KISS« perform at the Pershing Auditorium in Lincoln, Nebraska for a sold out crowd of 8,387, with supporting act Uriah Heep. This was Paul Stanley's 25th birthday as well.
KISS« perform before a sold out crowd in Lincoln, Nebraska, performing 15 songs with supporting act Uriah Heep.
Notes
Source References Information and Review Provided By: kissmonster.com«
- The band didn't sing "Happy Birthday" to Paul, but Ace did announce the fact to the audience following "Rock And Roll All Nite."
- Since no women were around, the band dressed up in drag to mark the event and provide fans with an infamous photo.
Review
Source References (Deb Gray - Lincoln Star, 1/22/77)
- A local review of the show: "It's easy to tell when something weird is coming down, but harder to define what it is. A sell-out crowd came to Pershing Auditorium Thursday night to hear Kiss, a hard rock band short on talent and long on hype. I didn't understand what I saw there why a 14-year old girl would stomp a beer bottle to bits then kick the pieces at strangers I can t grasp why people enjoy tossing flashcubes at the performers. But a lot of people enjoy this band. As early as 3:30 p m Thursday, people were waiting outside the auditorium for the concert five hours away. The crowd that eventually filled the place was young, mostly between the ages of 10 and 20. I listened to this crowd. I heard it get more aroused over smoke bomb explosions and fire-breathing stunts than the music. And I realized I didn't know what rock means anymore.
This music is meant to impress rather than express emotion. I don't know what happens when a band makes it because it thinks of new ways to be disgusting or because it has the most cornea-searing light show. I wonder what's the limit. Kiss performed here last year, another packed house. They have two hit singles - "I Want to Rock and Roll All Night (And Party Every Day)" and "Beth." Kiss is one of the few successful practitioners left of what was once called "heavy metal" rock. The music is guitar driven. The sound is muddy but the rhythm will throb your body if you stand still long enough. The band has its models: Gene Simmons busts his guitar to smithereens, something Pete Townsend of The Who used to do. Paul Stanley can rasp deliveries a la Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, as if sandpaper covered his larynx.
But the music is not the point, the stage show is If it weren't for the greasepaint fire bombs fog screens sirens twirling cheery tops and blinking roller-dome lights Kiss would be out on the street, driving cabs in Peoria. Kiss has things no one else has. It has Gene Simmons' tongue When he waggles it about it almost curls under his chin. When Kiss appeared on Paul Lynde's Halloween special Simmons was forbidden to stick it out. Simmons can leer better than Snydelv Whiplash. His samurai topknot and makeup make him look properly revolting.
During one song, Simmons, while mugging disdainfully at the audience, chomped down his teeth and red liquid squirted over his face. Another time, he appeared to suck in fire from a torch, then flame it out his mouth. Stanley kept the audience in frenzy between the numbers by shooting forth this rock-and-roll savior rap, its fervor matching that of a Fire Holiness Baptized Pentecostal evangelist "I know there are people out there who are a little high," he rasps. "YEEEEAAAAH!" says the crowd. "I know some of you have had a little alcohol. Southern Comfort? Tequila?" Judging by the volume of the roar, tequila won hands down".
