"You wanted the best? You got the best! The hottest band in the world! Kiss!!!”

These words shall be remembered for a long, long time by those 12-13 thousand fans at the Academic Stadium in Sofia, Bulgaria on May 16, 2008. The night we, Bulgarians, finally saw them for the first time ever live. Them - Kiss!

The visit of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer was discussed lengthily during the last few months. Hundreds were expecting it with thrill, a lot more – with wild enthusiasm... But let’s better try not to talk useless crap and see what happened.

The actual part of the evening began 15 minutes after 7 p.m. by the young Maryland-based quintet Cinder Road that accompanies Kiss through Europe. Mike Ruocco (vocals and guitar), Chris Shucosky (guitar), Pat Patrick (guitar), Nat Doegen (bass) and Mac Calvaresi (drums) gave an efficient start of the concert with their high-voltage, typical 80’s American hard rock a-la Bon Jovi... Maybe that was the main reason why many of the attendants did not get that impressed by this band’s performance. To put it short, for 40 minutes we listened to the songs off the current Cinder Road album, "Superhuman" (2007) – starting with the title track, going on with the singles "Should've Known Better" and "Get In Get Out", and finishing with the interpretation of Queen’s "We Will Rock You", which caused quite an excitement among the audience...

...however not as big as the excitement that arose at 8:35 p.m., when the huge black canvas with the Kiss logo was lifted, and in front of the fans they appeared – the hottest band in the world! The magnificent four stuck to almost everything we were expecting from a show that is part of their current Alive 35 World Tour 2008: Gene, Paul, Tommy and Eric were wearing their "Destroyer" (1976) costumes and make-up, and the main part of their set consisted of songs off their first three albums - "Kiss" (1974), "Hotter Than Hell" (1974) and "Dressed to Kill" (1975). In other words, what we got was the substance of the 1975 live audio-bestseller "Alive!".

After the explosive start with "Deuce" and "Strutter", Mr. Stanley made his first declaration of love to the Bulgarian audience. Whether impulsively or not - we cannot say, but until the end of the show he didn’t stop expressing his admiration to the fans at the Academic Stadium – in the end of the main set he even declared Sofia “the new rock’n’roll capital”. Of course, a vivid band like Kiss wouldn’t and couldn't please its fans with such stuff only – we witnessed Tommy Thayer’s guitar solo during "She", Eric Singer’s solo drumming in the middle of "100,000 Years", Gene Simmons’ famous fire spitting at the end of "Hotter Than Hell", as well as picturesque fireworks supporting the last song of the main set, "Rock and Roll All Nite".

Actually, it was exactly "Rock and Roll All Nite" that started the part of the concert most of the people were waiting for – the hits part. Once again we witnessed the magic of thousands singing their favourite songs as one. Even the skeptics cannot deny that the atmosphere got brilliantly wild under the sounds of "Shout It Out Loud", "Lick It Up" (featuring the starting riff of The Who’s "Won't Get Fooled Again"), "I Love It Loud", the total evergreen "I Was Made for Lovin' You", "Love Gun", and the closing anthem "Detroit Rock City".

Yes, it’s true that the sound quality during Kiss’ performance - especially in the beginning - wasn’t that good. It’s true that neither Paul nor Gene were at their best regarding their vocal abilities. It’s true that three of the Alive 35 World Tour 2008 songs ("Firehouse", "Watchin' You" and "Rock Bottom") were spared. And it’s true that the supporting act could be spared, too. However it’s also true that all the negative stuff written in the last paragraph becomes irrelevant, having ,in mind that on May 16, 2008. Bulgaria got what we were waitng for 35 years – the hottest band in the world.

Report: Nicki Vassilev

Photos: Yassen Nemski / Balkan Entertainment Co.

Kiss - live in Sofia, Bulgaria - May 16, 2008 - the setlist:

01. Deuce
02. Strutter
03. Got to Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Nothin' to Lose
06. C'mon and Love Me
07. Parasite
08. She
09. 100,000 Years
10. Cold Gin
11. Let Me Go, Rock'n'Roll
12. Black Diamond
13. Rock and Roll All Nite

Encore:

14. Shout It Out Loud
15. Lick It Up
16. I Love It Loud
17. I Was Made for Lovin' You
18. Love Gun
19. Detroit Rock City