Coolest rock concert ever!

It's official: I'm going to see Def Leppard or Kiss anytime they're in town!

As you probably know, on the 15th of July, I was planning on seeing Def Leppard and Kiss at the Riverbend Music Center here in Cincinnati, OH. I do apologize if I didn't do an immediate post. Didn't get a chance, I suppose. Well, that concert was awesome! I got plenty of killer pics. My seat was better than the Ticketmaster site suggested. I was less than 30 feet from the stage. And the sound nearly blew my mind; thankfully I brought ear plugs. That opening act was monstrously loud. Yeah, they had an opening act- some Canadian thrash metal band called Kobra and the Lotus, whose lead singer looked and sounded like Lita Ford

Any way, when Def Leppard took the stage, I was speechless. Especially when I got to see the guys really good from my seat. They played all their good stuff, ranging from "Photograph" "Animal" "Love Bites" "Hysteria" "Rock of Ages" "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" "Let's Get Rocked" "Rocket"

And then...KISS took the stage, but not before hearing their all mighty mantra "You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest band in the world...KISS! And then the curtain bearing their name fell, revealing the costumed warriors of rock in all their mighty regalia! The noise level in that place when they took the stage, only one word- deafening! They played mostly old stuff, like "Firehouse" "Deuce" "Black Diamond", "War Machine" but they did play other stuff, like "Rock and Roll All Nite" "Lick It Up" "Hide Your Heart" "I Love It Loud" "Love Gun", which had Paul Stanley riding a zipline over the audience to a small stage to sing it. He was on his rotating stage less than 20 feet from me! I just about died! The stage rotated! So I could get a good pic of Paul from any angle. The concert ended with "God Gave Rock and Roll to You", at least it was Kiss' version, and not the original by Argent, a band Kiss toured with frequently in their early, hard working days. And man oh man, was this concert a blast! I'm going every time Def Leppard or Kiss is in town. But, when my parents picked me up, my mom just had to turn the mood sour. She said angrily "This is why I don't go to concerts here. The traffic is always a madhouse." And that kind of ruined the mood for me. I apologized and told her, yet again, "Now you know why I wanted to get a car." And then she comes back saying "We wanted to make sure you had a job first before we even remotely think about getting you a car." But, I did buy some cool souvenirs. I bought two keychains, one for Def Lep and the other for Kiss, a Kiss poster since I never really got to own one, and a Kiss tour shirt! And a whole bunch of confetti

Here are some of the pix I took
Here are some of the opening act- Kobra and the Lotus

 



She looks and sounds like Lita Ford!

The disco ball for Kiss

Def Leppard

None other than Vivian Campbell!

Phil Collen in all his sexy English beauty :D



The screen during "Love Bites"



During the song "Rocket". The stage looks just like their video for the song, with all the TVs



The Thunder God himself!

Rick Savage



Joe singing "Animal"



Joe Elliott belting out "Photograph"

Kiss



See the little red light at the right? They started flashing that and playing fire sirens as they launched into "Firehouse"



Eric Singer



The so-called "Kiss Swerve"

Man, I took some killer pics!



Witness the glory of one of rock music's most famous fire breathers!



Gene's torch



The New Spaceman- Tommy Thayer



The new Catman- Eric Singer

"The Demon" spitting blood during "God of Thunder"



Meant to take a pic of him from the front, but he turned around. I'll settle for that ;)



During "Rock and Roll All Nite"

This is the zipline that took Paul to a stage near me!

Singing "Love Gun" on his rotating stage



Paul getting ready to smash his guitar in mid swing

The final fireworks during "Rock and Roll All Nite"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Random

Random guy sitting 5 seats away from me dressed as Paul, right down to the platform boots