After Kiss was done, we worked our way to the area where we met Jeff. Jeff runs the Platinum experience and does a great job at it. Just like the other Platinum experiences, he tells everyone the rules and collects the paperwork. After that is done, we were escorted to a backroom in the MGM casino. Everyone lines up inside the room waiting to meet Kiss. Again, there was a camera set up on a tripod and a red curtain backdrop. Kiss enters the room and everyone erupts in cheer. They moved directly to the backdrop and the picture session began.

We got our pictures with them, and they laughed and joked around with us. Something about Gladiator Movies and sticking a tongue in an ear LOL. It was very funny. You can see Gene laughing in the picture. After the picture session ended, it was time for the meet and greet.

Each band member basically moved to different areas of the room. You could talk to each member and have them autograph any items that you brought. We had each member sign our first Platinum pictures along with several other items. I had Gene and Paul sign the picture I took of them at the Hollywood Box Set signing. I also had my laminate autographed by Paul. Wendy had her copy of Tongue magazine, which she is in, autographed by Gene. She also had her laminate signed by Peter. Yes, Wendy was able to grab Paul's butt again LOL.

After the meet and greet, the band left the room and we were given an autographed copy of the Kiss concert program. We left the room and sat in the hallway organizing our stuff. The ink was still wet on our photographs so we had to let it dry so it would not get smeared.

The only negative about this Platinum experience was that we were instructed no cameras, and do not dominate one member of the band so everyone can meet them. There were a couple of other groups who were allowed to come into the meet and greet session. Since they were not given the same instructions that we were, they were allowed to take pictures, and it definitely interfered with the Platinum members' time with the band because they did dominate certain members. At our first Platinum experience, all of the people who were not Platinum members were made to leave the area until the meet and greet was over and then they were allowed to meet the band. That was the only negative about our second Platinum experience.

Our second Platinum experience was an incredible time, and we are looking forward toward our third. Thank you Gene, Paul, Peter and Tommy for making the Platinum experience possible.

On August 31, 2003, we flew to Hershey, PA. for out first Platinum show. To start with, we picked up our tickets from the will-call gate and right from the start it turned out to be a great experience. We also received the back stage laminates and a set of guitar picks. We looked at our tickets and saw that they were in Section C Row 2. It was great being that close to the stage, however, Section C is a little far to the side since KISS does not come out on the catwalks. It would have been nicer to be in the middle section since KISS stays on the center stage. They were great tickets for Aerosmith because they come out to the side catwalks, but we were there to see KISS.

We will not review the show here but to say that it was a great time. After the last KISS song, we made our way to the side of the stage and got in line to go backstage and meet KISS. We were taken backstage in a single line and taken into a covered area. There was a camera set up on a tripod in the room. There were approximately 25 people with Platinum tickets and a few with different types of passes. It was very exciting standing there waiting for KISS to come in and it was really cool watching each one of them enter.

The photo session went pretty quick but it was fun watching the band interact with everyone and everyone was having a great time. Gene held up John's vest during the photo. Its interesting to look at the pictures and see what each band member was doing because while your pictures were being taken you weren't really aware of what they were doing.

After the photo session, each band member basically went to each corner of the room. You could go up to each member and talk to them and have them autograph any items that you brought. John chose to have Paul, Peter and Gene sign his leather KISS vest. Gene was the first person to sign the vest. John told Gene that Wendy wanted to touch his codpiece again (like she did in Vegas at The Palms) so Gene shoved Wendy's head down by his codpiece.

John asked Paul who was “Rags” in the song he wrote, “Hard Luck Woman.” He said that when he wrote that song, he made up a fictitious person named Rags. John then asked him what his son thought about his father being a rock star since his son is getting older. He said that his son seems to enjoy it. He also said that he could always be doing a job that is not as exciting for his son. John told Paul that Wendy wanted to touch his butt again (like in Vegas at the NHRA) and he turned around for Wendy so that she could. Wendy then told Paul that she wanted to hug him so Paul gave Wendy a big hug which gave her more opportunity to grab his butt. John also had Paul autograph a Platinum laminate.

Next, we talked to Peter. Peter was very humble and spent the most time talking with us. John asked him about the pins that he always wears on his costume. He was wearing an American Flag pin with “911" across it. He told us that three of his friends that were police officers died on September 11. He went on to tell us about different benefits that he did to collect money for the victims of September 11. Wendy told Peter that she loved his smile and that she loved looking up at Peter during the concerts and seeing his smile. Peter thanked her and gave her a hug and said that there were a few things that had gone wrong that night during the show but that he was still smiling. Peter was very sincere and it seemed like he enjoyed talking to us as much as we enjoyed talking to him.

We then went and talked to Tommy. Wendy thanked Tommy for helping KISS to continue to play. She told him that Ace is her favorite and that he's very much missed but that if Ace didn't want to be there then she was glad that Tommy was there. Tommy said that Ace is his favorite too, but since he is not in the band he was glad that he could step in.

On our way out we were handed a 2003 program that was autographed by the entire band. The backstage experience lasted approximately 20 to 30 minutes and it was a perfect amount of time. If you have ever been to a book signing or autograph session, you know you only get about 30 seconds to a minute with one member of the band. This was nothing like that. Thanks to Gene, Paul, Peter, Tommy, and Kissonline, for making this happen. We have heard some people complain about the cost of the Platinum experience but it was worth every cent. All we can say is that it was “INCREDIBLE".

My Platinum experience. Mansfield, MA August 27, 2003

Well let me start off with this. This was only my second KISS concert. My first was on Aug 2nd in Hartford, where I finally met John and Wendy. I could not have met two cooler (is that a word?) people.

Let’s start with the will-call window. Let me just say that you are sure to pee your pants with pride when you go up to this window and announce, "Hi, I’m on the KISS guestlist." It doesn’t get much better than that.

I got my tickets and they were supposed to be 6th row. They were on Tommy’s side. Only when I got there they had removed a few rows and I was in the third row. How cool is that? The show was amazing. That’s really all I can remember, as I was so excited to be so close and to know that I’d be meeting them very soon. To be up front at a KISS concert is the ultimate experience. Every sense is bombarded with non-stop….EVERYTHING!! It was truly an amazing show for me.

The meet and greet is something I will never forget and probably never tire in re-telling over and over. I’ll cut to the chase. First up was the photos. Well, everyone seemed to be chicken to be first, myself included. When I finally could not hide from one of the guys in charge who kept yelling, "WHO’S NEXT????", I went up. How I managed to do this I do not know, but I marched right up to Paul. I looked up at him (oh my GOD!) and said, "all my friends (fine, I really only knew of one but tough) got really nice hugs from you for their pictures so I want one too." If I may say so myself, I think judging from the adorable look on his face, I managed to come off pretty damn cute. Well, all you have to do is look at my photos and you can see the results of my request. Quicker action on his part would not have been possible. I’m up to my ears in Paul Stanley and I’ll just leave it at that!!!

After the photos, the first person I tried to go up to was, naturally, Paul. To make a long story short, I could not have all of a sudden become more shy if I tried. Basically, another woman and myself asked if we could have hugs. She went first……HEY LADY, WHAT’S UP???? No problem. I stood there like a goof until I realized he had his arms outstretched, waiting for me to just run right into them. I’ll save the details for another time and place, but let’s just say this: I was in total heaven and he didn’t seem like he was having a bad time either. I later told him that he was the reason that I love KISS. His reaction was priceless. To his credit, he acted as if no one had ever said anything so nice to him in his life. He first told me something along the lines of "thank you so much, what a nice thing to say." Someone standing with me said something like "you probably hear that all the time." Gee, thanks, what a way to kill it for me. Then he cracked me up and broke the ice a little bit. He followed up his thanking me and this woman’s comment with , "you’ve got good taste!!" You gotta love this man, or at least I know I do. I had Paul sign my backstage pass and gathered that I should move on and at least meet the other guys.

Gene was crowded with autograph hounds. Such a drag, in my opinion. Conversation, while I waited my turn, consisted of "this pen won’t write" and "I can’t sign this it will end up on eBay. Anyway, when it was my turn, I asked if he was giving out hugs and please, that was all this dude needed. It was one of those holding my head firmly to his chest moves complete with dirty comments and fun was had by all. He asked me something like how does this compare. Huh? Maybe he was referring to Paul, so it’s probably a good thing I didn’t have a clue. Anyway, he followed that up with an invitation to touch his chest some more. I did and I have no idea what was up with all this but who the hell cares. Next was Tommy. I told him he did a great job. He loved that and thanked me. I turned to him again and said in his ear that I knew he had really big shoes to fill but that he did so very, very well. And he did. Thanked me profusely.

Next was Peter. Time was running out so I just asked him if I could have a hug. He seemed surprised that I wanted a hug (as I’m sure they all were because of all the autograph stuff) but I got one anyway. I thanked him and that was that. After that I went back up to Paul, because apparently I just can’t get enough, and shook his hand and said thank you to him. Again, he seemed shocked. Does anyone do anything besides get everything they have ever owned, signed???

Basically that was the whole thing, in a nutshell. Got our signed tourbooks and the rest of the night was a magical blur. Can’t wait to do it all over again in Vegas!!!!

Leanne St Germain