Letters

I took my 13-year old son James to see KISS in St. Louis, we live very near the venue. He has been an avid KISS fan, as has his Dad, for many years. Things started out bad as the ticket broker got us 4th row instead of the 1st row that we had paid for. James went all dressed up in complete Gene uniform and was playing Gene's character so well that at least 300-400 people had there photos taken with him as well as being on local radio and TV, the whole time being in Gene's character. Many people thought he was hired by KISS to walk around and take photos, he was that good. It was amazing how well he knew Gene (he's always watching Family Jewels, Detroit Rock City or concert videos). Just after the show started we had a really tall gentleman in front of us and we couldn't see very well so my son stood up on his chair. Security came over and yelled at him to get down and that's when the KISS Army went into action. Some people in the front row told him to come up front with them. I literally shed a few tears as I watched my son and Gene taunt each other throughout the show. The crowd around us loved James and most had pictures taken earlier so they already remembered him. They were all pointing at James and trying to get Gene to put him on the stage. Gene threw him a towel and at the encore Eric gave him a drumstick. We adopted James when he was 5 after his father killed himself and his mother simply disappeared. KISS was partially a bonding agent for me and James, something we had in common in the beginning that we built on. On August 27th at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, I watched my sons wildest dreams come true as he stood face to face with his favorite band. James had a rough start in life but no matter what life brings him he will always have the cherished memory of that one night with KISS.