First off, I bet you're expecting me to discuss SooToday's coverage of the Kiss concert, and you would be right! Donna Hopper from SooToday posted this review and photo album from the show, complete with Kiss' entire setlist, 46 photos of Kiss, Garden of Bedlam, and their fans (plus one of Rock 101 DJ Scott Cook), and lots of information about the concert. Donna mentioned that the show topped out at 4,700 fans (sadly, Kiss didn't break Elton John's attendance record for The Essar Center) and I'm glad that she agreed with me about the uselessness of putting chairs on the floor! Donna spent equal time discussing Kiss as she did Garden of Bedlam and their incredible journey! I love bassist Evan Belleau's quote that this was the greatest thing to ever happen to him beyond getting married and having his son! Donna kept the Kiss talk short and sweet, predicting that fans would only want to see photos and the set list. I don't know if I completely agree with that, but the photos she took are amazing, as usual! Click here for her review, and here for her typically first class photo album!Also, note that SooToday's current poll asks people's feelings towards Kiss. Your choices? "Meh" or "Hottest band in the world". As of 2:05 AM Thursday, "Meh" was surprisingly winning with 906 votes, 71.6% of the total! Help get that lower, vote for the right choice A.S.A.P. on SooToday's front page!
SooNews.ca definitely had lots of Kiss coverage too, including an article I missed prior to the show! This one, posted on Tuesday when I'd already left for downtown, was basically a primer and reminder for the pre- and post-show afterparties, with a video from their show prior in Indianapolis to give us a view of what to expect! Sure, it's outdated, but check it out at this location! Lucas Punkari from SooNews.ca posted his own review and photo album from the concert, which you can check out by clicking here! Compared to Donna Hopper's review, Lucas spent more time discussing the bands and their music, even mentioning The Envy, who Donna failed to touch on. Concise and well written, it gives fans a good glimpse at the show! As you may have noticed from my Kiss review, I used the photos Lucas took in the absence of my own camera, and you can check out the full collection of his photos at this location! All are of either Kiss or Garden of Bedlam, with none of The Envy or the crowd. Good stuff, quality photos in their own right! And though this is also outdated, click here for Craig Huckerby's coverage of the Kiss trucks' arrival at The Essar Center on Tuesday afternoon, there's some good shots and commentary there as well!
The Sault Star's articles on Kiss deserve notable attention because they were the press articles featured by Kiss on their own website! One is an editorial piece by The Sault Star's Frank Rupnik where he praises the band for honouring their word after the December cancellation and playing here despite our size. He puts it nicely when he says that "concerts like Kiss go a long way toward putting this city on the map." I agree! Click here for Frank's article! The Sault Star's review and photo album from the concert came courtesy of Jeffery Ougler, and it's definitely the most detailed and wordy of the major local news publications that covered the show! Great review with interesting citations and quotes, some good observations on the age disparity and the reasons for Kiss' current success, and much more! Lots of good concert descriptions as well, though Jeffery definitely put the music far ahead of the stage show and effects. No talk of the opening bands either, but definitely check out his review at this location! Do so as well for his whopping 90 photos of Kiss, their fans, the stage setup, their trucks, and more!Also of note from the concerts, I found this interesting and newsworthy. All three of the above local news outlets reported that a man was arrested by police during the Kiss concert after punching a police officer after they tried to speak to him as he was being escorted from The Essar Center for causing a disturbance. He's charged with one count of assaulting a police officer. Out of respect for the man and to avoid throwing him under the bus, I won't give his name or links to the news coverage, but SooToday, SooNews.ca, and The Sault Star all reported on the incident.
We'll close this post on a happy note, as photos have surfaced online of Garden of Bedlam meeting Kiss! If you remember correctly, one of the prizes for the Kiss Battle of the Bands winners was to get their picture taken with Kiss, and that part of the prize is now available online! The photo features all four members of Kiss with all four members of Garden of Bedlam, plus Turner Up guitarist/Rad Zone manager Len Ward (who was Evan Belleau's bass tech at the concert) and I'm honestly not sure who the guy between Evan and Josh is, any help out there? This photo, and three others, are featured in this Facebook photo album uploaded by drummer Derek Turner, and you can see in the photos that he's EXTREMELY happy, as well as everyone else! That must have been one of the best feelings ever for those guys, I speak for hopefully the entire town when I say I'm proud of Garden of Bedlam for all they've accomplished! Who'd have guessed that two and a half years after debuting at Foggy Notions, they'd be backing up Kiss at The Essar Center?! It's been an amazingly fast rise!That's all for now, but I have MUCH more coming very soon! Next up: My Skull Fist review, which will likely be up in the afternoon! Then, stay tuned for previews of this weekend's concerts tonight, and tomorrow: Kiss Concert Video Showcase, Part TWO!
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