May 9th 2008, We’ll never forget this day in our lives!!!
Why? This day have changed our lives forever!Finally we could see a KISS show again, my first one since my last one 7 years ago in Australia! But this kick off show of the Euro tour in Oberhausen (Germany) wasn’t the only reason why this date will allways be special for me…
We also had a meet & greet with Gene, Paul, Eric & Tommy that day!
Here's our story!After a 90 minutes car drive I arrived, together with my brother in a sunny and hot Oberhausen. Checked out the venue and than waited for Marina to arrive, she also did the M&G. We went to the expo to look for KISS stuff ect. Spend a little time there and around 3 pm we were back at the Arena to get our laminate, T-shirt and instructions for the M&G. A very friendly Dean Snowden told me everything I wanted to know and that we had to be back in the venue at 7:30 pm, with our stuff we would like to have signed. So we went to a place to meet friends and with some cool drinks and something to eat (however because of the nerves we almost couldn’t eat) talked to other fans and enjoyed those hrs till it was time for the M&G.
2 days earlier I received a email with the latest M&G details, stated that you could bring guitars in for signing. So I decided to take 1 of my Paul Washburn Guitars with me, along with some records and photo’s. Finally it was time, nerves kicked in now really bad (lol) and together with Marina we got into the venue to the meeting point. With us there were around 20 fans there for the M&G (more than I thought) and at 8 pm we got backstage, to a room, with on the walls the Alive/35 logo and banners with the KISSology DVD’s (this was the same room where the pressconference was on thursday) We got the last instructions from Dean and a copple of minutes later the door went open and with a loud of cheering by us fans, they enter the room…Gene, Paul, Eric & Tommy!!!
The Meet & Greet:
The guys were very kind and thanked us al for coming, first it was time to take the photo with the band. A suprise to us all was that we could also use our own camera to make photo’s!!! When it was my time for the pic I give all the guys a hand and Gene said how are you doing and Paul said something like great to see you, Tommy said welcome and Eric said something too but I cann’t remember what, lol. Time to take my 2 pics with the band and when I saw how my 2 pics have turned out, I couldn’t be more hapier, they’re incredible!
After the photoshoot was over, the guys started to mingle around the fans, so it was time to got my items signed. Paul signed my guitar right away, also his solo picture disc and a photo with me and his self-portrait print. And when he saw that photo, he said that’s really cool! Than Eric & Tommy signed my Rock The Nation DVD and they’re both were very friendly and Tommy is just a great guy, no bad worth about him from me! Last one was Gene and he signed his solo picture disc, Asshole CD and a Family Jewels photo.
The meet & greet was going to its end and the guys got ready to get out of the room very slowly, Paul was the first leaving, with a little later Eric and than Tommy. Gene was still in the room and I was lucky enough to got a photo with him alone, my favorite member! Gene was great and stayed the longest in the room, no arrogance at all.
After the guys where gone (snif) we all got our programm (with a extra photo inside) and to our suprise it was signed by the whole band! And than it was over, it was something special I’ll never forget, it was great to meet the guys in a relax situation, everyone took their time for me and I’m glad I could meet them…
Here is some short footage of my Meet & Greet and Marina’s with KISS…
(Note: my photoshoot took longer, this footage shows only a copple of seconds of it!)
The show:
And than it was time for the show, finally the wait was over and when I heard The Who with Won’t Get Fooled Again I knew it was only a copple of minutes before the return of KISS in Europe! We had a good place on the floor, almost at the front – right of the stage. Around 9:25 pm we heard the famous words: Allright Oberhausen, You Wanted The Best…And off it went with Deuce with Gene, Paul & Tommy coming down from a platform. From the start of the show till the end the 12.500 crowd went nuts and I had a great time. The guys looked great, sounded great, performed great, it was one of my best KISS shows I ever saw. The band enjoyed it as much I did, the interacting between the fans and the band was just awesome! Also Tommy did a great guitar solo with playing his guitar behind his head, looked really cool and he was just great on stage! Eric played his drums like it was his second nature. Gene did all the tricks and this time he did his bloody bass solo during I Love It Loud, however Eric started the song while Gene hadn’t started his solo and he turned to Eric to let him stop, lol. Also the curtain on the right side stucked, Gene’s riser went to slow but these where all the little mistakes. Paul did however stole the show, after his heartproblem last year, he jumped, rann, talked as never before, wow what a show! Also this was a show with the most explosions, fireworks and lots of lots of confetti I ever saw at a KISS concert! I had the time of my life! I also saw Doc walking before them stage and along the crowd, he was very nice when I asked if he would go on a photo together with me, no problem.
KISS played first all the Alive! tracks and after that they did songs from after 1975. This is the full setlist:
Deuce, Strutter, Got To Choose, Hotter Than Hell, Firehouse (Gene spits fire) Nothing To Lose (Vocals Eric) C’mon And Love Me, Parasite, She (Tommy’s guitar solo) Watching You, Rock Bottom, 100.000 Years ( Eric’s drumsolo) Cold Gin, Let Me Go Rock & Roll, Black Diamond (Vocals Eric) Rock & Roll All Night. Encores: Shout It Out Loud, Lick It Up (mixed with Won’t Get Fooled Again) Gene’s Bloody Bass Solo, I Love It Loud, I Was Made For Lovin’ You, Love Gun (Paul’s Flying) and Detroit Rock City.
KISS played till 11:40 pm, so about 135 minutes and 22 songs later it was all over, but I and Marina had the best day of my lifes, a historic meet & greet and a killer KISS show. Also my brother who hasn’t see a KISS show before, was very impressed.
Enjoy the photo’s! KISS Live In Oberhausen – Part 1:
KISS Live In Oberhausen – Part 2:
KISS Live In Oberhausen – Part 3:
Last week I got my pics from the meet & greet with KISS in a much bigger size. All I can say they’re looking awesome and I’m very satisfied how they turned out! I’ve them framed in.
* My meet & greet photo is published on the official Paul Stanley site!
*(c) 2008. All personal photo’s/slideshows/filmed footage may only be used by others if is reference/linked to this site or me and ask me first!
