Letters

Hello Paul,Gene, Eric and Thommy,Hey fellas, I am writing this from Christchurch New Zealand, at a time when I had planned to be watching you in Phoenix with my nine year old son Jackson...complete with the meet and great experience. We were going to do the whole Disneyland thing also....a real father/son kick ass road trip. Unfortunately Christchurch was hit by a major earthquake three weeks ago, and it has been absolute chaos since to say the least. I am a Structural Engineer, with my own company and it was out of the question to leave, with the obvious post disaster hazard evaluation and cleanup. I have been a fan for over thirty years, and have seen you in Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and London; but have always wanted to see a major stadium gig such as Cobo Hall in the USA. Twenty years ago almost to the month, I travelled around the US for six weeks and missed the HOT in The Shade tour by a day or two it seemed in every city. The only concert I got to see then was Phantom of the Opera in LA with my first wife...not the same as you guys, but still blew me away, complete with Sarah Brightman and the subsequent link with you Paul.Anyway this rather long winded email is just to say how pissed I am that I have missed you guys again on your home patch. I sincerely hope you will continue to tour for many years to come, as I have three young boys who all need their Dad to take them to see KISS in the US.......life is short and it is what I see as a life changing experience that I want to give my boys if at all possible. I may not be the biggest fan in terms of merchandise collected, or tattoos etc..but for thirty years I have worn you guys on my sleeve. I think I can quote every song, video interview and the like verbatim, and just respect what you guys are about. The loyalty and respect for your fans, living life to the full, and not letting anything or anyone get in your way is inspirational. During the last three weeks, as I have been in and out of severely damaged buildings, making major life safety calls and with the associated pressure......my head cleansing has been in the car with Sonic Boom etc wound up to the max between sites. (I have had lawyers, doctors...say "man you're what got me through it".........sound familiar!!) The fact that Jacksons middle name is Ace and my youngest boy George's middle name is Stanley is hopefully another indicator of how important you guys are in this little part of New Zealand. By the way last years Rock to Wellington was pretty good....just a pity there was so much other clutter that distracted from the main event!!Have been following your tours this year, and it does really seem to be getting better and better. Keep up the good work and I hope to see you, with my boy(s) in Aussie or the USA in the near future.Finally, I have made this offer in the past, and I am sure you get this all the time, but I would sincerely love to show any or all of you the paradise that is the south island of NZ. Think Lord of the Rings scenery etc if you have seen the movie!!Very best wishes for the rest of the tour, and especially Phoenix.... Craig Lewis and his boys Jackson (9), Hunter(3) and George(1).