on.. Eric says "Cool shirt"..then just walks away.. WE ARE FUCKING STUNNED.. I see them go up the escalator and to the bar which is just a floor up. We are just running around the lobby going "HOLY SHIT..HOLY SHIT!!"..so..like any other KISS fan would do..we go up to the bar (neglecting the fact that we're only 15)..we sat and talked for a while. Other
people ate dinner with them and watched football. Eric and my buddy talked about their cars and muscle cars..then we see..PAUL STANLEY IN THE FLESH!!..all three of us have him sign our shirts..this was a dream come true..for me any ways..my dad's friend got a picture with Tommy Thayer..
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One thing I will NEVER forget is when Eric Singer said to my buddy that had the Animalize shirt on said, "That is a really cool shirt..The album sucked..But the tour was awesome."
This happened to be THE greatest day of my life..and THAT is my KISS At Honda Fest Experience
By flamingyouth7308
Hondafest Setlist 09/10/2005
Detroit Rock City
Deuce
Makin' Love
Lick It Up
Firehouse (no fire breathing)
Got To Choose
I Love It Loud
Christine Sixteen
Love Gun
let Me Go, Rock & Roll
100,000 Years
I Was Made For Lovin' You
Shout It Out Loud
Encore:
Cold Gin
God Of Thunder (no blood spitting)
God Gave Rock & Roll To You II
Rock & Roll All Nite (with confetti storm & guitar-smashing)
