On august 6th we had our Gene Simmons Backstage Experience in Oberhausen!!!
It was right after his show in the hot Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen, Germany. When Gene saw us he gave us a big hug and he was so funny with taking photo's with us, he pulls at your cheek or sticks his finger in your ear and off all the photo's the ones above are our most favorite! He took all the time for us, we talked about all kind of things, makes jokes and is so funny as you can see in the video (thanks to F. Sonnewald)
We had such amazing time with Gene, he's a sweetheart and is always a real pleasure to meet! We'll never forget this night! And a special big thank you for our friend who made this possible for us...
Our roadtrip to see the Gene Simmons Band during their European tour began on august 4th in Utrecht, The Netherlands!
Before the doors went open at the Tivoli, we picked up our reserved GSB poster.
When they opened we got our spots, right in the middle of the venue with a very good view on the stage. They had 2 big screens hanging on each side of the stage with the GSB logo on it.
Around 9 PM the show started with the intro of Radio Active and Gene walked on the stage under a huge applause from the fans. Deuce followed and the place went nuts. Warmachine was up next and followed by Are You Ready. Then he asked what the fans would like to hear, suggestions of songs were shouted all over the place. We heard parts of Almost Human:
And I Was Made For Lovin' you:
Also parts of Goin' Blind & She were performed! After Shout It Out Loud he asked again what we want to hear. They played All The Way & Love Her All I Can, but onty partial. We would love to hear those songs complete. Charisma was up next:
Followed by 1 of our favorites Weapons Of Mass Destruction was played, we don't understand why a lot of fans hate that song? Here's our video:
Gene has so much fun on stage, making jokes, speaking Dutch; godverdomme, gereedsschapskist, dank je wel and so on, lol. After the cover La Bamba (more covers where played as House Of Pain, Ace Of Spades) we got a third medley of songs, but this time covers Rader Love, Twilight Zone, Down On The Corner & Sunshine Of Your Love.
Gene sounded great aswell the band.
Also more of our favorites were played Parasite & Watching You and with Rock & Roll All Night it all came to a end. We had such a great time tonight and we couldn't wait to see him again in Oberhausen. Setlist: Deuce, War Machine, Are You Ready, Almost Human, I Was Made for Lovin' You, Goin' Blind, She, Shout It Out Loud, All the Way, Love Her All I Can, Charisma, House of Pain (Van Halen cover) I Love It Loud, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Ace Of Spades (Motörhead cover) Christine Sixteen, La Bamba (Ritchie Valens cover) Radar Love & Twilight Zone (Golden Earring cover) Down On The Corner (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover) Sunshine Of Your love (Cream cover) Cold Gin, Parasite, Watchin' You & Rock & Roll All Nite.
On august 6th we drove to Oberhausen (Germany) for show #2 of the Gene Simmons Band! Again we got a good spot at the right side of the stage. It was hot in the Turbinenhalle, as it was when the Gene Simmons Band played the same venue in 2018! At 9:10 PM we heard the intro and we knew it's time to have a rock & roll party. The show started with Deuce and the crowd was into the show from that moment on. Gene wanted his bassguitar louder, much louder. And from that moment it was louder, lol. It was Hotter Than Hell here in the venue. One of our favorites of the Gene Simmons Vault; Are You Ready was up next:
This time Goin' Blind was played complete, Watchin' You was replaced by: Nothin' To Lose and for the rest the setlist was the same (minus the medley's) as in Utrecht 2 nights ago. Despite the heat in the venue Gene had such a fun on stage and the band was great, but we think, because of the heat they only played 14 songs tonight. Before we knew it the show was over, but not for us! We knew we would meet Gene tonight right after the show! And we had a blast with him backstage!
2 days later on august 8th we arrived by train in Luxembourg for show #3 of the Gene Simmons Band! During our trip we couldn't stop thinking about meeting Gene in Oberhausen, 2 days ago. I beth we had big smiles on our faces all the day. After checkin in our hotel and some sightseeing we arrived at 6:30 PM at the Atelier. We had some great spots, right in the middle of the stage. It was a small venue, with a small stage, so small that it couldn't not fit all the speakers of the band. But this setting would also very special with Gene so close to the fans. Doesn't matter where you sit or stand, you've a great view to the stage. At 9:10 the intro the show started with the intro of Radio Active followed by Deuce:
It was great to see Gene really enjoy himself and loves what he does. Not only tonight, but every show we went to! Here's our video of I Love It Loud:
The setlist was almost the same as in Oberhausen but with a few suprises like Christeen Sixteen replaced Weapons Of Mass Destruction (not happy with it, because it's 1 of our favorites Gene solo songs) Here's Christeen Sixteen with a small part of Almost Human:
This time we also got a bandmembers introduction accomponied by guitar and drumsolo's. Also Parasite was replaced by Calling Dr. Love The fans had such a great time and responded with a lot of cheers and singing along to these songs. Here's Watchin' You:
We had a great time again and Gene sounds awesome live and enjoyed his show as much we do! After having some drinks with fans after the show it was time to go to our hotel, we had to catch a train early next morning...
On august 9th we drove to Lierop (NL) for show #4, only 80km from our home, to see our last Gene Simmons Band show for 2024! We arrived around 8:30 PM in a kind of middle of nowhere little village. Never heard of this Nirwane Tuinfeest festival, but here we are. To our suprise there were a lot of people there. When the time came closer when the show would begin, you see more and more KISS fans came to the stage. Around 11 PM we heard the intro of Radio Active and the Demon came on stage and a huge cheer was to hear.This time they started with Warmachine:
We sang along with every song that was played this night. And of course, we all know how funny Gene is and at one moment during the show there was a box of choclate thrown on stage, he stopped the show, said; fuck the concert, I'm going to eat choclate and hand out some to the bandmembers before throwing it back to the audience, lol. This time there was less talking and more playing. They dropped Nothin'To Lose & Watching You but Parasite was back:
Gene was supposed to play for 1 hour, but when it was 12 AM the band was still playing. At the moment he said; they want us to stop, but we want to play and they went on with Goin' Blind. Then Gene said; they want us to stop, they want to give me a ticket, fuck it - I'm rich - bitch, lol and they played Charisma and closed the show with Rock & Roll All Night. End time 12:25 AM. But everything has to come to a end, we saw 4 awesome shows and had a blast meeting Gene! We never thought we saw him back solo so fast after KISS ended and Gene, who is almost 75 years in age, was in top shape on stage and his voice is still great! Also the band was great, especially Brain Titchy, who was amazing on the drums. We're happy that we had the chance to see Gene perform in a small club and bigger venues. We hope he will return to Europe to do some more shows in the future.
*(c) 2024. 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!