Introduction

In general, the opening night of any Kiss tour is probably the most unpredictable show of the entire tour. This show is the opening night of the Animalize Tour and has numerous “ goodies ’’ to appeal to most fans. These “ goodies ’’ are in the form of the unusual setlist.

Background

The opening night of the 30-date European Animalize tour. Bon Jovi opened this show and every show on the Euro. tour except one.

Audio Specifics

The audio is not perfect by any means but is not objectionable by any means either. Not exactly a “ crank it up ’’ type of show. Overall, I’d rate the audio quality around 7 out of 10.

The Show

I’ve Had Enough (into the fire)- a rare and unusual opener. Detroit Rock City was the opener for the rest of the tour while this song was moved into the middle of the set for the European tour and dropped altogether for most of the North American leg. As it is, this song starts off a little rough at the beginning but gets better. However, the music is played too fast for Paul’s vocals to keep up and as a result the song is not the big opening number it should be.

Detroit Rock City- Paul’s vocals seem a little sloppy which is surprising since this song has been a setlist staple since the Destroyer Tour in 1976. There is a minor cut toward the end of the song but is not really significant.

Burn Bitch Burn- the first real surprise of the show. Paul’s intro to this song is good when he says “ lets hear from the man who makes his breakfast, blondes and brunettes ’’. This is the only performance of this song in a live setting. The opening riff is surprisingly well played by Bruce Kulick but it is all downhill from there. Gene’s vocals are not clear and sound buried in the mix. The drumming by Eric Carr is good but a better vocal outing by Gene could have really helped this version. Prior to the next song, Paul’s repeated cursing is totally out of place and not his style at all.

Cold Gin- the song starts with no toggle beginning then plows into a very solid version of this long time favourite. Gene’s vocals are clear and the drumming is nice and tight.

Strutter- an average version at best. Some great live versions of this song, the listener can hear nice bass playing by Gene. This is not one of those versions. Paul’s vocals don’t sound very convincing, which does not help matters any either.

Under the Gun- one of the better live Animalize songs. Paul’s vocals are strong and the song is played well by all members especially Eric and Bruce. The live Animalize material is better suited to being played in the middle of the show instead of at the beginning.

Fits Like A Glove- Gene’s somewhat slow and sluggish vocals hold back a rather solid version of this non-makeup standard.

Get All You Can Take- a great version of this song and one of my favourite’s of the entire show. Instrumentally this song is great and Paul’s vocals are strong. I found myself singing the chorus of the song after only one listen. It is too bad that this song would be dropped from the setlist after this show.

Young and Wasted- the vocals in this song are difficult to hear especially early on where they are nearly absent. Despite the vocal problems, the song is good enough instrumentally to not be a total loss.

Heaven’s On Fire- Paul begins this song with a weird, oddly worded rap about watching videos on MTV and how many other bands who wear makeup look like Bozo. Again, his between song banter is laced with various F-words. This version of Heaven’s of Fire is rather decent. In fact, it is better than most of the versions of this song that I have heard.

I Still Love You- Gene’s bass is way too high for the first part of the song which drowns out Paul’s vocals. I think they played the best version of this song on the Creatures of the Night Tour.

I Love It Loud- Gene’s vocals are low at times and Eric’s drumming is far from powerful. This version can be filed under “ forgettable ’’.

Love Gun- Paul rap prior to this song goes like “ there’s one good thing we like to get everywhere we go… and that’s a good blowjob ’’. A rap like this shows just how different a band they were in the ‘80s compared to the ‘70s. Can you imagine Paul saying stuff like this on the Alive II Tour ? Me neither. This version has some nice bass work by Gene and is played a little heavier than normal.

Creatures of the Night- I’ve always thought that this song sounded better in the middle of the show instead of as the opening song, as it was so often. Bruce’s solo is a tad weak but the song is generally played well.

Rock and Roll All Nite- a rather sad version of this anthem. Gene’s vocals sound disinterested and when Paul urges the audience to clap, there is little response. I’m not sure if this had to do with the acoustics of the venue, the location of the taper or a less than enthusiastic crowd.

Lick It Up- Paul begins his rap then switches guitar “ so my roadie won’t get fired ’’ in the meantime the band plays a little Inspector Gadget theme music during this brief interlude. Instead of just going into the first verse “ Don’t wanna wait until you know me better ’’, the song is played closer to the studio version with the intro. guitar work. This song gets cut near the end but I’m sure we all know how it ends anyway.

Overall

The sound quality is a 7 out of 10 while the performance is about a 7 as well. What makes this tape worthwhile is to hear the rare playing of “ Burn Bitch Burn ’’, “ Get All You Can Take ’’ and “ I’ve Had Enough ’’ as the opener. Not essential but a good to have if you’re a fan of ‘80s Kiss or like to hear some non-standard Paul raps.