Introduction

Without question, one of the best shows from the Alive II tour but not terribly great when compared to other shows from previous tours.

Background

This was the 42^nd of the 46-date North American Alive II tour (not including the five shows in Japan or the “ Phantom ’’ filming in May 1978).

This show is often titled “ Some Light, Some Magic ’’ among audio collectors. Why ? Read the blurb for I Stole Your Love below and find out. Ironically, according to the book Kiss Alive Forever, the hydraulic lifts didn’t work at this show.

Audio Specifics

An audience recorded show. While this show gets high marks for being a complete show from an era where few complete shows exist, the audio is not fantastic. The vocals are a difficult to hear during some songs and the instruments cannot be distinguished except for the guitars, which are more dominant in the mix then the drums or bass.

The Show

I Stole Your Love- prior to the “ You Wanted the Best…’’ introduction, Paul says

“ lemme see some lights, lemme see some magic ’’. A high energy opener.

King of the Night Time World- the drums are slightly more noticeable during this song then on other songs during the show.

Ladies Room- never a really strong song to begin with, however, this version gets a straight forward playing.

Firehouse- a version that is played substantially faster then some of the plodding 1974 versions (see the Mike Douglas Show).

Love Gun- this version would of really benefited from better audio quality especially the vocals.

Let Me Go Rock and Roll- one of the better songs of the night despite Gene’s numerous “ Ya, Ya ’’ yelps throughout out the song.

Makin’ Love- I’ve never been a big fan of this song in a live setting largely due to the echo effect used during the chorus and this version does little to convert me.

Christine Sixteen- while introducing this song, Paul says “ girls, let me hear ya ’’. A lot of screams can be heard, which is interesting considering that these same screams were largely absent as the fanbase got older and Kiss became less popular.

Shock Me- As Paul introduces Ace “ we’re gonna turn the microphone over to…’’. The crowd responses by yelling “ Ace Frehley !!! ’’. At this point I let out a loud groan. Can some one say Alive II ? I knew that you could. A pedestrian playing that ends with Ace’s guitar solo.

I Want You- the guitars are very dominant throughout this song, which could be a good thing or bad thing depending on your point of view. The song ends with the requisite vocal flexing by Paul and crowd participation.

Callin’ Dr. Love- a surprisingly decent vocal outing by Gene. Perhaps not too surprising since this was probably the last tour in which this song sounded good.

Shout It Out Loud- Paul introduces this song as such “ here’s a song we wrote in New York. You all know New York, don’t ya ? ’’. A rather pedestrian effort, however the vocal trade offs are better then some versions.

God of Thunder- the vocals are not very powerful although the song sounds pretty good instrumentally though. Peter’s drum solo is better then I would of thought and is worth a listen.

Rock and Roll All Nite- thankfully, we all know the words to this little ditty because I’d have hard trouble understanding some of the lyrics otherwise.

Detroit Rock City- see above comments.

Beth- nice vocals by Peter and certainly better then some of dreadful versions (see Largo 1979) that would occur on the next tour. Toward the end of the song, an audience member can be overheard saying “ Kiss Sucks ! ’’.

Back Diamond- the beginning of the song has Paul’s usual extended guitar intro then the song begins. A good closer with copious amounts of pyro.

Overall

A decent show but not great. You might be better off getting the show from San Francisco in August 1977, if you can, which is soundboard quality. A good show to have but one that I rarely listen to on any kind of regular basis. Overall, a 6.5 out of 10.