Uniondale 1979 : Amusing Audience Commentary

[Mystogan]

It's nothing new and I'm sure many have heard this before but I just came across this show on YouTube and I had a delight listening to it. Not for the band but for the three people recording the show and giving their commentary.

This is like a look into what the experience must of been like. There is something I really enjoyed about this and found...wholesome. I wasn't around then so hearing people react to things in the concert back then is interesting. Listening to this reminds me why I love KISS so much. I become oddly invested in these three people's lives for an hour and 18 minutes. They debate when to take photos of the band, try to predict the next songs, get excited when they play "New York Groove" and react in amusing ways all around. As far as KISS goes the only notable error was Paul's mic not working in the beginning of "KOTNTW", otherwise it sounds like a good concert from what you can make out.

I love hearing these genuine reactions, maybe this is a weird topic but hey. This made me happy so I thought I'd share it in case other people haven't come across it before

I will point out the highlights.

10:14 - The guy says "What's next? Who cares it's gonna be great anyway" and then he gets excited when he realizes their gonna play "Dr. Love"

18:16 - When Gene breathes fire. The guy reacts when Gene brings the fire out and then explodes when he gets a photo of Gene doing it. When the guy says shit the girl goes "watch it my Mother's gonna-" implying the show is being recorded to show her Mom.

14:00 - The girl is waiting for "New York Groove" and at 19:04 everyone gets excited when they play it. The girl is amazed by Ace's light up guitar.

22:28 - The two guys are impressed by Ace's solo

23:36 - The guy reacts to Paul's rather creepy banter

41:44 - The one guy who's clearly seen KISS before waits for Gene to fly but it doesn't happen in this show

53:08 - Lots of amusing bits here before "Black Diamond". You hear someone in the crowd with an arm horn

1:02:00 - "My ears hurt, I went deaf for a few seconds" "It's worth it"

1:02:16 - The guy starts cursing at the people leaving the concert before the encores. This is the funniest part "They're gonna miss the national anthem of Rock 'n Roll!"

[Philly Cheese]

I remember this recording of the kids.

Listening again, I'm surprised by how great they sound. The tempos are energetic and the playing is really good.

[warmachine731]

My dad recorded this show as a 15 year old and it was the 2nd time he saw the band. This isn’t the recording (to my memory or knowledge) but one of the versions of the shows audio that has floated was from us. As a kid in the early 2000’s, I made a copy of his tape and traded it off for another shows audio.

[DubaiRockCity]

The awful musicianship of 1979 and Peter not being able to drum anymore is grossly exaggerated.

Ace in particular was great on that tour. He had a whole new level of confidence after his solo album did so well.

[redinthesky]

That was awesome, love the Long Island accents. Great to hear them having such a great time, like a fly on the wall. The crowd proved that even in '79 Kiss still made the crowds go hysterical.

Also, very interesting intro to Detroit Rock City - "Here's a song about somebody a couple of years ago, that headed out for a show in Michigan - never made it."

[pepperkitty]

Awesomeness!

[Tallbear13]

Who cares its gonna great anyway love it yea Pauls creepy banter

[rwgriffith]

whoah! I think they sound really rocking and like a well oiled machine on this show. Thanks for posting!

[turbodrive]

The awful musicianship of 1979 and Peter not being able to drum anymore is grossly exaggerated.

Ace in particular was great on that tour. He had a whole new level of confidence after his solo album did so well.

Agree 100%. I've listened to a lot of good quality audience bootlegs of that tour over the years, and overall, the band sounded great. IMO, people like to trash that tour because the image had gotten out of control. Goofy looking costumes, over-merchandising to the kiddies and one song that sounded too much like disco to too many people...all of that didn't equate to them not playing well live.

[FlyingInA747]

"She must have been somewhere between 16 and 16 and 1/2". hahahahahaha. Imagine Paul delivering that rap in 2020.

[Coventry1973]

I saw them in 1977 and from all the magazines I kind of knew what to expect.
I saw them in 1979 and at the time there wasn't really that much out in the magazines about the tour and the new show. Remember there was no internet so you just couldn't watch the show on Youtube while the show is being played, like now. The excitement and the thrill to see it for the first time was mind blowing. You had no idea what was going to happen, and when it did the shock and awe just took over.

[Mystogan]

I saw them in 1977 and from all the magazines I kind of knew what to expect.
I saw them in 1979 and at the time there wasn't really that much out in the magazines about the tour and the new show. Remember there was no internet so you just couldn't watch the show on Youtube while the show is being played, like now. The excitement and the thrill to see it for the first time was mind blowing. You had no idea what was going to happen, and when it did the shock and awe just took over.

That's what's so interesting to me about this recording. These kids haven't seen the same clips a million times so when Gene breaths fire or Ace takes out his light up guitar it's really cool to them. and also the whole thing where the one guy has a limited amount of pictures he can take so he tries to save them for the highlight moments. So when he gets the picture of Gene breathing fire at the right moment he gets so excited.

I was born in 1996 so the Internet has always been here. Now I'm not a "born in the wrong generation" type because I'm happy to have access to everything from every time in history, so this is just a thought I had recently. Now a days we know everything, you watch New Jersey 2000 and you think of all the footage of Peter yelling backstage. Or you listen to a Dynasty show and think of all the drama behind the scenes. So a bootleg like this is a great window into a different time when people didn't know everything and were just amazed at witnessing a great KISS show. I find that really charming and it's something I've never experienced personally so it's cool to hear

[rwgriffith]

Mystogan, very good point about the internet and how it can spoil a concert experience. I am almost 49 and while I appreciate YouTube, it can “kill” the surprise of the stage, set list, and antics of a LIVE show by KISS or a number of acts.

It was fun in the 80’s and early 90’s. My first concert was IRON MAIDEN with QUIET RIOT opening in ‘83 and had no idea what to expect. Just walking to the merch tables and seeing the new tour shirts was a BIG deal!

[muddfoot]

I try to explain this to my kids. We didn't have internet and access to video and set lists etc, all we had was access to magazines/fanzines/word of mouth from that "one guy that has seen this tour 10x already"...im gonna sound like an old fart, but it was more magical.

I'd save up 20$ for a tee shirt, get to the venue as early as possible in hopes of seeing something/meeting someone, get my ticket torn, and run to the rail.

[sagedrummer]

This is such a great historical archive. I love their commentary. There is a very similar sounding Led Zeppelin bootleg from MSG 1977 where the taper or someone very near provides running commentary throughout the show and it is pretty funny as they are discussing when they should light up their joints.

[badmachineogm]

I remember this recording of the kids.

Listening again, I'm surprised by how great they sound. The tempos are energetic and the playing is really good.

I was at this performance, as were - it appears - half of Anthrax, Eddie Trunk and several other persons of note. It’s worth noting we all walked away with the same impression: this was a dreadful experience.

Even though the wheels were already coming off the bus on the Alive II tour, there was still a sense of power and swagger in those performances that simply were not present on the Dynasty tour and the gig at the Nassau Coliseum, in particular.

It all came across at the time as plodding, too loud, too garish and most importantly not cool. All of which was made abundantly clear in comparison to the opening act, Judas Priest.

Now, if this had been your first KISS concert, you might have felt differently. But for those of us who’d seen them before, this gig made us question - perhaps even more so than KMTPOTP - if the band was done.

[Andy Capp]

The awful musicianship of 1979 and Peter not being able to drum anymore is grossly exaggerated.

Ace in particular was great on that tour. He had a whole new level of confidence after his solo album did so well.

Old Andy just said he wholeheartedly agrees‚ good buddy----

[wayfarer]

Always got a laugh and good insight from this boot on audio

[turbodrive]

I remember this recording of the kids.

Listening again, I'm surprised by how great they sound. The tempos are energetic and the playing is really good.

It all came across at the time as plodding, too loud, too garish and most importantly not cool. All of which was made abundantly clear in comparison to the opening act, Judas Priest.

You make a great point. Musicianship aside, KISS following a young Judas Priest at this point in their career wasn't a good decision.