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.
Background
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. 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 1970s, documented the lengths he went to create the elaborate effects for the tour. 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 canceled 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.
This is 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's songs were replaced with more familiar songs early in the tour. Criss's 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.
In the tour program for the band's final tour, Stanley reflected on the tour:
Reception 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 to the top of the lighting truss, which had impressed the audience.
Tour dates
Date 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 TrickNew 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 Amphitheater September 24, 1979 Milwaukee MECCA Arena September 26, 1979 Madison Dane County 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 and the Zone October 4, 1979 Des Moines Iowa Veterans Memorial Auditorium October 6, 1979 Duluth Duluth Arena-Auditorium 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 John Cougar and the Zone October 21, 1979 Houston The Summit Breathless October 23, 1979 Fort Worth Tarrant County Convention Center October 27, 1979 Abilene Taylor County Coliseum 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 / postponed dates
Date City Country Venue Reasoning June 14, 1979 Lakeland United States Lakeland Civic Center Hand injury to Peter Criss and or low ticket sales June 20, 1979 Savannah Savannah Civic Center Low ticket sales July 1, 1979 Atlanta The Omni Coliseum July 14, 1979 Pontiac Pontiac Silverdome Temp hold date; tickets never put on sale July 22, 1979 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Civic Arena Low ticket sales July 27, 1979 New York City Madison Square Garden Tour rerouting and or low ticket sales July 28, 1979 July 29, 1979 August 2, 1979 Providence Providence Civic Center Temp hold date, tickets never put on sale September 8, 1979 Philadelphia The Spectrum Low ticket sales September 28, 1979 Bloomington Metropolitan Sports Center Temp hold date October 25, 1979 Beaumont Beaumont Civic Center Low ticket sales November 2, 1979 Midland Al G. Langford Chaparral Center Illness to Paul Stanley November 23, 1979 Portland Portland Memorial Coliseum Oregon fire Marshalls refused to issue a permit for use of pyrotechnics
Box office Date (1979)CityVenueAttendanceGrossJuly 16LexingtonRupp Arena9,480$92,500July 21PittsburghCivic Arena13,873$142,352August 14NashvilleMunicipal Auditorium9,900$113,148August 16BirminghamJefferson Coliseum12,213$112,341November 19Vancouver, CanadaPacific Coliseum14,271$145,399November 21SeattleSeattle Center Coliseum14,000$133,000
Personnel Paul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar Gene Simmons – vocals, bass Peter Criss – drums, vocals Ace Frehley – lead guitar, vocals
References
Sources
External links The official Kiss website