Letters

Dear KISS, I have been a KISS fan since the 70's and when I saw that you were coming to Atlanta again, I had to get tickets. Normally I would take my wife with me, but this time I am taking my 14 year old son. He has literally been a fan since birth. This will be his first concert and I thought what a great concert to start with. Lately I have been suffering through bouts of kidney stones. One of the things that has kept me going is looking forward to the concert. No kidney stone is going to keep me from seeing you guys on August 29. Plus I can't wait to see my son's face when you guys hit the stage! I'm sure his mouth will be hanging open in awe all night long! Thanks for including Atlanta on this tour and we'll see you on August 29! Jeff Lawrenceville, GA

Hey guys Thanks for the best concert I've ever been to in 10 years of my life! I'm pretty sure I won't ever go to a better one - unless you tour England again!

Dear Kiss: About five years ago I found a bunch of Kiss records at a garage sale and I bought every one because I have always been a Kiss fan. Those records were Destroyer, Kiss Alive 1 and Kiss Alive 2. Anyways, I had discovered old Kiss merchandice flyers and news paper clipings from when you guys went to the sold out show in Cobo hall years ago. (I bought these records in a city near detroit.) In fact, I think this newspaper clip was sponsoring the concert Kiss recorded the first live album. Thanks for your music KISS! (BTW, what your doing with the troops is great.)

My children bought me tickets for the Saratoga Springs, NY concert for father's day. It had been 32 years since I last saw them in Pittsburgh, PA with my then girl friend, and now wife.Went to this concert with my son who is 31 years old. What a show! Fantastic! It was a father's day gift I will never forget! Thank you and Rock and Roll All Night! Tim

Dear KISS I'm Mitchell, an eighteen year-old fan from Belgium. I was at your show at graspop metal meeting 2010 and I loved it. You guys are my favourite band. For the occasion I made Gene's famouse battle axe out of cartboard. A photographer wanted to take a picture with me in front of the official 'KISS-stand'. Here's the picture, hope you guys like it. Mitchell

I just wanted to say that over the years that I've been a KISS fan for over 20 years and from my first concert all the way back on the Crazy Nights to and three others in between, they have been better every time. Paul I just wanted to say thank you, finally a guitar pick. I hate to think of the tour that will be the groups final "fairwell tour" hopefully not any time soon. A great thing that the band is doing for the wounded warriors. Bristow Virginia loves KISS!!!!

Hey, KISS. Your show at SPAC was a treat on Tuesday night. Not only one of the best KISS shows I've seen - current band is awesome. BUT, it was the first time my two girls (9, 11) got to see what their dad has loved for a long time...The Hottest Band in the World! Take a look at the collage of shots from the show - including the look on my 9 year old's face during "Rock and Roll All Night". We were blessed to have the best seats I've ever had at a KISS show. Excellent. Right next to the confetti cannons! Thanks, KISS! John

Just want to let you guys know you're totally awesome. I've been a fan since probably 2 or 3 my mom says. She remembers me singing 'Rock N Roll all night' all the time as a small child back when the song first came out. I was able to see you guys in concert a years back and let me say no concert experience was ever like that. I missed you at Hampton, VA Oct 15, 2009 due to my husband being deployed and no baby sitter. When I found out that you were going to be at Virgina Beach wireless amphitheater I said I had to be there. I have a 4 yr old with Asperger's Syndrome which is in the Autism spectrum. Every time we get in our truck he tells me 'mommy you have to put my Kiss CD in for me'. He is addicted to you guys, he cant go a day without hearing one of your songs. On Friday Aug 27th I will have him there. I'm not sure who is more excited him or me about the show. I cant wait. I know this is something he'll never forget. Thank you guys for giving me 30+ yrs of great music to listen to that I can share with my kids to love.

This picture was taken from the 4th row at the Darien Lakes, NY (Buffalo) show on August 13, 2010. This is Gene Simmons "breathing" fire. Gene was faced away from the crowd this night, oddly. Unfortunate. After trying over and over (6 concerts up to this point) to get this shot right, I got it timed perfectly. My digital camera only takes a picture every 5 or 6 seconds. This is what a fireball (or flames) will look like in your pictures if you are just using a basic $80.00 camera. To get nice fireballs you will need a more expensive camera with filters and adjustable shutter speeds and all that stuff. The kind of camera they do not allow into KISS concerts, unless you have permission first (generally).

In previous letters I've included some tips and tricks I've learned as a novice using an $80.00 camera to take pictures of KISS in concert. The pics I included were more artsy, like the kind you would see in a general interest magazine. I am a KISS fan. I've watched KISS videos over and over. I used to buy every rock magazine I could get my hands on (except RS). I have a "KISS" tattoo on my left shoulder and a KISS license plate. I'm not a photographer with high quality equipment and a bucket list. As KISS fans, we kind of know what KISS is going to do and when they are going to do it. Which makes us the best people qualified to take KISS conert pics. Which leads me to this pic I took at the Mansfield, MA (Boston) show on August 7, 2010. Granted, I took it from smack dab in the middle of 2nd row. A nearly optimal place to be to take concert pics. The only alterations I make to any of my pics is to crop them. This is the cropped version of this pic. Tommy is playing the solo to "Shock Me". This is a "meat and potatoes" live KISS pic. The kind of thing we might have had as a poster on our wall, or maybe still do. The lesson here is: Just because you only have an $80.00 camera doesn't mean you can't get great live KISS pics. What you lack in equipment you can make up for in knowledge. It's not what you have, but how you use it. Literally.