Kiss Tour

{{Infobox concert

| concert_tour_name = Kiss Tour

| image =

| image_caption =

| artist = Kiss

| location = North America

| type = Promotional

| album = Kiss

| start_date = {{Start date|1974|02|05}}

| end_date = {{End date|1974|10|04}}

| number_of_legs =

| number_of_shows = 84

| last_tour = Club Tour
(1973–1974)

| this_tour = Kiss Tour
(1974)

| next_tour = Hotter than Hell Tour
(1974–1975)

}}

The Kiss Tour was Kiss' first album support tour. Sometimes known as the First Tour, it also encompassed several shows before and after the "official" dates.

History

At the beginning of the tour Stanley returned to his iconic Starchild makeup after finishing the previous tour in his bandit makeup.{{Cite web |last=Kielty|first=Martin |date=2023-12-21 |title=Why Paul Stanley Rejected Bandit Makeup After a Month|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-stanley-bandit-makeup/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral|access-date=2024-03-22 |website=Ultimate Classic Rock}} Stage props used for this tour were fire engine lights, a drum riser, sparkling drumsticks, Simmons spitting blood and breathing fire, a lighted logo of the band's name, Frehley's smoking guitar and flamethrowers.{{cite book |last1=Weiss |first1=Brett |title=Encyclopedia of Kiss : Music, Personnel, Events and Related Subjects |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers |date=2016 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=9780786498024 |page=115}}

When the band was an opening act for Argent on May 2, 1974, in Comstock Park, they were only allowed to perform eight songs as Argent told them the rules, resulting in the headliners shutting off the power to Kiss' equipment when the audience wanted Kiss to perform more songs.{{cite book |last1=Simmons |first1=Gene |title=Kiss and Make-up |date=2001 |publisher=Crown Publishers |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4000-4523-5}} Rush opened for Kiss at the Centennial Hall in London, Ontario on July 25 during the tour, which was also John Rutsey's final performance with Rush. The opening act ended up impressing the band so much at that concert that they continued on tour with Rush as the opening act.{{cite book |last1=Daly |first1=Skip |last2=Hansen |first2=Eric |title=Rush: Wandering the Face of the Earth – The Official Touring History 1968 – 2015 |date=2019 |publisher=Insight Editions |location=San Rafael |isbn=978-1-68383-450-2 |page=48}} Kiss took most of August off from the tour to record their follow-up album, Hotter than Hell.

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

{{Blockquote|Being in Kiss in the very first year and touring around the United States, we felt like we were taking off. It was like somebody pushing you into the deep end of the pool whether you can swim or not. The early years of Kiss were far from glamorous. We rode in a station wagon hundreds of miles every day. We would take turns driving and sleeping in the back. We ate burgers at roadside taverns. We stopped and peed on the side of long stretches of highway when we couldn't find a town anywhere near. We ate beans and franks, because we couldn't afford better food as we were on a $85 a week salary! Becoming a rock star was better than anything and beyond anything I ever imagined. There were moments of doubt for me that we were gonna make it.(2019). End of the Road World Tour Program, pg. 5.}}

Reception

A reporter from the Winnipeg Free Press who attended the Taché Hall performance in Winnipeg on February 8 which was part of the "Festival of Life and Learning", noted the number of visual effects that notably were smoke bombs, dry ice on the song "Firehouse", as well as the flashing lights and hydraulic lift for the drummer. The reporter however, noted the responses from the audience who were shocked, with others in attendance "sitting on their hands for the majority of the performance".Winnipeg Free Press, February 11, 1974

Setlist

"Deuce"
"Strutter"
"She"
"Firehouse"
"Nothin' to Lose"
"Cold Gin"
"Kissin' Time"
"Let Me Know"
"Acrobat" ("Love Theme from Kiss")
"100,000 Years" (with bass solo and drum solo)
"Black Diamond"

Encore

"Baby, Let Me Go" ("Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll")

Tour dates

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" \|+ List of 1974 concerts ! width="200"\| Date{{Cite book\|last1=Gooch\|first1=Curt\|last2=Suhs\|first2=Jeff\|title=Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History\|publisher=Billboard Books\|year=2002\|location=New York\|isbn=0-8230-8322-5}} ! width="180"\| City ! width="150"\| Country ! width="300"\| Venue ! width="200"\| Support Act(s)
February 5, 1974	Edmonton	rowspan="3"\|Canada	Dinwoodie Lounge	rowspan="2"\|Barbarossa
February 6, 1974	Calgary	SAIT Gymnasium
February 8, 1974	Winnipeg	Taché Hall	Mood Jga Jga
February 17, 1974	Long Beach	rowspan="28"\|United States	Civic Auditorium	Rory Gallagher Fleetwood Mac
February 18, 1974	rowspan="2"\|Los Angeles	Los Angeles Room	rowspan="2" {{n/a}}
February 21, 1974	Aquarius Theater
March 22, 1974	Devon	Valley Forge Music Fair	Redbone
March 23, 1974	New York City	Academy of Music	Argent Redbone
March 24, 1974	Owings Mills	Painter's Mill Music Fair	Aerosmith Redbone
March 25, 1974	Washington, D.C.	The Bayou	{{n/a}}
March 29, 1974	Asbury Park	Sunshine In Concert Hall	Renaissance Truth
March 31, 1974	St. Louis	Aviation Field	Thirteenth Floor
April 1, 1974	Cleveland	Agora Ballroom	rowspan="2"\|Rory Gallagher
April 3, 1974	Columbus	The Agora
April 7, 1974	Detroit	Michigan Palace	Aerosmith Mojo Boogie Band Michael Fennelly
April 8, 1974	Dekalb	University Center Ballroom	Conqueror Worm
April 12, 1974	rowspan="2"\|Detroit	rowspan="2" \|Michigan Palace	rowspan="2"\|Blue Öyster Cult Suzi Quatro
April 13, 1974
April 14, 1974	Louisville	Beggar's Banquet	Thunderhead
April 15, 1974	rowspan="2"\|Nashville	rowspan="2"\|Muther's Music Emporium	rowspan="2"\|Max Onion
April 16, 1974
April 17, 1974	rowspan="2"\|Memphis	rowspan="2"\|Lafayette Music Room	rowspan="2"\|Kathi McDonald
April 18, 1974
April 19, 1974	Chicago	Aragon Ballroom	Quicksilver Messenger Service Flying Saucer Les Variations
April 21, 1974	Charlotte	Flash's	Ritual
April 27, 1974	Passaic	Capitol Theatre	Blue Öyster Cult Ross
May 2, 1974	Comstock Park	Thunder Chicken	rowspan="2"\|Argent
May 3, 1974	St. Louis	Ambassador Theatre
May 9, 1974	Parsippany	The Joint in the Woods	Sweetwater
May 12, 1974	Wyandotte	Benjamin Yack Recreational Center	rowspan="2"\|Savoy Brown Silverhead
May 14, 1974	Fraser	Fraser Hockeyland Arena
May 16, 1974	Winnipeg	rowspan="5" \|Canada	Centennial Concert Hall	rowspan="8"\|Savoy Brown Manfred Mann's Earth Band
May 17, 1974	Edmonton	Kinsmen Fieldhouse
May 18, 1974	Saskatoon	Saskatoon Arena
May 19, 1974	Lethbridge	Exhibition Pavilion
May 20, 1974	Calgary	Foothills Arena
May 24, 1974	Portland	rowspan="4"\|United States	Paramount Northwest Theater
May 25, 1974	Seattle	Paramount Theatre
May 26, 1974	Spokane	JFK Pavilion
May 27, 1974	Olympia	St. Martin's Capitol Pavilion	Savoy Brown
May 28, 1974	Vancouver	Canada	PNE Gardens Auditorium	rowspan="4"\|Savoy Brown Manfred Mann's Earth Band
May 30, 1974	San Diego	rowspan="7"\|United States	Sports Arena
May 31, 1974	Long Beach	Long Beach Auditorium
June 1, 1974	San Francisco	Winterland Ballroom
June 3, 1974	Anchorage	Sundowner Drive-In Theater	Savoy Brown Flight Island
June 4, 1974	Fairbanks	Baker Field House	Savoy Brown
June 12, 1974	Flint	IMA Sports Arena	rowspan="3"\|New York Dolls
June 14, 1974	Cleveland	Allen Theater
June 15, 1974	Toronto	Canada	Massey Hall
June 17, 1974	Asbury Park	rowspan="13" \|United States	Sunshine In	Truth
June 19, 1974	rowspan="4"\|Atlanta	rowspan="4" \|Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom	rowspan="4"\|Outlaw
June 20, 1974
June 21, 1974
June 22, 1974
July 11, 1974	West Palm Beach	West Palm Beach Auditorium	rowspan="4"\|Blue Öyster Cult Nazareth
July 12, 1974	Orlando	Jai Alai Fronton
July 13, 1974	Tampa Bay	Curtis Hixon Hall
July 14, 1974	Birmingham	Birmingham Municipal Auditorium
July 16, 1974	Baton Rouge	Independence Hall	Blue Öyster Cult New York Dolls
July 17, 1974	rowspan="2"\|Atlanta	rowspan="2" \|Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom	rowspan="2"\|Fat Chance
July 18, 1974
July 19, 1974	Fayetteville	Cumberland Auditorium	Blue Öyster Cult Nazareth Glass Moon
July 25, 1974	London	Canada	Centennial Hall	Rush Ronny Legge
August 3, 1974	Indianapolis	rowspan="2"\|United States	Convention Center	Blue Öyster Cult James Gang Chris Jagger
August 4, 1974	South Bend	Morris Civic Auditorium	Blue Öyster Cult
September 13, 1974	Kitchener	rowspan="2"\|Canada	Sir Wilfrid Laurier Theater	rowspan="2"\|Fludd
September 14, 1974	Toronto	Victory Theater
September 15, 1974	Lock Haven	rowspan="11"\|United States	Lockhaven Fieldhouse	rowspan="2"\|Blue Öyster Cult Rush
September 16, 1974	Wilkes-Barre	Paramount Theater
September 18, 1974	rowspan="4"\|Atlanta	rowspan="4"\|Electric Ballroom	rowspan="3"\|Rush Fat Chance
September 19, 1974
September 20, 1974
September 21, 1974	Outlaws Fat Chance
September 28, 1974	Detroit	Michigan Palace	Roy Wood Wizzard
September 30, 1974	Evansville	Evansville Stadium	Billy Preston Rush
October 1, 1974	Jacksonville	Leone Cole Auditorium	rowspan="2"\|Rush
October 4, 1974	Houston	Music Hall