The Dynasty Tour was a concert tour by the rock band Kiss. It was also the final tour with original member Peter Criss until the Alive/Worldwide Tour in 1996.

Dynasty Tour
Tour by Kiss
Associated albumDynasty
Start dateJune 15, 1979
End dateDecember 16, 1979
Legs2
No. of shows82 played, 8 cancelled
Kiss concert chronology

Background

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The Dynasty Tour, also known as "The Return of Kiss", was the first tour to feature the famous flying stunt by Gene Simmons. This was also the first tour to feature Ace Frehley's "lighted guitar" and his rocket-shooting guitar, where after his smoke-spewing guitar solo, the still-smoking guitar would float up.[1] As it was floating upward, he would appear with another guitar, aim the neck at the floating guitar, shoot the rockets, and blow it up. John Elder Robison, who served as a technician for the band during the late 1970's, documented the lengths he went to create the elaborate effects for the tour.[2] A trick was designed for Paul Stanley that involved his putting on a headset and shooting a laser out of his left eye to mock the effect seen in Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park the year before. After several runthroughs, both Stanley and manager Bill Aucoin nixed the idea, citing the danger involved.

The tour, dubbed "The Return Of Kiss", also saw a decline in audience. Additional dates at the Pontiac Silverdome were cancelled. Reviews and recordings have confirmed the tour was also of poor musical quality. This was the last tour with Peter Criss on drums until 1996. He would later admit he would intentionally stop playing during shows just to upset the rest of the band.[3]

This tour is also famous for being the only tour to feature songs from all four members’ solo albums. Simmons performed "Radioactive", Criss performed "Tossin' and Turnin'", Frehley performed "New York Groove", and Stanley performed "Move On". Simmons' and Criss' songs were replaced with more familiar songs early in the tour. Criss' song "Dirty Livin" was reportedly rehearsed, but never performed.

Frehley stated in various interviews that Kiss was becoming a youth-oriented band. It was because kids were showing up dressed in costume and make-up for their shows along with their parents.[4]

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

I designed the stage while I was in the studio in 1978 producing a band called New England. Kiss was selling a lot of behind-the-stage seats, and I wanted everyone in the audience to feel that they weren't forgotten, so I came up with a multi-level hexagon where we were free to roam and sing from many vantage points. Most of our stages have been dark overall and I thought we would stand out a lot more on a white stage. Because we had reached iconic proportions as a band and I knew the anticipation for us at the shows would be huge I thought rising from inside the stage and holding a frozen pose would make us that larger than life by our presence alone setting off the crowd. In hindsight I think had we stayed in classic black and silver outfits it would have contrasted the stage and been much more powerful. The multi colored outfits made it all look a bit too Vegas for me and it took away the edge. The stage was really unique in that it almost looked like a massive monument rather that your typical one level flat rectangular stage. I loved it.[5]

Reception

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Roman Kozak from Billboard opened his review, stating that there was nothing quite like a Kiss concert. He noted on the addition of audiences who were in their preteens and teens, adding that they were quite pleased by the extravagant performance. Kozak pointed out that while the band had done little to its basic formula, they played a "thunderous heavy metal music" and said they were as good as they needed to be, in which there was hardly a dull moment with the usage of special effects, as well as the new addition of Gene Simmons levitating 30 feet (10 m) to the top of the lighting truss, which had impressed the audience.[6]

Setlist

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Tour dates

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Date[7] City Country Venue Opening Act(s)
June 15, 1979 Lakeland United States Lakeland Civic Center Nantucket
June 17, 1979 Pembroke Pines Hollywood Sportatorium
June 19, 1979 Savannah Savannah Civic Center The Sweet
June 22, 1979 Columbia Carolina Coliseum Whiteface
June 24, 1979 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum Nantucket
June 26, 1979 Greenville Greenville Memorial Auditorium
June 28, 1979 Asheville Asheville Civic Center
June 30, 1979 Atlanta The Omni Coliseum New England
July 3, 1979 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum Nantucket
July 5, 1979 Hampton Hampton Coliseum New England
July 7, 1979 Landover Capital Centre
July 8, 1979
July 10, 1979 Roanoke Roanoke Civic Center
July 13, 1979 Pontiac Pontiac Silverdome Cheap Trick
New England
July 16, 1979 Lexington Rupp Arena New England
July 18, 1979 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
July 19, 1979
July 21, 1979 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Civic Arena
July 24, 1979 New York City Madison Square Garden
July 25, 1979
July 28, 1979 Portland Cumberland County Civic Center
July 31, 1979 Providence Providence Civic Center
August 1, 1979
August 4, 1979 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf Gardens
August 6, 1979 Montreal Montreal Forum
August 8, 1979 Buffalo United States Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
August 10, 1979 Indianapolis Market Square Arena The Michael Stanley Band
August 12, 1979 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum New England
August 14, 1979 Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium
August 16, 1979 Birmingham BJCC Coliseum
August 18, 1979 Baton Rouge Riverside Centroplex Arena
August 20, 1979 Mobile Mobile Municipal Auditorium Eli
September 1, 1979 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Judas Priest
September 3, 1979 New Haven New Haven Coliseum
September 5, 1979 Springfield Springfield Civic Center
September 7, 1979 Philadelphia The Spectrum
September 10, 1979 Huntington Huntington Civic Center
September 12, 1979 Knoxville Knoxville Civic Coliseum
September 14, 1979 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum
September 16, 1979 Louisville Freedom Hall
September 18, 1979 Fort Wayne Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
September 20, 1979 Evansville Roberts Municipal Stadium
September 22, 1979 Chicago International Amphitheatre
September 24, 1979 Milwaukee MECCA Arena
September 26, 1979 Madison Dane County Expo Coliseum
September 28, 1979 Bloomington Metropolitan Sports Center
September 30, 1979 Kansas City Kansas City Municipal Auditorium
October 2, 1979 St. Louis The Checkerdome John Cougar & The Zone
October 4, 1979 Des Moines Iowa Veterans Memorial Auditorium
October 6, 1979 Duluth DECC Arena
October 8, 1979 Omaha Omaha Civic Auditorium
October 10, 1979 Cedar Rapids Five Seasons Center
October 12, 1979 Valley Center Britt Brown Arena
October 14, 1979 Pine Bluff Pine Bluff Convention Center
October 17, 1979 Norman Lloyd Noble Center Breathless
October 19, 1979 San Antonio HemisFair Arena
October 21, 1979 Houston The Summit
October 23, 1979 Fort Worth Tarrant County Convention Center
October 27, 1979 Abilene Taylor County Expo Center
October 29, 1979 Tulsa Tulsa Assembly Center
October 31, 1979 Lubbock Lubbock Municipal Coliseum
November 4, 1979 Denver McNichols Sports Arena
November 6, 1979 Anaheim Anaheim Convention Center
November 7, 1979 Inglewood The Forum
November 10, 1979 Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
November 19, 1979 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum Loverboy
November 21, 1979 Seattle United States Seattle Center Coliseum The Rockets
November 25, 1979 Daly City Cow Palace
November 27, 1979 Fresno Selland Arena
November 29, 1979 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
December 1, 1979 Albuquerque Tingley Coliseum
December 3, 1979 Amarillo Amarillo Civic Center
December 6, 1979 Lake Charles Sudduth Coliseum
December 8, 1979 Shreveport Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
December 10, 1979 Jackson Mississippi Coliseum
December 12, 1979 Biloxi Mississippi Coast Coliseum
December 14, 1979 Huntsville Von Braun Civic Center
December 16, 1979 Toledo Toledo Sports Arena

Cancelled dates

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Date City Venue Reason
June 14, 1979 Lakeland Lakeland Civic Center Criss injured his hand[8]
June 20, 1979 Savannah Savannah Civic Center Low ticket sales
July 1, 1979 Atlanta The Omni Low ticket sales
July 14, 1979 Pontiac Pontiac Silverdome Temp Hold Date
July 22, 1979 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Civic Arena Low ticket sales
July 27, 1979 New York City Madison Square Garden Temp Hold Date / rerouting of tour
July 28, 1979
September 29, 1979 Bloomington Metropolitan Sports Center Low ticket sales
November 2, 1979 Midland Al G. Langford Chaparral Center Postponed due to illness to Paul Stanley, later cancelled due to venue unavailability
November 23, 1979 Portland Portland Memorial Coliseum Fire marshall refused to issue a permit

Box office score data

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List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references
Date (1979) City Venue Attendance Gross Ref(s)
July 16 Lexington Rupp Arena 9,480 $92,500 [9]
July 21 Pittsburgh Civic Arena 13,873 $142,352
August 14 Nashville Municipal Auditorium 9,900 $113,148 [10]
August 16 Birmingham Jefferson Coliseum 12,213 $112,341
November 19 Vancouver, Canada Pacific Coliseum 14,271 $145,399 [11]
November 21 Seattle Seattle Center Coliseum 14,000 $133,000

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Epting, Chris. "When 'The Return of Kiss' Tour Hit a Snag". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  2. ^ Robison, John Elder (2007). Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0-307-39598-6.
  3. ^ Wilkening, Matthew (December 16, 2019). "How Onstage Sabotage by Peter Criss Ended Kiss' Original Lineup". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  4. ^ Leaf, David; Sharp, Ken (2003). Kiss: Behind the Mask - The Official Authorized Biography. Warner Books. ISBN 978-0-446-55350-6.
  5. ^ (2019). End of the Road World Tour Program, pg. 15.
  6. ^ Kozak, Roman (August 11, 1979). "Talent in Action: Kiss". Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 32. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 34. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  7. ^ Gooch, Curt; Suhs, Jeff (2002). Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-8322-5.
  8. ^ "Kiss cancels Thursday concert". No. 323. St. Petersburg, Florida: St. Petersburg Times. June 12, 1979. p. 3D. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  9. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 31. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 4, 1979. p. 33. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  10. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 35. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 1, 1979. p. 37. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  11. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 49. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 8, 1979. p. 34. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 18, 2021.

Sources

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