Saginaw, Michigan 1988

January 12/1988

Saginaw, Michigan

Wendler Arena 
 

Introduction 

 

A good but ultimately a frustrating show due to the camerawork. 

 

Background 

 

This show was the 41st show of the roughly 100-date Crazy Nights tour of North America. 

 

Video Specifics 

 

This show is an amateur handheld shot from the Gene side of the stage. After Crazy Nights (the song), there is a cut in the tape. This means that Eric Carr’s solo is missing since it usually took place after Crazy Nights and before War Machine. Also, there are points in the show where the screen goes black. The audio is fine during these periods but there is no video to speak of. 

 

 

The Show 

 

Love Gun- the first half of the show is shaky and the filmer seems a bit asleep since the camera, at times, is focused on empty parts of the stage. Paul is wearing a multi-coloured robe (which he takes off after this song) and a “ Body Glove ’’ shirt with the usual spandex pants. Gene looks the best, in his all leather garb. Bruce is wearing blue speckled pants and a satiny green jacket. 

 

Cold Gin- this song begins with the standard Paul rap about alcohol (see Alive). At this point in the show, the audience has thrown a few items onstage. Paul played part of Love Gun with a bra in hand and during this song, he plays with a jacket (he threw the jacket back). The song itself is given the standard treatment. 

 

Bang, Bang You- while this song is arguably at the bottom or near of the Kiss catalogue, it is played surprisingly well here. Paul’s vocals are a slightly muddled but overall a good showing. 

 

Fits Like A Glove- Paul intros this song with the usual Animalize-esque rap about meeting a woman who supposedly gave birth to one of Gene’s kids. Paul says “ I threw a quarter across the room and the kid picked it up with his tongue ! ’’. Solid playing by Eric and Bruce plus spirited Gene vocals makes this song one of the best of the entire show. Gene makes a breast gesture with his hands during the song towards the fans sitting off to the side of the stage, which was amusing. The camerawork is a hair slow following the various band members around the stage but of no major importance. 

 

Shout It Out Loud- an average version. 

 

Crazy, Crazy Nights- Gene has managed to procure a bra from some lady and plays with it hanging off his bass for most of the song. The camerawork is rather shaky and becomes non- existent for the last quarter of the song since it becomes black screen.  

 

War Machine- the tape is clearly cut since the band is onstage and Gene has changed basses (now using the one with the demon makeup). For a few seconds during the song, Gene goes down on one knee and belts out a few of the lyrics to the song. It is great to see this since Gene rarely, if ever, does this. A few heads get in the way of the filmer but overall this version is one of the better renditions of this non-makeup standard. 

 

Reason to Live- Paul has a brief rap about watching MTV and seeing the video for this song being played. A few heads get in the way of the camera and average vocals by Paul make this version rather run-of-the-mill. 

 

Heaven’s on Fire- whenever the band plays in Michigan, Paul always has to make a reference to them being great fans and supporting the band before anyone else did and he doesn’t disappoint those in attendance this time either. Prior to the song, Paul gets the audience involved by getting the girls and guys to go “uh, uh, uh ’’. The song itself is rather pedestrian.  

 

Gene’s bass solo is next up. Gene’s gets a nice little groove going and it ends with his guitar gun, which happens to be the first use of pyro during the show. For the record, Gene does as much posing as he does playing during the bass solo. 

 

I Love It Loud- the audio of this song is fine and it is a decent version but the video is a mess. A few heads get in the way and eventually the screen simply falls black. What actual video is to be had during this song is mired by shaky camera work. 

 

Lick It Up- Someone throws her jeans on stage and Paul says, “ I can smell Debbie in the front of these ’’. Prior to this song, Paul gives an extended rap about a health club, a girl and him stuffing some “ turkey ’’. Paul’s vocals are slightly hard to hear and the black screen monster pops up again during the first verse and towards the last part of the song. 

 

Rock and Roll All Nite- the monster still persists. The screen is black for the first verse and just before the audience participation part. In case you care, Paul smashes his guitar at the end of the song. 

 

Tears Are Falling- the band comes back for the encores. Paul is wearing a multi-coloured robe (in a similar style to the one he had to open the show). Good vocals by Paul highlight this version. 

 

Detroit Rock City- a well played version of this classic in a rather unusual location within the setlist. The show ends with a decent amount of pyro and we get to see the giant KISS logo behind Eric for the first time !!! 

 

Overall 

 

There are parts of this show that are enjoyable but I felt a little disappointed by the end of it. Better camerawork would have certainly helped especially towards the last quarter of the show. I wouldn’t recommend this as a first or even second show from the Crazy Nights tour (the pro-shot shows from Philadelphia and Tokyo are the ones to have). Overall, a 6 out of 10 (due to the questionable camerawork and not because of the actual video quality, which was good).