The Unmasked Tour was a concert tour by the American hard rock band Kiss. It was the first tour not to feature original drummer Peter Criss, and the touring debut of his replacement Eric Carr.
Background The Unmasked Tour was the first time that Kiss only played in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, with only one show played in the United States, at the Palladium Theatre in New York. "Cold Gin" returned to the set for the first time since the Rock & Roll Over Tour, and featured Ace Frehley on co-lead vocals, rather than solely Simmons, who had sung the song on all previous tours on which it was performed. "You're All That I Want" was performed briefly, but was quickly dropped. "Strutter", which had not been performed live since the Destroyer Tour, returned to the set as well. Iron Maiden were the opening act for the European leg of the tour. English heavy rock band Girl supported Kiss at Stafford, Bingley Hall. During an autograph session from the band while on tour in West Germany, more than 2,000 fans in Frankfurt ended up causing severe traffic jams. The West Germany concerts would bring in a total of 100,000 fans. The stage show and costumes, with the exception of Carr and Stanley, were holdovers from the Dynasty Tour.
This was the last tour that Ace Frehley performed with Kiss until the 1996 reunion tour.
In the tour program for the band's final tour, Stanley reflected on the tour:
Reception Roman Kozak, a reviewer from the magazine Billboard gave the performance a positive review. He opened his review, noting of the lineup changes with the introduction of the new drummer Eric Carr. Regarding the show, he acknowledged the performance as the typical Kiss show, but noted that the band were performing on a smaller stage than usual, with the performance being basically the same, with the inclusion of loud musical energy, special effects and lighting. He cited the change in the band's sound being more "melodic" and "pop-side", but still gave the fans the hard rock and heavy metal they wanted, taking note that the song "Talk to Me" was well-received by the audience.
Tour dates + List of 1980 concertsDate (1980)CityCountryVenueOpening actsJuly 25New York CityUnited StatesThe PalladiumThe RockatsAugust 29RomeItalyCastel Sant'Angelo Iron MaidenAugust 31GenovaPalasport di GenovaSeptember 2MilanVelodromo VigorelliSeptember 5StaffordEnglandBingley Hall GirlSeptember 6QueensferryWalesDeeside Leisure CentreSeptember 8LondonEnglandWembley ArenaSeptember 9 September 11Neunkirchen am BrandWest GermanyHemmerleinhalle Iron MaidenSeptember 12DüsseldorfPhilips HalleSeptember 13FrankfurtRebstock-GeländeSeptember 15DortmundWestfalenhalleSeptember 17SindelfingenMessehalleSeptember 18MunichOlympiahalleSeptember 20KasselEissporthalleSeptember 21BrusselsBelgiumForest NationalSeptember 23AvignonFranceParc des Expositions de ChâteaublancSeptember 24LyonPalais des Sports de GerlandSeptember 27ParisHippodrome de PantinSeptember 28BaselSwitzerlandSt. JakobshalleSeptember 30CologneWest GermanySporthalleOctober 1BremenStadthalle BremenOctober 2HannoverNiedersachsenhalleOctober 4HamburgErnst-Merck-HalleOctober 5LeidenNetherlandsGroenoordhallenOctober 6KarlsruheWest GermanySchwarzwaldhalleOctober 9StockholmSwedenEriksdalshallenOctober 10GothenburgScandinaviumOctober 11CopenhagenDenmarkBrøndbyhallenOctober 13DrammenNorwayDrammenshallenNovember 8PerthAustraliaPerth Entertainment Centre The EyesNovember 9November 10November 11November 15MelbourneVFL ParkNovember 18AdelaideAdelaide OvalNovember 21SydneySydney ShowgroundNovember 22November 25BrisbaneLang ParkNovember 30WellingtonNew ZealandAthletic Park TechtonesDecember 3AucklandWestern Springs Stadium
Cancelled dates Date City Country Venue ReasonMay 19, 1980OsloNorwayEkeberghallenExtended time needed to find replacement for Peter CrissMay 21, 1980CopenhagenDenmarkBrøndbyhallenMay 23, 1980StockholmSwedenEriksdalshallenMay 24, 1980GothenburgScandinaviumMay 27, 1980MunichWest GermanyOlympiahalleMay 28, 1980ZwolleNetherlandsIJsselhallenMay 30, 1980RotterdamAhoy RotterdamMay 31, 1980BrusselsBelgiumForest NationalJune 3, 1980SaarbrückenWest GermanySaarlandhalleJune 4, 1980ParisFrancePavillon de ParisJune 5, 1980LyonPalais des Sports de GerlandJune 7, 1980AvignonParc des Expositions de ChâteaublancJune 8, 1980FréjusArènes de FréjusJune 10, 1980BarcelonaSpainPalau dels Esports de BarcelonaJune 11, 1980MadridPabellón de la Ciudad Deportiva del Real MadridJune 14, 1980ZürichSwitzerlandHallenstadionJune 15, 1980SindelfingenWest GermanyMessehalleJune 16, 1980FrankfurtFesthalle FrankfurtJune 18, 1980EppelheimRhein-Neckar-HalleJune 20, 1980KölnKöln SporthalleJune 21, 1980DortmundWestfalenhalleJune 22, 1980BremenStadthalle BremenJune 23, 1980HamburgErnst-Merck-HalleJune 25, 1980BrightonUnited KingdomBrighton CentreJune 27, 1980LondonWembley ArenaJune 28, 1980July 1, 1980StaffordBingley HallJuly 3, 1980EdinburghRoyal Highland ShowgroundAugust 9, 1980Mexico CityMexicoUnknown VenuePromoter couldn't obtain the necessary permitsAugust 10, 1980August 11, 1980August 12, 1980GuadalajaraAugust 14, 1980MonterreyAugust 24, 1980CascaisPortugalPavilhão de Cascaisrowspan="4" August 25, 1980August 30, 1980PerugiaItalyStadio Renato CuriAugust 31, 1980BolognaStadio Renato Dall'AraSeptember 26, 1980LilleFranceLille Grand PalaisLow ticket salesOctober 16, 1980ParisHippodrome de Pantinrowspan="8" October 20, 1980TokyoJapanNippon BudokanOctober 21, 1980October 24, 1980October 27, 1980Kyotorowspan="4" October 28, 1980NagoyaOctober 29, 1980OsakaOctober 30, 1980
Personnel Paul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar Gene Simmons – vocals, bass Ace Frehley – lead guitar, vocals Eric Carr – drums, vocals
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