Kiss News

I saw that Paul was offering the smashed guitar experience again on this tour and it brought back such great memories from when I did this last year that I wanted to take a minute to share my experience.

When this was offered last year, my husband and I knew immediately that we just had to do it. Owning a guitar smashed by Paul on stage at the end of a KISS show is the ultimate collectible for the ultimate fan. From the moment I contacted the team, it was a great experience.

On the day of the show, we met with Dean Snowden and got all checked in. A bit later, we met Dean near the entrance to the backstage area and he took us backstage and hooked us up with Fran, Paul�s guitar tech. Fran was awesome. We just hung out for a few minutes backstage, talked, and joked a bit. Fran had the guitar with him and handed it to my husband, joking around about how he carries guitars all day and needed a break. He took us up to the suite area where we would meet Paul. Fran got us some bottled water and we sat on a sofa waiting to meet Paul. Fran took a quick picture of us waiting in the suite and then went to check on Paul. We played with the guitar a bit and just talked excitedly.I saw that Paul was offering the smashed guitar experience again on this tour and it brought back such great memories from when I did this last year that I wanted to take a minute to share my experience.

When this was offered last year, my husband and I knew immediately that we just had to do it. Owning a guitar smashed by Paul on stage at the end of a KISS show is the ultimate collectible for the ultimate fan. From the moment I contacted the team, it was a great experience.

On the day of the show, we met with Dean Snowden and got all checked in. A bit later, we met Dean near the entrance to the backstage area and he took us backstage and hooked us up with Fran, Paul�s guitar tech. Fran was awesome. We just hung out for a few minutes backstage, talked, and joked a bit. Fran had the guitar with him and handed it to my husband, joking around about how he carries guitars all day and needed a break. He took us up to the suite area where we would meet Paul. Fran got us some bottled water and we sat on a sofa waiting to meet Paul. Fran took a quick picture of us waiting in the suite and then went to check on Paul. We played with the guitar a bit and just talked excitedly.

We had both met Paul before but this time just seemed different. Paul was awesome, as always. It was very relaxed and easy. We had been at the show the night before and Paul commented about remembering us from the night before. We talked with Paul and took a few pictures. Then it was time to go.

We were both beyond ourselves with excitement for the moment when Paul would smash the guitar. I can't even describe the feeling at the end of Rock n Roll All Nite when Paul walked to the side of the stage and we saw Fran hand him the guitar that we just took pictures with a few hours earlier. Before Paul smashed the guitar, he found us in the audience and pointed to us while holding the guitar up. He kissed the guitar and then smashed it.

After the show, Paul dedicated the guitar with the inscription that my husband requested. We met Dean after the show and went backstage to wait for the guitar. The guitar was given to us in Paul's signature gig bag and Fran had taped the set list from the stage to the back of the guitar. There was even confetti stuck to it! The guitar is now in a display case and is the centerpiece of our collection. You can still see the imprint from Paul's make-up where he kissed the guitar.

It's such an indescribable feeling to watch Paul Smash the guitar that you know is going home with you! It was an amazing experience from start to finish and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I highly recommend this experience to anyone who wants the ultimate experience with the ultimate collectible to take home!

Thanks to Paul and everyone on the team for this awesome opportunity!

Amanda Snow

Hi Gene, Paul, Eric and Tommy,

This is very long winded, and I apologize now, but this is a very difficult letter for me to write.

I wanted to say thank you for making my best friend, Tim Mullen's, dream come true on November 14, 2009. He had sent a letter to you letting you know that he had terminal cancer and wanted to meet Paul as he had met Gene several times. He had been a life long KISS fan and had a tattoo done that Paul and Gene signed that night. Tim had the largest KISS collection of anyone that I have ever known in my life, even being interviewed because of it for MuchMusic. He was at every show that you have ever performed in Vancouver, BC and had kept almost every ticket stub, even framing some with a large newspaper ad announcing the concert.

I am the lucky person that he chose to bring with him when you sent him 2 free tickets and backstage passes to him for that magical evening. Not only was he my best friend, he is the only person that I have ever been to a KISS concert with in 18 years. Tim lost his fight with cancer on July 16, 2010.

When you play in Abbotsford, BC on June 27 it will be the first show without him for me as well as KISS. When I first got the email saying that you were playing here again, I instantly reached for my phone and started dialing his number before I remembered that he won't be coming to this one with me.
Hi Gene, Paul, Eric and Tommy,

This is very long winded, and I apologize now, but this is a very difficult letter for me to write.

I wanted to say thank you for making my best friend, Tim Mullen's, dream come true on November 14, 2009. He had sent a letter to you letting you know that he had terminal cancer and wanted to meet Paul as he had met Gene several times. He had been a life long KISS fan and had a tattoo done that Paul and Gene signed that night. Tim had the largest KISS collection of anyone that I have ever known in my life, even being interviewed because of it for MuchMusic. He was at every show that you have ever performed in Vancouver, BC and had kept almost every ticket stub, even framing some with a large newspaper ad announcing the concert.

I am the lucky person that he chose to bring with him when you sent him 2 free tickets and backstage passes to him for that magical evening. Not only was he my best friend, he is the only person that I have ever been to a KISS concert with in 18 years. Tim lost his fight with cancer on July 16, 2010.

When you play in Abbotsford, BC on June 27 it will be the first show without him for me as well as KISS. When I first got the email saying that you were playing here again, I instantly reached for my phone and started dialing his number before I remembered that he won't be coming to this one with me.

Before Tim passed away he had my 17 year old son, Jeremy, promise that he would go with me so that I would always have someone to go with when was gone. It will be so hard to sit there without him beside me but I know that everyday that KISS is on tour he is happily following and listening.

When I met him in the 1990, we instantly hit it off as friends because of our love of KISS. His entire bedroom, walls, ceiling everywhere was covered in KISS pictures, albums, lunchbox and much more including a KISS pinball machine. He had KISS action figures that he had re-created a stage setting for them with a KISS sign in the background that lit up.

Unfortunately, he fell on hard financial times and did have to sell a lot of it but he kept all of the records, tapes, cd's and dvd's and some of the action figures. When Tim passed away he left me what remained of his KISS collection. I wake up every morning and look at the KISS action figures and I think of him and am reminded as to why Jeremy and I will be at the show on June 27, no matter how hard it will be and how much I may cry.

I thank you for your time and patience in reading my letter.

Sincerely,
Jeanette Colwell

LETTERS