Alive II Tour

The Alive II Tour was a concert tour by Kiss, and was the follow-up to the Love Gun Tour which ended in early September.

Alive II Tour
Tour by Kiss
Associated albumAlive II
Start dateNovember 15, 1977
End dateApril 2, 1978
Legs2
No. of shows56
Kiss concert chronology

History

The Alive II Tour saw Kiss perform 5 sold-out nights at Tokyo's Budokan, breaking their previous record of 4 one year earlier, as well as breaking the previous record by The Beatles. They also played three sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in their hometown of New York City, and multiple nights in several other cities, including San Antonio; Landover, Maryland; Chicago; Detroit; and Providence, Rhode Island. The audience for the band were mainly young teenage crowds.[1] AC/DC was the opening act for several concerts on this tour.[2] The costumes and stage show were carried over from the Love Gun Tour, with minor changes made to the setlist.

During the show in Pittsburgh, Peter Criss had passed out in the middle of the concert. After a brief intermission, he returned to finish the show with his bandmates.[3] The band would also be snowed in during the show in Richfield.[4]

In the tour program for the band's final tour, Simmons reflected on the tour:

The Alive II stage show was a big production spectacle. We realized fans were paying as much for a concert, which only lasted for an hour or two, as you would for a record album which you could play over and over again for the price of a concert ticket. A concert was over with the snap of a finger so what are the memories you take from it? We thought visuals should be a big element of a Kiss concert and we were constantly brainstorming about what we could do in the show.[5]

Reception

Barry Paris, a reporter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who attended the Civic Arena show in Pittsburgh, gave the show a positive review, stating: "Kiss (whose members acknowledge that their music is 'nothing profound') is a likable act not so much because of but in spite of its gimmickry. The crucial factor is their good (but not great) musicianship, which amounts to a B-plus/A-minus type of rock 'n roll and gosh darn, how can you not help but like the fresh-faced fans they attract?".[1]

Setlist

  1. "I Stole Your Love"
  2. "King of the Night Time World"
  3. "Ladies Room"
  4. "Firehouse"
  5. "Love Gun"
  6. "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll"
  7. "Makin' Love"
  8. "Christine Sixteen"
  9. "Shock Me"
  10. "I Want You"
  11. "Calling Dr. Love"
  12. "Shout It Out Loud"
  13. "God of Thunder"
  14. "Rock and Roll All Nite"

Encore

  1. "Detroit Rock City"
  2. "Beth"
  3. "Black Diamond"

The setlist for this tour was nearly identical to that of the Love Gun Tour, with the only exceptions being that "King of the Night Time World" and "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" took the place of "Take Me" and "Hooligan".[6]

Tour dates

List of tour dates with date, city, country, venue, and support act(s)
DateCityCountryVenueSupport act(s)
United States[6]
November 15, 1977Oklahoma CityUnited StatesMyriad Convention CenterDetective
November 17, 1977DenverMcNichols Sports Arena
November 19, 1977AbileneTaylor County Expo Center
November 20, 1977LubbockLubbock Municipal Coliseum
November 22, 1977San AntonioFreeman Coliseum
November 23, 1977
November 26, 1977TulsaTulsa Convention Center
November 27, 1977Kansas CityKemper Arena
November 29, 1977Des MoinesIowa Veterans Memorial Auditorium
November 30, 1977OmahaOmaha Civic Auditorium
December 2, 1977St. PaulSt. Paul Civic Center
December 3, 1977MadisonDane County Expo Coliseum
December 6, 1977WichitaHenry Levitt Arena
December 7, 1977St. LouisThe Checkerdome
December 9, 1977MemphisMid-South ColiseumAC/DC
December 11, 1977IndianapolisMarket Square Arena
December 12, 1977LouisvilleFreedom Hall
December 14, 1977New York CityMadison Square GardenDetective
December 15, 1977Piper
December 16, 1977
December 19, 1977LandoverCapital CentreAC/DC
December 20, 1977Piper
December 22, 1977PhiladelphiaThe Spectrum
December 27, 1977Baton RougeRiverside Centroplex Arena
December 29, 1977BirminghamBJCC Arena
December 30, 1977AtlantaThe Omni
December 31, 1977GreensboroGreensboro Coliseum
January 3, 1978Pembroke PinesHollywood SportatoriumDetective
January 5, 1978CharlotteCharlotte ColiseumNantucket
January 6, 1978ColumbiaCarolina Coliseum
January 8, 1978RichfieldRichfield ColiseumThe Rockets
January 11, 1978HuntingtonHuntington Civic Center
January 12, 1978CincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum
January 13, 1978PittsburghPittsburgh Civic Arena
January 15, 1978ChicagoChicago Stadium
January 16, 1978
January 18, 1978LexingtonRupp Arena
January 20, 1978DetroitOlympia Stadium
January 21, 1978
January 23, 1978EvansvilleRoberts Municipal Stadium
January 25, 1978BuffaloBuffalo Memorial Auditorium
January 27, 1978SpringfieldSpringfield Civic Center
January 28, 1978New HavenNew Haven Coliseum
January 30, 1978PhiladelphiaThe Spectrum
February 2, 1978ProvidenceProvidence Civic Center
February 3, 1978
Japan[6]
March 28, 1978TokyoJapanBudokanBow Wow
March 29, 1978
March 31, 1978
April 1, 1978
April 2, 1978

Box office score data

List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references
DateCityVenueAttendanceGrossRef(s)
November 17, 1977Denver, United StatesMcNichols Sports Arena10,586$94,852[7]
November 27, 1977Kansas City, United StatesKemper Arena13,613$100,151[8]
January 23, 1978Evansville, United StatesRoberts Stadium14,144$109,298[9]
January 25, 1978Buffalo, United StatesMemorial Auditorium17,500$112,636
January 27, 1978Springfield, United StatesCivic Center10,395$72,765
January 28, 1978New Haven, United StatesColiseum10,407$76,000

Personnel

References

Sources

  • Gooch, Curt; Suhs, Jeff (2002). Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-8322-5.